Toast

Toast cuts 1,300 employees

🌎 Boston, Chicago, Omaha βˆ™ πŸ‘© 1,300 employees (50%) βˆ™ πŸ–₯ All departments

Toast, which makes software for restaurants, cut 50% of its staff on Tuesday. The layoffs impacted 1,300 employees — if you’re recruiting in Boston, Chicago, or Omaha, see below link for the listπŸ‘‡. Toast’s success is β€œtightly coupled” with the restaurant industry, which has seen sales decline by 80% in most cities.

See our live Layoffs Tracker for a real-time report of all startups that have done layoffs.

Layoffs Roundup: Thurs 4/9/20

Unicorn startups and notable consumer brands headlined the layoff news over the past couple of days. In the 4 weeks since the coronavirus was declared a pandemic, nearly 200 startups in total have conducted layoffs, affecting over 17,000 employees.

Below are a few of the recent layoffs. Check our Layoffs Tracker for a comprehensive report. If you’ve seen a layoff spreadsheet for any of these companies, please let us know so we can help the affected people!

  • Toast, which makes software for restaurants, cut 50% of its staff, or around 1,300 employees. Its success is “tightly coupled” with the restaurant industry, which has seen sales decline by 80% in most cities. Toast raised money at a $5 billion valuation in February.
    • 🌎 Boston βˆ™ πŸ‘©β€πŸ’Ό 1,300 employees (50%) βˆ™ πŸ”—Source
  • Eventbrite, the ticketing and events website, laid off 45% of its employees. The company is highly dependent on live events, which have halted as a result of shelter-in-place. Its share price had fallen over 70% since mid-March.
    • 🌎 San Francisco βˆ™ πŸ‘©β€πŸ’Ό 500 employees (45%) βˆ™ πŸ”—Source
  • ezCater, a corporate catering startup, laid off over 400 employees (44%). “We’re a company that feeds meetings, and meetings are not happening much right now,” the company said.
    • 🌎 Boston βˆ™ πŸ‘©β€πŸ’Ό 400 employees (44%) βˆ™ πŸ”—Source
  • Redfin, a real estate brokerage, laid off 7% of staff and either cut or furloughed 41% of its field agents. The company said that most agents would earn more from unemployment insurance than from Redfin. New listings, home tours, and home sales have all cooled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
    • 🌎 Seattle βˆ™ πŸ‘©β€πŸ’Ό 236 employees (7%) βˆ™ πŸ”—Source
  • Groupon, a marketplace for discounts from local businesses, conducted a round of layoffs and furloughs. The Chicago Tribune says that β€œsignificant portions” of its sales and sales operations teams were affected, while employee posts on LinkedIn suggests that the cuts spanned more broadly. Between 200-350 employees were laid off, according to these posts.
    • 🌎 Chicago βˆ™ πŸ‘©β€πŸ’Ό 200-350 employees βˆ™ πŸ”—Source
  • Newfront Insurance, a commercial insurance brokerage, laid off 94 employees. The startup has eschewed publicity but had grown headcount rapidly since founding in 2017.
    • 🌎 San Franciscoβˆ™ πŸ‘©β€πŸ’Ό 94 employees βˆ™ πŸ”—Source
  • Away, a direct-to-consumer maker of luggage and travel accessories, furloughed about half of its team and laid off an additional 10% (60 employees). Sales of its products have fallen by more than 90% over the past few weeks, since people are not traveling.
    • 🌎 New York City βˆ™ πŸ‘©β€πŸ’Ό 60 employees (10%) βˆ™ πŸ”—Source
  • Lever, which makes applicant tracking software, laid off 40% of its staff, according to a laid-off employee. The economic impact of COVID-19 has slowed down hiring (and as we know, increased the pace of layoffs). ZipRecruiter, another recruiting site, also held recent layoffs.
    • 🌎 San Francisco βˆ™ πŸ‘©β€πŸ’Ό 40% of employees
  • Zola, a website for creating wedding registries, laid off 20% of its team. Due to social distancing measures, couples have been delaying their weddings en masse.
    • 🌎 New York City βˆ™ πŸ‘©β€πŸ’Ό 20% of employees βˆ™ πŸ”—Source

Ritual

Ritual lays off 196 employees due to COVID-19 impact on restaurants

🌎 Toronto, Chicago, NYC βˆ™ πŸ‘©β€πŸ’Ό 196 employees (54%) βˆ™ πŸ–₯ All departments

Ritual, a food ordering app for takeout, laid off the majority of their staff today (see link below for the list πŸ‘‡). The company cut 196 employees, primarily in their Toronto HQ but also in its U.S. locations. Business was severely impacted by restaurants closing down and people working from home.

