Layoffs Roundup: Thurs 5/21/20

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.