Uber

Uber lays off 3,000 more employees, on top of the 3,700 laid off earlier this month

🌎 SF Bay Area βˆ™ πŸ‘© 3,000 employees (13%) βˆ™ πŸ–₯ All departments

As Layoffs.fyi forecasted last week, Uber laid off 3,000 more employees this morning. This comes on top of the 3,700 employees Uber cut two weeks ago, and brings the total to 6,700 laid off (25% of staff).

In conjunction with the layoff, Uber is also closing down 45 offices, winding down its product incubator and AI labs, pursuing strategic alternatives for Uber Works, and re-evaluating its self-driving units.

Nationwide shelter-in-place orders have hammered Uber’s ridesharing business. Its core business has fallen around 80% during the pandemic. Meanwhile, growth from Uber’s food delivery business has not been enough to offset the decline.

Uber previously told staff that laid-off employees would receive 10 weeks of severance pay and healthcare coverage through the end of 2020.

In addition to the 6,700 employees let go by Uber this month, the company has also cut 536 employees from Middle East subsidiary Careem, as well as all 400-500 employees from e-scooter subsidiary Jump.

See link below πŸ‘‡for an existing unofficial list of 400+ employees laid off from Uber, mostly from the May 5 layoff. Expect this list to grow a lot bigger in the coming days.

UPDATE: An official Uber layoff list has been created. Added link below.

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

Startup layoffs slowing down, but more employees laid off on average

Finally, some long-awaited good news: the number of newly-reported startup layoffs has been steadily declining for the past 5 weeks, today’s Uber layoff not withstanding. After a coronavirus record of 99 startups conducted layoffs in the first week of April, this past week saw only 22 startups cut jobs, a decline of 78%.

Unfortunately, the number of employees laid off has not benefited from a similar trend. During that same 5-week period, the number of new employees laid off per week dropped from 7,692 to 6,562, a decline of just 15%.

Part of the reason is that even though fewer startups are laying off, the average layoff has gotten bigger. Last week, Stone laid off 1,300 employees and Deliv laid off 669 employees. The week before, Airbnb laid off 1,900, and Juul laid off 900. Including today’s layoff, Uber has cut 6,700 employees in May alone.

In fact, 4 of the 10 biggest tech layoffs since COVID-19 have occurred in just the past two weeks.

Company# Laid Off%IndustryDate
Uber6,70025%Transportation5/6, 5/18
Groupon2,80044%Retail4/13
Airbnb1,90025%Travel5/5
Stone1,30020%Finance5/12
Toast1,30050%Food4/7
Magic Leap1,00050%Consumer4/22
Yelp1,00017%Consumer4/9
Lyft98217%Transportation4/29
Juul90030%Consumer5/5
TripAdvisor90025%Travel4/28

In the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic, smaller cash-strapped startups were the first to conduct layoffs to avoid going out of business. Later-stage startups and recently-public tech companies had more buffer to hold off on layoffs due to their larger cash reserves. At the time, smaller travel startups like Lola, Remote Year, and WanderJaunt were laying off dozens of employees each even though the likes of Airbnb and TripAdvisor hadn’t yet cut staff.

Two months into nationwide lockdowns, these bigger tech companies couldn’t keep holding off. They’ve now also had enough time to properly budget, plan, and execute their layoffs, something that takes longer at a 4,000-person company than a 40-person one. Small wonder that in the first half of May, it’s felt like dominoes falling when it comes to late-stage startup layoffs.

The media has also started selectively covering only the bigger startup layoffs, as layoffs have gotten too frequent to keep up. We’re still trying, though! The Layoffs.fyi Tracker has counted 430+ startups that have laid off 50,000+ employees since the coronavirus was declared a pandemic, though there are hundreds more layoffs that haven’t been reported publicly.

Uber just announced another mass layoff today, and WeWork expects to continue performing rolling layoffs through the end of the month. But once the smoke clears from those layoffs, will we finally see some ecosystem renewal? Here’s hoping.

Petal

Credit card startup Petal conducts layoff

🌎 New York City βˆ™ πŸ‘© At least 10 employees βˆ™ πŸ–₯ All departments

Petal, which offers credit cards to people who may not have a credit score yet, conducted a layoff last week. It’s unclear how many employees were affected, but a Google spreadsheet of team members looking for new roles lists at least 10 people (see link below πŸ‘‡).