See our live Layoffs Tracker for a real-time report of all startups that have done layoffs.

Layoffs Roundup: Thurs 3/26/20

Coronavirus-related tech layoffs continue to pile up this week, particularly in real estate and travel. Check out our Layoffs Tracker for a comprehensive, real-time report. If you’ve seen a layoff spreadsheet for any of these companies, please let us know!

Real estate

  • Sonder, which offers short-term apartment rentals, laid off or furloughed 400 employees. Bookings are down 20% at the company’s 5,000 apartments.
    • 🌎 San Francisco βˆ™ πŸ‘©β€πŸ’Ό 400 employees (33%) βˆ™ πŸ”—The Real Deal
  • Zeus Living, which rents out furnished apartments on a monthly basis to business travelers, laid off 80 employees.
    • 🌎 San Francisco βˆ™ πŸ‘©β€πŸ’Ό 80 employees (30%) βˆ™ πŸ”—Crunchbase News
  • The Guild, which offers short-term stays at luxury apartments, laid off 38 employees.
    • 🌎 Austin βˆ™ πŸ‘©β€πŸ’Ό 38 employees (22%) βˆ™ πŸ”—Austin Inno

Travel

  • TripActions, whose software helps companies manage corporate travel, laid off 300 workers. The layoffs primarily affected customer support, recruiting, and sales. Employees were notified of the layoff via a group Zoom call.
    • 🌎 Palo Alto βˆ™ πŸ‘©β€πŸ’Ό 300 employees (25%) βˆ™ πŸ”—TechCrunch
  • Cabin, a luxury sleeper-bus service, laid off an unknown (but likely small) number of employees.
    • 🌎 San Francisco βˆ™ πŸ‘©β€πŸ’Ό Unknown # affected βˆ™ πŸ”—The Information

Other industries

  • Leafly, an online resource on cannabis, laid off 91 employees.
    • 🌎 Seattle βˆ™ πŸ‘©β€πŸ’Ό 91 employees (50%) βˆ™ πŸ”—GeekWire
  • Foodsby, which delivers restaurant food to office buildings, laid off 80 people. Demand is down since restaurants are closing and customers are no longer going into the office.
    • 🌎Minneapolis βˆ™ πŸ‘©β€πŸ’Ό 80 employees (67%) βˆ™ πŸ”—Minne Inno
  • Rangle, a development agency, initiated a temporary layoff for 78 staffers. Rangle’s clients are paring back spending due to the coronavirus pandemic.
    • 🌎 Toronto βˆ™ πŸ‘©β€πŸ’Ό 78 employees (30%) βˆ™ πŸ”—BetaKit
  • OutboundEngine, which creates marketing software for small businesses, laid off 52 employees.
    • 🌎 Austin βˆ™ πŸ‘©β€πŸ’Ό 52 employees (28%) βˆ™ πŸ”—BizJournals
  • Wonderschool, which helps people start their own in-home preschools or daycares, laid off 50 employees. Shelter-in-place orders means that parents are keeping their kids at home.
    • 🌎 San Francisco βˆ™ πŸ‘©β€πŸ’Ό 50 employees (75%) βˆ™ πŸ”—EdSurge
  • SpotHero, an app that helps people find parking spots, laid off an unknown number of employees. Urban parking isn’t a problem when people are staying at home.
    • 🌎 Chicago βˆ™ πŸ‘©β€πŸ’Ό Unknown # affected βˆ™ πŸ”—Chicago Inno
  • Eight Sleep, an online mattress retailer, laid off 20% of staff.
    • 🌎 New York City βˆ™ πŸ‘©β€πŸ’Ό 20% of staffβˆ™ πŸ”—The Information