Tag: HR

Layoffs Roundup: Thurs 9/3/20

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Below is a recap of the layoffs from this past week. Check out the Layoffs.fyi Tracker for a complete list of all tech layoffs during the pandemic.

🏢 Big Fish Games ∙ 🌎 Seattle ∙ 👩 250 employees ∙ 🔗Source

  • Big Fish Games, a developer of mobile and social casino games, laid off 250 employees despite other gaming companies reporting a surge in sales during the pandemic. Some point to a recent $155 million legal settlement, the result of allegations that the company’s games constituted illegal gambling in Washington, as a reason for the layoff.  For its part, Big Fish Games explained its decision using phrases like “refactoring operations” and “reinforce the company’s positioning for growth.”

🏢 GoBear ∙ 🌎 Singapore ∙ 👩 22 employees (11%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • GoBear, an online financial services “supermarket,” laid off 11% of its employees in offices across the globe. The company now plans to focus on its growth areas of digital lending and insurance brokerage services.  [As an aside, GoBear feels like an ominous name choice for a financial services startup…maybe “bear market” means something different in Southeast Asia?]

🏢 MakeMyTrip ∙ 🌎 New Delhi ∙ 👩 350 employees (10%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • MakeMyTrip, India’s largest online travel booking company, saw revenue slashed to zero during the pandemic. Its founder joked that the company’s Q2 earnings call should’ve been called a “lack of earnings call.” As a result, the company laid off 350 employees, or 10% of its staff, in June. 

🏢 Awok ∙ 🌎 Dubai ∙ 👩 100% of employees ∙ 🔗Source

  • Dubai-based e-commerce startup Awok shut down a year after raising a $30 million Series A. Employees have reported receiving no pay since January and blame company leadership for the shutdown; Awok’s website cites the pandemic as the reason for closing shop.

🏢 kununu ∙ 🌎 Boston ∙ 👩 Unknown # of employees ∙ 🔗Source

  • Kununu, a platform that lets employees rate their employer, discontinued its U.S. operations and shut down its Boston office. Headquartered in Vienna, the company was bought by Linkedin competitor XING for $12.3 million in 2013.

Thanks to Layoffs.fyi intern Stephan Billingslea for contributing to this post.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn launches official talent directory after laying off 960 employees

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🌎 Multiple locations ∙ 👩 960 employees (6%) ∙ 🖥 Multiple departments

LinkedIn, the professional networking site, laid off 960 employees (6%) across its Global Sales and Talent Acquisition teams in late July. Today the company launched an opt-in talent directory featuring hundreds of its recently-departed alumni (see link 👇).

The directory includes people with experience in customer success, recruitment, and sales management in North and South America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific regions, according to a company blog post.

Not surprisingly, LinkedIn’s alumni talent directory was built inside LinkedIn’s own product. After logging in to LinkedIn, hiring managers and recruiters can filter candidates by connections, locations, job title, and job type. They can then browse each candidate’s LinkedIn profile and send a LinkedIn message to those they’re interested in.

All of these features resemble the LinkedIn Recruiter product that sits within the company’s Talent Solutions business. Ironically, it is the Talent Solutions business that catalyzed the company’s layoff in the first place, having suffered due to a slowdown in hiring during the pandemic.

The LinkedIn layoff list features over 400 ex-employees globally.

View list of employees laid off ->

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

Checkr

Checkr lays off 64 employees

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🌎 San Francisco, Denver ∙ 👩 64 employees (12%) ∙ 🖥 Multiple departments

Checkr, a startup that provides background checks to companies like Uber, Lyft, Instacart, laid off 64 employees (12%) last Thursday. The company has been hurt from a hiring slowdown by its clients during the pandemic.

A company executive provided Layoffs.fyi with an opt-in list of Checkr alumni (see link 👇). The Checkr layoff list features 43 impacted employees across multiple departments in its San Francisco and Denver offices.

Laid-off employees will receive 2 to 4 months of severance pay and one year of health insurance benefits. The company also removed the one-year vesting cliff for employee stock options.

In late 2019, Checkr raised funding at a valuation of $2.2 billion.

View list of employees laid off ->

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

Perkbox

HR tech startup Perkbox launches talent directory following layoff

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🌎 London ∙ 👩 At least 4 employees ∙ 🖥 Multiple departments

Perkbox, which makes HR software designed to improve the employee experience, conducted a layoff last week. In a LinkedIn post announcing the layoff, the company launched a talent directory showcasing some of its former employees (see link 👇).

The Perkbox layoff list features 4 ex-employees based in London.

View list of employees laid off ->

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

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🌎 New York City, Atlanta ∙ 👩 160 employees (40%) ∙ 🖥 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 👇for an opt-in list of nearly 100 employees laid off across Namely’s brokerage, client operations, go to market, and product/engineering teams.

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 5/7/20

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This week saw huge layoffs from Uber, Airbnb, and Juul. These 3 layoffs rank among the top 10 biggest in tech since the coronavirus was declared a pandemic.