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

Submittable

Submittable laid off 30 employees as university clients shut down operations

🌎 Missoula βˆ™ πŸ‘© 30 employees (20%) βˆ™ πŸ–₯ All departments

Submittable, which helps organizations collect and review applications online, laid off 30 employees (20%) in late April. It had 2,000 clients tied to universities, which have been shutting down operations due to COVID-19. The company’s CEO said that the longer the company held off on its layoff, the less severance it would’ve been able to offer. Laid-off employees will receive 1-2 months of severance pay.

See link below πŸ‘‡for an opt-in list of employees laid off in Missoula, most of which are open to either relocation and/or remote work.

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

Layoffs Roundup: Thurs 5/14/20

This past week saw layoffs from a number of notable startups, including 4(!) data analytics companies (Mixpanel, Segment, Mode Analytics, and ThoughtSpot).

Check out our tracker for a more comprehensive list. If you’ve seen a layoff spreadsheet for any of these companies, please let us know!

🏒 Stone βˆ™ 🌎 Sao Paulo βˆ™ πŸ‘©1,300 employees (20%) βˆ™ πŸ”—Source

  • A Brazilian payments processor, Stone has seen a decline in the volume of credit and debit card transactions processed by the company. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway owns 8% of Stone, which held a hotly-anticipated IPO in 2018.

🏒 Jump βˆ™ 🌎 New York City βˆ™ πŸ‘©500 employees (100%) βˆ™ πŸ”—Source

  • As part of Uber’s $170 million investment in Lime, Uber is offloading money-losing subsidiary Jump, an e-bike and e-scooter startup it acquired in 2018. Reports suggest that all 400-500 Jump employees were laid off, though some were offered interview opportunities at Lime.

🏒 Glassdoor βˆ™ 🌎 SF Bay Area βˆ™ πŸ‘© 300 employees (30%) βˆ™ πŸ”—Source

  • An online job board, Glassdoor is the latest recruiting startup to announce layoffs. ZipRecruiter, Greenhouse, Lever, and Triplebyte have all made cuts in recent weeks due to the slowing pace of hiring across the country. Affected employees will receive at least 3 months of severance, accelerated vesting through the severance period, and reimbursed health insurance through the end of 2020.

🏒 Flatiron School βˆ™ 🌎 New York City βˆ™ πŸ‘© 100 employees (31%) βˆ™ πŸ”—Source

  • A coding bootcamp acquired by WeWork in 2017, Flatiron School is closing its Atlanta and London campuses, as well as its design program, in conjunction with the layoff. The cuts were focused on Flatiron School’s design and marketing teams, and come on top off the thousands already laid off by parent company WeWork.

🏒 Zeus Living βˆ™ 🌎 New York City βˆ™ πŸ‘© 73 employees (50%) βˆ™ πŸ”—Source

  • A corporate housing startup, Zeus Living’s 50% layoff comes two months after it already laid off 30% of its team. Last week the company was forced to raise funding at almost half its valuation from December. The company expects revenue to decline by 45% due to the slowdown of business travel caused by COVID-19.

🏒 Mixpanel βˆ™ 🌎 SF Bay Area βˆ™ πŸ‘© 65 employees (19%) βˆ™ πŸ”—Source

  • An analytics tool that measures user engagement, Mixpanel’s layoff spanned across sales, marketing and G&A positions. No roles in engineering, product, or design were affected. Half of the layoffs were in San Francisco.

🏒 SalesLoft βˆ™ 🌎 Atlanta βˆ™ πŸ‘© 55 employees βˆ™ πŸ”—Source

  • SalesLoft said that the users of its sales engagement software have been getting laid off, causing SalesLoft itself to do a layoff. The event is an example of the second-order effects of the economic fallout caused by the coronavirus.

🏒 Segment βˆ™ 🌎 SF Bay Area βˆ™ πŸ‘© 50 employees (10%) βˆ™ πŸ”—Source

  • A data analytics startup, Segment cited economic conditions as the reason for its layoff, but did not elaborate further.

🏒 Cadre βˆ™ 🌎New York City βˆ™ πŸ‘© 28 employees (25%) βˆ™ πŸ”—Source

  • An online marketplace for commercial real estate investments, Cadre has been hurt by the sudden slowdown in the real estate market. The company is offering laid-off employees health insurance through the end of 2020 and an extension of the post-termination exercise period on vested stock options to two years.

