Layoffs in United States

Chef on 2020-10-08.

Alto Pharmacy, an online prescription delivery startup based in San Francisco, laid off 47 employees, representing 6% of its workforce, as part of a restructuring effort to streamline operations and reallocate resources for long-term growth. The layoffs occurred despite the company recently securing a $250 million funding round led by SoftBank and benefiting from the pandemic-driven surge in telemedicine and prescription delivery services. Affected employees are being offered significant severance and extended healthcare coverage, while the company continues to hire for roles critical to its mission.

TheWrap, a 12-year-old entertainment news site, laid off or furloughed employees earlier during the COVID-19 pandemic. The layoffs occurred as the media industry faced cancellations of videos and photo shoots, a shift to remote work for reporters, and the transition of live events to digital formats. The company, which relies on advertising for about 80% of its business, has been navigating financial challenges, including postponed movie premieres and changes in ad revenue timing due to events like the Oscars being rescheduled. Despite these cuts, TheWrap remains operational, describing itself as "lean and mean," and has recently hired a new chief revenue officer to bolster its advertising efforts amid industry consolidation and ongoing pandemic-related uncertainties.

In September 2020, WeWork's Chinese unit underwent a significant restructuring, selling a majority stake to Trustbridge Partners for $200 million, effectively transitioning to a Chinese-owned entity. As part of this localization and cost-cutting move, layoffs occurred within WeWork China, though the exact number of employees affected was not disclosed. The company had expanded rapidly in China since 2016, operating over 100 locations across 12 cities with 65,000 members, but faced financial challenges. Globally, WeWork, a major co-working space provider in the real estate and tech industry, served 612,000 members across 38 countries. The layoffs were tied to the strategic shift to reduce WeWork's direct involvement and control in the Chinese market amid broader financial pressures.

Air representing approximately 16% of its workforce on 2020-09-16.

NS8, a fraud prevention startup, laid off its entire workforce in September 2020, affecting approximately 200 employees. This 100% reduction came shortly after the company's CEO was arrested on fraud charges, which triggered a collapse in investor confidence and funding. The company, which had raised over $120 million, was forced to cease operations entirely. This event highlights the severe impact of leadership misconduct in the competitive cybersecurity and fintech industry, abruptly ending the venture.

HubHaus representing approximately 100% of its workforce on 2020-09-11.

Waze, the Google-owned navigation app, laid off 5 percent of its global workforce in September 2020, affecting approximately 30 employees out of a total of 555. The company also closed several offices in Asia-Pacific and Latin America as it refocused its business. The layoffs were primarily driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to widespread lockdowns and a sharp decline in road travel. With fewer people commuting and using the app for daily navigation, Waze experienced significant drops in monthly active users and driven kilometers, resulting in reduced advertising revenue. This restructuring aimed to streamline operations amid the challenging economic conditions caused by the global health crisis.

In 2020, lidar startup Ouster, based in San Francisco, laid off 10% of its workforce due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company, which operates in the competitive autonomous vehicle sensor industry, confirmed the reduction as part of broader cost-cutting measures amid market uncertainties. Despite this, Ouster managed to secure a $42 million Series B funding round from existing investors and reported significant revenue growth, allowing it to avoid further layoffs and maintain operations. The layoffs occurred as the company navigated temporary shutdowns at its manufacturing facility and aimed to stabilize finances while continuing product development and sales expansion in the lidar technology sector.

Swing Education, a K-12 education staffing platform, laid off approximately 40 employees in early 2024, representing about 20% of its workforce. The company, which operates in the edtech industry, cited a need to restructure and streamline operations to ensure long-term sustainability amid challenging market conditions. This reduction impacted teams across the organization as Swing Education adjusted its strategy to focus on core business areas.

Akerna on 2020-09-02.

Big Fish Games laid off 250 employees on 2020-09-01.

Salesforce laid off 1,000 employees representing approximately 2% of its workforce on 2020-08-26.

kununu, an employer review platform and subsidiary of the German recruiting giant XING, discontinued its U.S. operations and closed its Boston office in 2020. This strategic decision to exit the American market resulted in the layoff of the entire local team. While the exact number of employees affected was not publicly detailed in the post, the heartfelt farewells from the departing U.S. lead, Dan Sirk, indicate the closure impacted the dedicated commercial and product teams responsible for the platform's stateside growth. The move reflects the competitive challenges in the U.S. HR tech industry and a refocusing of kununu's efforts on its core European markets.

Spaces on 2020-08-24.

StreamSets on 2020-08-20.

Lumina Networks representing approximately 100% of its workforce on 2020-08-18.

DJI on 2020-08-17.

Los Angeles-based ridesharing startup HopSkipDrive, which provides transportation services for children, conducted a round of layoffs on August 11, 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted its operations. While the exact number of employees affected was not disclosed by CEO Joanna McFarland, the company had over 100 staff prior to the cuts, and this followed an earlier reduction of 10% in March. The layoffs impacted multiple departments, including operations, branding, sales, and customer support. The primary reason was the widespread shift by school districts to virtual learning, which drastically reduced demand for the company's core service. HopSkipDrive, founded in 2014 and having raised about $98 million, implemented these cuts with a focus on empathetic communication and severance support, reflecting the broader challenges faced by mobility and transportation startups during the pandemic.