Below are a few of the startup layoffs from this past week. 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!

🏢 Uber ∙ 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩3,700 employees (14%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • Ridesharing service Uber laid off 3,700 employees from its customer support and recruiting teams. The CEO’s letter to staff strongly hints that more cuts are coming in the next two weeks, including in engineering and product. As many as 5,400 employees are expected to ultimately be laid off.

🏢 Juul ∙ 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩900 employees (30%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • A maker of e-cigarettes, Juul has been mired in controversy over its role in the rise of underage vaping. Its layoff is unrelated to the coronavirus. Juul is also planning to move its headquarters from San Francisco to Washington D.C., partially because its products are now banned in SF.

🏢 CureFit ∙ 🌎 Bengaluru ∙ 👩 800 employees (16%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • An India-based fitness startup, CureFit also permanently closed a number of its gyms. The coronavirus lockdown has crushed fitness companies, including U.S.-based ClassPass (53% of team laid off or furloughed) and Brazil-based Gympass (467 employees laid off).

🏢 Careem ∙ 🌎 Dubai ∙ 👩 536 employees (31%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • A ridesharing service acquired by Uber last year, Careem was one of the Middle East’s biggest startups. However, its business has dropped 80% post-coronavirus. Laid-off employees will receive at least 3 months of severance, 1 month of equity vesting, and extended visa and health insurance through 2020.

🏢 Namely ∙ 🌎 New York City ∙ 👩 160 employees (40%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • A maker of HR and payroll software, Namely 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.

🏢 Kayak / OpenTable ∙ 🌎 Stamford ∙ 👩 160 employees (8%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • Kayak and OpenTable, both subsidiaries of Booking Holdings Inc., laid off 160 employees and furloughed another 240 employees. The company’s revenue has “dropped tremendously from the COVID-19 crisis.”

🏢 Oyo ∙ 🌎 London ∙ 👩 150 employees ∙ 🔗Source

  • The self-proclaimed “world’s fastest growing hotel chain,” India-based Oyo plans to lay off 150-200 of its 300 employees in the UK. Oyo has already let go or furloughed thousands of employees globally in recent months. Its occupancy rate and revenue have dropped by over 50-60% since earlier this year.

🏢 Andela ∙ 🌎 New York City ∙ 👩 135 employees (10%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • An Africa-focused startup that provides “engineering as a service,” Andela expects a decline in customers due to the economic downturn. The company is also shifting its strategy from acting as a talent accelerator to serving as a talent outsourcing firm. No engineers were part of the layoff.

🏢 Care.com ∙ 🌎Boston ∙ 👩 81 employees ∙ 🔗Source

  • An online marketplace of caregivers, Care.com said its layoff was not related to the coronavirus. Rather, the cuts are the result of Care.com’s acquisition by IAC in February.

🏢 Stack Overflow ∙ 🌎 New York City ∙ 👩 40 employees (15%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • A popular Q&A site for engineers, Stack Overflow has been hardest hit in its Talent business, which helps companies recruit and hire developers. Most of the affected employees were furloughed, though some were permanently laid off.

🏢 TheSkimm ∙ 🌎 New York City ∙ 👩 26 employees (20%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • A media startup targeted towards millennial women, TheSkimm is offering laid-off employees at least one month of severance and health insurance through July. Digital media companies have suffered declining revenue as brands pull back on advertising during the economic slowdown.

Layoffs Roundup: Wed 4/29/20

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Although the number of new startup layoffs thankfully declined this past week, there were deep cuts from companies like Lyft, TripAdvisor, and Deliveroo.

Below are a few of the recent layoffs. You can check our tracker for a more comprehensive report. As always, if you’ve seen a layoff spreadsheet for any of these companies, please let us know!

🏢 Lyft ∙ 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩982 employees (17%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • Ridesharing company Lyft has seen demand drop as people stay at home. Rival Uber is reportedly discussing a layoff as well (to the tune of 5,000 people), though those cuts have not been finalized.

🏢 TripAdvisor ∙ 🌎 Boston ∙ 👩900 employees (25%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • In conjunction with the layoff, TripAdvisor closed its San Francisco and downtown Boston offices. It is also pausing 401(k) matching 😢and reducing pay and hours to reflect a 4-day workweek. TripAdvisor became the latest travel company to conduct layoffs, joining Sonder (400 laid off on 3/24), TripActions (300 on 3/25), TravelTriangle (250 on 3/28), and Fareportal (200 on 3/26).

🏢 Deliveroo ∙ 🌎 London ∙ 👩 367 employees (15%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • An online food delivery service, Deliveroo blamed the layoff on the coronavirus pandemic. Although demand for meal delivery has risen due to shelter-in-place, consumers may increasingly decide to save money by cooking instead, something my wife told me I should also consider.

