During the pandemic, so-called “meme stocks” from GameStop and AMC exploded. Much of that explosion in stock value was driven by accessible trading platforms like Robinhood.
And while new users piled in during the pandemic, Robinhood hired rapidly. Between 2020 and 2021, Robinhood staff grew dramatically: from 700 people to around 3,800, according to CEO Vlad Tenev. But that growth was apparently too much and too fast, and Robinhood was forced to slash headcount by 9% — more than 300 people altogether — in April.
Then, in August, the company announced it would cut another 800 jobs, or about 23% of its staff.
In the message to employees, CEO Vlad Tenev said that the earlier round of layoffs “did not go far enough” to bring down costs amid record inflation and the crypto market crash, which has reduced trading activity on the platform, he said.
Peloton: Over 4,150 people
In February, Peloton fired over 2,800 people amid an ongoing downturn in the company’s business.
It was the first of three rounds of layoffs in 2022, with a second round hitting Taiwan-based employees in July and a third wave of employees getting cut in August. In total, more than 4,150 jobs have been axed this year.
Peloton was once a pandemic darling, but the fading popularity of at-home fitness and a mishandling of its logistics operation have put a strain on the business. Peloton replaced cofounder John Foley as CEO in February, and current chief exec Barry McCarthy appears to be taking several measures to revive the business.
Shopify: About 1,000 workers
Shopify laid off roughly 1,000 employees, equivalent to 10% of its workforce worldwide.
In a memo to employees, CEO Tobi Lutke said that the company — which makes the tech that powers businesses’ online stores — had bet big on the pandemic-era e-commerce boom.
“It’s now clear that bet didn’t pay off. Ultimately, placing this bet was my call to make and I got this wrong,” Lutke wrote in the letter, which was posted on the company’s website.
7-Eleven: 880 jobs
Convenience store chain 7-Eleven cut 880 corporate jobs in Ohio and Texas in 2022 in the wake of the company’s 2020 purchase of rival Speedway.
A 7-Eleven spokesperson told Insider that the company has been assessing its new corporate structure and undergoing an “integration process” that led to the cuts, which took place at its support centers and field-support operations in Irving, Texas, and Enon, Ohio.
Vimeo: 6% of its workforce
Video-hosting platform Vimeo cut 6% of its staff in July.
“We are making this decision in order to ensure we come out of this economic downturn a stronger company,” Vimeo CEO Anijali Sud wrote in a blog post. “Our people are what makes Vimeo great, and losing any of them is a personal failure that I feel deeply. But after assessing the challenging market conditions and uncertainty ahead, I believe this is the responsible action to take.”
Tesla: 229 employees
Tesla laid off 229 people in late June, according to WARN filings.
The layoffs primarily impacted employees in its Autopilot division. Tesla also closed an entire office in San Mateo, California, and moved some of the office’s workers to another location, Bloomberg reported.
The cuts came after CEO Elon Musk said in early June that he wanted to cut jobs and that he had a “super bad feeling” about the economy.
Rivian: Around 6% of its workforce
Electric car-maker Rivian confirmed in July that it would cut around 800 employees, or about 6% of its 14,000-person workforce, as it worked to cut costs.
The layoffs came less than a year after Rivian went public in the largest IPO of 2021.
Gopuff: 10% of its staff
Delivery startup Gopuff laid off 10% of its staff, Insider reported in July.
“As a business, during these uncertain times, we owe it to our investors and customers to accelerate our timeline to profitability. As such, we have decided to confront the current moment by making difficult decisions about our core business,” cofounders Rafael Ilishayev and Yakir Gola wrote in an email to employees.
The latest round of layoffs come after Gopuff cut 3% of its workforce, or more than 400 workers, in March.
Re/Max: 17% of its workforce
Real estate firm Re/Max will lay off 17% of its workforce by the end of the year, the company announced.
The cuts will primarily affect employees in the technology division, the result of a “shift in strategy” as it partners with a third-party technology vendor, Re/Max said.
Microsoft: Less than 1% of employees
Microsoft announced in July that it was cutting a “small number” of employees across several groups, including consulting and customer and partner solutions, a company spokesperson told Bloomberg.
JPMorgan: Over 1,000 workers
In June, JPMorgan confirmed that it would lay off over 1,000 employees in its home-lending department. The cuts came amid slowing demand for mortgages and refinances.
“Our staffing decision this week was a result of cyclical changes in the mortgage market,” a JPMorgan spokesperson said in a statement to Insider at the time. “We were able to proactively move many impacted employees to new roles within the firm and are working to help the remaining affected employees find new employment within Chase and externally.”
source https://duchonsigns.wordpress.com/2022/10/07/a-wave-of-layoffs-is-sweeping-the-us-here-are-firms-that-have-announced-cuts-so-far-from-peloton-to-snap/
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