🏒 Kickstarter βˆ™ 🌎 New York City βˆ™ πŸ‘© 25 employees (18%) βˆ™ πŸ”—Source

  • A crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter lost not only the 25 employees it laid off, but also an additional 30 employees that accepted its voluntary separation package. One of the few tech companies whose employees are unionized, Kickstarter is offering departed employees 4 months of severance, 4-6 months of health insurance, a release from non-compete obligations, and priority consideration if the eliminated position re-opens within a year.

🏒 Mode Analytics βˆ™ 🌎 SF Bay Area βˆ™ πŸ‘© 17 employees βˆ™ πŸ”—Source

  • A business intelligence tool, Mode Analytics laid off 17 employees across sales, marketing, support, engineering, product, and recruiting.
Tally

Credit card automation startup Tally laid off 28 employees

🌎 SF Bay Area βˆ™ πŸ‘© 28 employees (23%) βˆ™ πŸ–₯ All departments

Tally, which helps users manage multiple credit cards, laid off 28 employees (23%) last Monday, according to an internal memo reviewed by Layoffs.fyi. In addition to severance pay, Tally is offering laid-off employees reimbursed health insurance through the end of 2020, an extension of the post-termination exercise period on vested stock options to one year, and a six-month subscription to LinkedIn Premium.

If you’re recruiting in San Francisco, see link below πŸ‘‡for a list of employees laid off across Engineering, Design, People Operations, and a few other functions.

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

Uber

Uber laid off 3,700 employees, with more expected

🌎 SF Bay Area, NYC, Chicago, Phoenix βˆ™ πŸ‘© 3,700 employees (14%) βˆ™ πŸ–₯ Customer support, recruiting

Uber, the ridesharing service, laid off 3,700 employees (14%) last Wednesday. The layoff was concentrated in the company’s customer support and recruiting teams. Uber CEO’s letter to staff strongly hinted that more cuts are coming in the next week, including in engineering and product.

The Information reported that as many as 5,400 employees are expected to ultimately be laid off. However, one source tells Layoffs.fyi the total count could be as high as 6,700. In addition, 400-500 employees are reportedly being cut from Uber’s subsidiary Jump, which is being offloaded to Lime as part of Uber’s investment in the electric scooter company.

See link below πŸ‘‡for a crowdsourced list of 250+ employees laid off from Uber.

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

Kabbage

Ex-Kabbage layoff spreadsheet lists over 100 employees

🌎 Atlanta, New York City βˆ™ πŸ‘© Unknown # of employees βˆ™ πŸ–₯ All departments

In late March, small business lending startup Kabbage furloughed a “significant number” of its 500 employees. It also shut down its Bangalore office. Hoping to use furloughs as a way of avoiding permanent layoffs, Kabbage had intended to bring back the affected employees once business conditions improved.

With the coronavirus pandemic continuing to decimate the economy, it’s unclear when that will happen. One source told Layoffs.fyi that the furloughs would last at least 2 months (through end of May). Another thought it was unlikely Kabbage would ever bring the furloughed employees back.

A Google spreadsheet called “Kabbagers for hire” has been circulating with over 100 names. See link below πŸ‘‡if you’re hiring in Atlanta or New York City.

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

Namely

Namely laid off 110 employees, citing challenges faced by its SMB customers

🌎 New York City, Atlanta βˆ™ πŸ‘© 160 employees (40%) βˆ™ πŸ–₯ All departments

UPDATE: Namely’s CEO tells Layoffs.fyi that 110 employees were laid off, not 160 as originally implied by TechCrunch.

A maker of HR and payroll software, Namely laid off 110 employees earlier this month. The company noted that its SMB customers have been downsizing as a result of the pandemic. This has led to lower revenue for Namely, which makes money in part via a per-employee monthly fee.

If you’re recruiting in NYC or Atlanta, see link below πŸ‘‡for an opt-in list of nearly 100 employees laid off across Namely’s brokerage, client operations, go to market, and product/engineering teams.

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

Sandbox VR

Sandbox VR laid off its engineering team

🌎 SF Bay Area βˆ™ πŸ‘© Unknown # of employees βˆ™ πŸ–₯ Engineering

A virtual reality startup, Sandbox VR conducted a layoff last week. Its CEO also announced that he was laying himself off.

The layoff included Sandbox VR’s entire engineering team. See link below πŸ‘‡for the resumes of 5 laid-off engineers, who are spread across multiple locations.

UPDATE: Protocol reports that Sandbox VR laid off 80% of its staff, leaving a skeleton crew of 20 people.

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