🏢 Automation Anywhere ∙ 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩 260 employees (10%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • A robotic process automation platform, Automation Anywhere said it needed to cut costs to adjust to the economic fallout caused by COVID-19. Although a startup that automates repetitive manual tasks would seemingly benefit from the pandemic, most of Automation Anywhere’s customers have its software installed on their own servers, in their own offices (that are now closed).

🏢 StockX ∙ 🌎 Detroit ∙ 👩 100 employees (12%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • A resale marketplace for sneakers, StockX has been negatively impacted by the plummeting demand for sneakers during the economic slowdown. The resale price of the 2020 Off-White Air Jordan V, for example, has dropped from a high of $986 to a low of $657 (which still sounds really expensive??)

🏢 Zenefits ∙ 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩 87 employees (15%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • A maker of HR and payroll software, Zenefits cited the coronavirus pandemic as the cause of the layoff. The company is running a number of coronavirus-related initiatives, including offering one year of free payroll for small business customers.

🏢 App Annie ∙ 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩 80 employees (18%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • A mobile analytics startup, App Annie said the layoff would help it become self-sufficient.

🏢 Sisense ∙ 🌎 New York City ∙ 👩 80 employees (9%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • A maker of business analytics software, Sisense is projecting lower growth due to economic slowdown. Accordingly, its cuts were reportedly concentrated in their sales and marketing teams.

🏢 WeWork ∙ 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩 74 employees ∙ 🔗Source

  • Beleaguered co-working company WeWork is laying off another 74 employees, including 60 from its 655 Montgomery St. location. WeWork had already cut thousands of employees in prior rounds of layoffs.

🏢 Oscar Health ∙ 🌎 New York City ∙ 👩 70 employees (5%) ∙ 🔗Source

  • A health insurance company, Oscar Health said the layoff was needed to meet budget goals. The company, co-founded by Josh Kushner (whose brother is President Trump’s son-in-law), has been criticized for potential conflicts of interest related to COVID-19 testing.

Layoffs Roundup: Thurs 4/16/20

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Layoffs continue to ripple through the startup ecosystem. Notable events from the past 2 days include a 35% layoff from Opendoor and a 30% layoff from VSCO.

Below are a few other recent layoffs. Check our 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!

  • The RealReal, an online marketplace for consigned luxury goods, laid off 10% of its employees and furloughed another 15%. Retailers and e-commerce companies have been among the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, due to stay-at-home orders and a pullback in consumer discretionary spending.
    • 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩 235 employees (10%) ∙ 🔗Source
  • GoPro, which makes action cameras, said it will cut over 200 employees. With fewer opportunities to sell through retail stores, the company will shift its focus to selling directly online.
    • 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩 200 employees (20%) ∙ 🔗Source
  • Zume, which uses robots to make pizza while it’s being delivered, laid off 2/3 of its team. The CEO decided against using similarly-named Zoom to announce the layoff, choosing instead to send out a company-wide email.
    • 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩 200 employees (67%) ∙ 🔗Source
  • Carta, which makes software that helps companies manage the equity they’ve issued to investors and employees, laid off 161 people (16%). It believes a slower economy will lead to fewer customers than originally projected. Carta is providing affected employees 3 months of pay and healthcare insurance until the end of the year.
    • 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩 161 employees (16%) ∙ 🔗Source
  • TouchBistro, a point-of-sale system for restaurants, laid off 131 employees (23%). Most of its restaurant customers have closed due to shelter-in-place.
    • 🌎 Toronto ∙ 👩 131 employees (23%) ∙ 🔗Source
  • Neon, a Brazil-based digital bank, laid off 70 employees (10%). Other Brazilian fintech startups like C6 Bank and Creditas have also recently conducted layoffs.
    • 🌎 Sao Paulo ∙ 👩 70 employees (10%)∙ 🔗Source
  • Envoy, which makes a front desk visitor sign-in system, laid off 30% of its staff (58 employees). Its business has been affected by office closures across the country.
    • 🌎 SF Bay Area ∙ 👩 58 employees (30%) ∙ 🔗Source

The Predictive Index

The Predictive Index lays off 59 employees

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🌎 Boston ∙ 👩‍💼59 employees ∙ 🖥 All departments

The Predictive Index, which makes talent optimization software, laid off 59 employees (if you’re recruiting, see link below for a list of departed employees 👇). A company executive cited the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak. The Predictive Index raised $50 million from General Catalyst last year.

View list of employees laid off ->

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

Triplebyte

Triplebyte lays off 15 talent managers and technical writers amidst “product shift”

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🌎 San Francisco ∙ 👩‍💼 15 employees (17%) ∙ 🖥 Customer Success, Technical Writing

Triplebyte, the recruiting platform that connects engineering candidates with tech companies, laid off 15 employees (see link below for the list👇). Its talent manager and technical writing teams were eliminated. An ex-employee’s LinkedIn post says the layoffs are due to a “product shift,” so the move doesn’t appear to be coronavirus-related. Five months ago, founder and former YC partner Harj Taggar stepped down as CEO.

View list of employees laid off ->

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