Layoffs Roundup: Thurs 6/4/20

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Here’s a recap of the startup layoffs from this past week. If you’ve seen a layoff spreadsheet for any of these companies, please let us know!

See the Layoffs.fyi Tracker for a comprehensive list of all startup layoffs since COVID-19.

🏢 Stitch Fix ∙ 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩 1,400 employees (18%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • An online personal styling service, Stitch Fix said it will lay off 1,400 stylist employees in California between now and the end of September. It plans to replace these employees by hiring 2,000 stylists in lower-cost cities over the coming year. Laid-off employees will have the opportunity to relocate; those who don’t will receive 2 weeks or more of severance, extended healthcare, and a bonus for staying through the transition period.

🏢 TrueCar ∙ 🌎 Los Angeles ∙ 👩 219 employees (30%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • An automotive pricing website, TrueCar says the cuts come in anticipation of the termination of its revenue-sharing partnership with USAA. The timing and scope of the layoff was further accelerated by COVID-19. Laid-off employees will receive 13 weeks of base pay plus 1 week for each additional year of service beyond the first, along with healthcare coverage through 2020.

🏢 Monzo ∙ 🌎 London ∙ 👩 120 employees (8%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • A London-based digital bank, Monzo is laying off 120 of its U.K. employees. This comes on top of the 165 employees it laid off when it shut down its Las Vegas customer support office in April. The company also previously furloughed 295 U.K. employees. As consumers pull back on spending, Monzo generates less revenue from the interchange fees on its debit card products.

🏢 Kitty Hawk ∙ 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩 “Most of” a 70-person team ∙ 🔗Source

  • Backed by Google co-founder Larry Page, Kitty Hawk is shutting down its electric flying car initiative and laying off most of that team’s 70 employees. However, the company is still working on a different autonomous electric aircraft initiative. Laid-off employees will receive at least 20 weeks of severance based on tenure, along with health insurance coverage through the end of the year.

🏢 Acorns ∙ 🌎 Portland∙ 👩 55 employees ∙ 🔗Source

  • Last week, Portland Business Journals reported that Acorns was shutting down its Portland office. A source tells Layoffs.fyi that over 55 employees were laid off as well, and that the support team was offshored. According to the source, Acorns closed both its Portland and Delaware offices and laid off most of its staff in New York.

🏢 Rivian ∙ 🌎 Detroit ∙ 👩 40 employees (2%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • An electric vehicle company, Rivian confirmed it laid off 40 employees in its Plymouth, Michigan office. One laid-off employee tells Layoffs.fyi that the actual number may be higher. In another example of differing accounts, The Verge reported that “former employees say they believe the cuts were related to the stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic, though Rivian says they were performance-based.”

🏢 SpotHero ∙ 🌎 Chicago ∙ 👩 40 employees (21%)∙ 🔗Source

  • An app that helps people find parking spots, SpotHero has now reduced its staff by 70 employees across two rounds of layoffs since March. Parking solutions are in less demand now that people are staying at home.

🏢 Fundbox ∙ 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩 14 employees (15%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • A small business lending company, Fundbox announced a $20 million extension to its $326 million Series C in conjunction with the layoff. The company is also cutting management salaries by an unspecified amount. Fundbox says the COVID-19 crisis has harmed small and medium-sized businesses, which form the core of the company’s customer base.

🏢 MakerBot ∙ 🌎 New York City ∙ 👩 12 employees

  • A creator of 3D printers, MakerBot laid off a dozen employees amid declining revenues caused by school closures, according to an internal memo viewed by Layoffs.fyi. MakerBot’s layoff was part of a broader staffing cut by parent company Stratasys, which is laying off 240 employees in total.
Juul

Juul layoff list emerges; 1,550+ employees have been cut in the past year

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🌎 San Francisco Bay Area ∙ 👩 1,550 employees ∙ 🖥 All departments

Juul, a maker of e-cigarettes, laid off 900 employees (30%) last month in a move unrelated to the coronavirus. The company has been mired in controversy over its role in the rise of underage vaping.

Juul also laid off 650 employees last October, bringing the total number of employees cut in the past year to 1,550.

In the wake of these layoffs, two separate lists of ex-Juul employees have emerged (see links below 👇). The official Juul Labs Alumni List contains 49 ex-employees actively looking for a job, though not all are from the most recent round of layoffs. The unofficial Juul layoff spreadsheet contains 79 ex-employees, but most were from last October’s layoff and may have already found new jobs.

View official list of employees laid off ->

View unofficial list of employees laid off ->

Our live Layoffs Tracker has a real-time report of all startups that have done layoffs.

Brex

Brex laid off 62 employees to “prioritize building over growing”

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🌎 San Francisco ∙ 👩 62 employees (15%) ∙ 🖥 All departments

Brex, which provides credit cards to other startups, announced Friday that it laid off 62 employees (15%). Brex said it was “restructuring the company to prioritize building over growing over the next year” due to the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

The company’s customers are predominantly other startups. As startups reduce their spending or go out of business, Brex makes less money from the interchange fees on its credit card product.

Brex is providing laid-off employees with 8 weeks of severance pay and health insurance through the end of 2020. The company is also waiving its 1-year equity cliff and extending the exercise period on vested stock options. Employees will be allowed to keep their company-issued computer.

See link below 👇 for an opt-in spreadsheet of employees laid off. 8 individuals were listed as of early Monday morning, but more may be added over time.

View list of employees laid off ->

Our live Layoffs Tracker has a real-time report of all startups that have done layoffs.

Layoffs Roundup: Thurs 5/28/20

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Here’s a recap of the startup layoffs from this past week. If you’ve seen a layoff spreadsheet for any of these companies, please let us know!

As always, the Layoffs.fyi Tracker maintains a comprehensive list of all startup layoffs since COVID-19. There’s now a new “Layoff Charts” tab too 📈! Check it out for real-time graphs of startup layoffs by month, industry, and location — all updated automatically.

And if you’re into data visualization, the team at Bloomberg made some cool graphics today using Layoffs.fyi data.

🏢 Uber India ∙ 🌎 Bengaluru ∙ 👩 600 employees (23%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • Ridesharing company Uber said that the cuts in India were part of its broader plan to reduce workforce. Laid-off employees will receive at least 10 weeks of severance and 6 months of healthcare coverage. Uber’s main competitor in India, Ola, laid off 1,400 employees last week.

🏢 Cvent ∙ 🌎 Washington D.C. ∙ 👩 400 employees (10%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • An event management platform, Cvent has been deeply impacted by the widescale decline of in-person meetings and events. Its CEO said that its customers are in many of the industries that have been hit hardest by COVID-19: event planning, hospitality, and corporate travel. The company is shifting its own flagship event in August to be completely virtual.

🏢 Instructure ∙ 🌎 Salt Lake City ∙ 👩 150 employees (12%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • A provider of learning management software, Instructure is also closing its satellite offices (including Chicago, Seattle, San Diego, and London) in favor of its Salt Lake City headquarters. Instructure was acquired by a private equity firm in March. Even though the new owner reportedly promised it wouldn’t shrink staff, it’s not too surprising that a layoff happened anyway, given the propensity of PE firms to cut costs.

🏢 Bluprint ∙ 🌎 Denver∙ 👩 137 employees (100%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • A provider of online crafts classes, Bluprint will be shutting down by the end of August. Originally named Craftsy and acquired by NBCUniversal in 2017, Bluprint’s layoffs will begin around July 22 and end when operations are closed.

🏢 Glitch ∙ 🌎 New York City ∙ 👩 18 employees (36%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • A collaborative coding platform, Glitch cited market conditions as context for the layoff and said it needed to “significantly cut operating costs” to ensure “long-term viability.” The company is offering severance pay, health insurance, and support finding a new job to laid-off employees.

🏢 Acorns ∙ 🌎 Portland ∙ 👩 Unknown # of employees ∙ 🔗Source

  • An app that lets users invest their spare change, Acorns is shutting down its Portland office and consolidating staff to its Irvine headquarters. Some employees will be moving locations, though one source tells Layoffs.fyi that others are being laid off. Acorns inherited the Portland office in 2017 after acquiring retirement savings startup Vault, and subsequently grew the office to around 30 people.
PayJoy

EXCLUSIVE: Fintech startup PayJoy laid off 23 employees

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🌎 San Francisco ∙ 👩 23 employees (25%) ∙ 🖥 All departments

PayJoy, a lending startup that enables customers without a bank account or credit history to buy smartphones on installment payments, laid off 23 employees (25%) on April 28. A company executive tells Layoffs.fyi that the employees’ last day will be on June 30.

PayJoy told employees that despite a very strong Q1, the company expects a large and uncertain impact on its revenue and fundraising prospects for the next year due to COVID-19. The layoff was intended to extend its cash buffer to weather the economic fallout from the pandemic. PayJoy has raised $71 million in equity and debt financing from Greylock, Union Square Ventures, and others.

The company shared with Layoffs.fyi a spreadsheet of 21 affected employees, including 12 in Engineering, that are open to being contacted about career opportunities (see link below 👇).

View list of employees laid off ->

Our live Layoffs Tracker has a real-time report of all startups that have done layoffs.

Airmap

Drone startup AirMap conducts layoff

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🌎 Los Angeles, Austin ∙ 👩 At least 13 employees ∙ 🖥 All departments

AirMap, an airspace services platform for unmanned aircraft, announced that it was reducing staff and cutting non-core initiatives. Two sources tell Layoffs.fyi that around 30% of the team was let go. One laid-off employee says that 28 people were affected, and that the layoffs are effective as of May 15.

See link below 👇 for an opt-in spreadsheet of 13 employees laid off, including 9 engineers in Santa Monica and Austin.

View list of employees laid off ->

Our live Layoffs Tracker has a real-time report of all startups that have done layoffs.

Agoda

Agoda laid off 1,500 employees, launches public alumni directory

Layoff list,

🌎 Malaysia, Thailand ∙ 👩 1,500 employees (25%) ∙ 🖥 All departments

Agoda, an Asian hotel booking website, laid off 1,500 employees (25%) aross 30 countries last week. Its CEO said that most of the cuts were in Agoda’s Customer Experience Group, but that product, IT, finance, partner services, marketing and Rocketmiles were also affected.

Agoda is a subsidiary of Booking Holdings, which also owns Priceline, Kayak, OpenTable, and Booking.com. Last month, Kayak and OpenTable laid off or furloughed 400 employees.

Even though many Asian countries are now recovering from COVID-19, Agoda cited a deep and prolonged impact on the travel industry.

Agoda launched an official alumni talent directory to support departing employees (see link below 👇 ). The Agoda layoff list features over 400 ex-employees, mostly in Southeast Asia.

View list of employees laid off ->

Our live Layoffs Tracker has a real-time report of all startups that have done layoffs.

Magic Leap

Magic Leap avoids further layoffs with new $350 mm investment

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Magic Leap, an augmented reality startup that laid off 1,000 employees (50%) last month, secured $350 million in a new investment round. As a result, the company will be able to prevent additional layoffs in the near future. (See? This site doesn’t only have bad news! 😸)

In late April, Magic Leap warned employees that a further staff reduction might be necessary if it wasn’t able to raise additional funding. Now, with $350 million more in the bank from existing and new investors, the company will be able to avoid the potential cut.

See below link 👇for an opt-in list of Magic Leap employees laid off last month, including over 100 engineers.

View list of employees laid off ->

Our live Layoffs Tracker has a real-time report of all startups that have done layoffs.

Dotscience

DevOps startup Dotscience shuts down

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🌎 London ∙ 👩 10+ employees (100%) ∙ 🖥 All departments

Dotscience, which makes DevOps tools for machine learning, shut down this week. The company said it ran out of money and was unable to secure additional financing.

In a blog post announcing the shutdown (see link below 👇), Dotscience listed 10 laid-off employees seeking new roles, including 7 engineers.

View list of employees laid off ->

Our live Layoffs Tracker has a real-time report of all startups that have done layoffs.

Layoffs Roundup: Thurs 5/21/20

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The number of newly-reported startup layoffs continues to decline, though each one is now affecting 3x more employees on average. This past week saw a massive layoff from Uber, alongside other notable cuts mentioned below. The total count is now up to 58,000+ startup employees laid off since the coronavirus pandemic began.

Check out the Layoffs.fyi Tracker for a comprehensive list. If you’ve seen a layoff spreadsheet for any of these companies, please let us know!

🏢 Ola ∙ 🌎 Bengaluru ∙ 👩 1,400 employees (35%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • An India-based ridesharing company, Ola said revenue has dropped by 95% in the last two months due to stay-at-home orders. Laid-off employees will receive 3 months of severance, along with “healthcare and emotional support until the end of the year.” It’s not clear who will be providing the emotional support.

🏢 Deliv ∙ 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩 669 employees (100%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • A service that enables brick-and-mortar stores to offer same-day deliveries, Deliv announced that it was shutting down operations and selling some of its technology to Target. The company is laying off at least 669 workers and will wind down its business over the next 90 days. Even though delivery businesses like Amazon, Target, and Uber Eats are surging during the pandemic, Deliv’s business depends on customers like Best Buy, Macy’s, and Walgreens, who have been severely impacted by shelter-in-place orders.

🏢 Cruise ∙ 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩 150 employees (8%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • A self-driving car startup owned by GM, Cruise becomes the most prominent (though certainly not the only) autonomous vehicle company to cut staff. AV companies like Cruise, Zoox, and Ike were already bleeding money with little revenue — now, their vehicles are also sitting idle because social distancing measures mean that backup drivers can’t be used for self-driving tests. Cruise’s layoff largely avoided touching its engineering team.

🏢 SoFi ∙ 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩 112 employees (7%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • A personal finance startup, SoFi is positioning its staffing reduction not as a layoff but as a performance-driven cut. The company implied that the employees cut were falling short of their performance expectations. One source told Layoffs.fyi that 37 engineers were affected.

🏢 Quartz ∙ 🌎 New York City ∙ 👩 80 employees (40%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • A business news site, Quartz said its layoff was focused on its advertising department, though over 20 journalists were also affected. The company is planning to transition its business model from advertising-supported to subscription-based. Quartz is led by ace journalist and former Harvard Crimson editor Zach Seward.

🏢 Integral Ad Science ∙ 🌎 New York City ∙ 👩 70 employees (10%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • An ad verification company, Integral Ad Science joins the growing number of ad tech startups (and ad-supported media businesses) confronting a broader pullback in ad spending. Similar companies that have conducted layoffs include Rubicon Project, OpenX, GumGum, TripleLift, VideoAmp, MediaMath, Sojern, and AdRoll.

🏢 Intercom ∙ 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩 39 employees ∙ 🔗Source

  • A maker of customer messaging software, Intercom is also relocating 47 roles in its marketing and R&D teams from San Francisco to Dublin, in addition to the layoff.

🏢 Divvy ∙ 🌎 Salt Lake City ∙ 👩 Unknown # of employees

  • A platform for expense reports, Divvy conducted a mass layoff on Tuesday, according to multiple LinkedIn posts. One source tells Layoffs.fyi that over 100 people were cut.