Mozilla Corporation, the developer of the Firefox browser, laid off 250 employees globally, representing 25% of its workforce. This restructuring, driven by pandemic-related revenue pressures and a long-term decline in Firefox's market share, led to the closure of its Taipei operations. The company is shifting focus toward new revenue streams like its VPN and privacy products while reducing investments in developer tools and platform features. Mozilla's reliance on search ad revenue, particularly from a deal with Google, makes it vulnerable to economic downturns. The layoffs were accompanied by severance packages and the launch of a talent directory for affected employees.

Glossier laid off 150 employees representing approximately 38% of its workforce on 2020-08-07.

Vesta laid off 56 employees on 2020-08-05.

tZero on 2020-07-30.

In July 2020, Japanese e-commerce conglomerate Rakuten announced it was shutting down its U.S. online retail marketplace, originally known as Buy.com, leading to layoffs of 87 employees at its U.S. headquarters. The decision to wind down operations over two months came after years of struggle in the competitive U.S. market, where aggressive competition from Amazon, a rebranding from the well-known Buy.com name, and declining business made the venture unsustainable. Rakuten, which had acquired Buy.com for $250 million in 2010, emphasized that its profitable cash-back rewards business (Rakuten.com, formerly Ebates) and other divisions like Kobo were unaffected. This move reflected Rakuten's broader diversification, as the marketplace closure, while a setback, had limited impact on the larger corporate bottom line.

Pared on 2020-07-29.

Procore laid off 180 employees representing approximately 9% of its workforce on 2020-07-28.

Checkr, a San Francisco and Denver-based background check startup serving clients like Uber and Lyft, laid off 64 employees last Thursday, representing 12% of its workforce. The cuts affected multiple departments and were driven by a hiring slowdown among its clients during the pandemic. Impacted employees will receive 2 to 4 months of severance pay, one year of health insurance, and the removal of the one-year vesting cliff for stock options. Checkr, which was valued at $2.2 billion in late 2019, is part of the broader tech industry facing economic pressures.

In late July, LinkedIn conducted a significant workforce reduction, laying off 960 employees, which represents about 6% of its total staff. The cuts primarily impacted the Global Sales and Talent Acquisition teams, driven by a slowdown in hiring during the pandemic that affected the company's Talent Solutions business. As a response, LinkedIn launched an opt-in talent directory to help these former employees, many with expertise in customer success, recruitment, and sales across global regions, connect with new opportunities through its own platform. This move highlights the challenges faced by the professional networking giant in the tech industry's evolving landscape.

Lighter Capital laid off 22 employees representing approximately 49% of its workforce on 2020-07-20.

Optimizely, a San Francisco-based startup specializing in A/B testing and digital experimentation software, laid off approximately 60 employees, representing 15% of its workforce, in July 2020. The company cited the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as the primary reason for this difficult decision, aiming to position the business for continued success. Founded in 2009 and backed by investors like Benchmark, Index Ventures, and Goldman Sachs, Optimizely had raised $200 million in venture capital and served major clients such as Visa and IBM. Despite the broader trend of enterprise SaaS companies benefiting from the shift to remote work, Optimizely implemented these cuts, providing affected staff with severance, six months of COBRA coverage, and their laptops.

Vox Media, a prominent digital media company, is preparing for company-wide layoffs affecting both unionized and non-union staff. This decision follows a significant slump in advertising revenue, with the company reporting it was 40% off its second-quarter forecast and expects to miss its full-year target by 25%. The layoffs come after Vox furloughed about 100 employees, or 9% of its staff, in April due to the pandemic's impact, many of whom will now be permanently let go. With approximately 1,200 total employees, the exact number of new cuts is still being determined as the company consults with unions. The media industry has been heavily affected by reduced advertising budgets during the coronavirus crisis, prompting these difficult measures.

Yelp, the online review platform, announced in August 2020 that it would lay off an additional 63 employees as part of its extended office closures into 2021. This comes after the company had previously laid off 1,000 workers and furloughed about 1,100 in April due to the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which drastically reduced consumer activity and business for local services. While Yelp is recalling nearly all furloughed employees and restoring pay, the ongoing uncertainty in the economy led to these further job cuts. The layoffs reflect the broader challenges faced by the tech and local business industry during the pandemic, as companies adjusted to shifting consumer behaviors and prolonged remote work arrangements.

OnDeck conducted a round of layoffs this week, affecting employees across its New York and Denver offices as of July 2020. While the exact number of employees laid off and the total workforce size were not disclosed, the move was described by a former employee as necessary for the company to navigate the unprecedented economic challenges at the time. The layoffs were significant enough that the head of corporate communications was also reportedly no longer with the company, highlighting the impact. OnDeck operates in the financial technology industry, providing small business loans, and the layoffs reflect broader adjustments within the fintech sector during the pandemic period.

In response to the economic challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, Denver-based interior design startup Havenly implemented layoffs in the spring of 2020. The company let go of five full-time employees and some temporary workers, while also transitioning some designers from employee to contractor status. These cuts were part of broader efforts to conserve capital during a period of uncertainty, which included a discernible dip in business in March and early April. However, as stay-at-home orders spurred increased consumer interest in home improvement, Havenly's digital-focused business model saw a rebound. By June 2020, the company had reversed course, hiring six new full-time employees and five temps. The pandemic also led to the permanent closure of Havenly's retail locations in several major cities, as the company decided to focus on its digital offerings.

Kongregate laid off 12 employees on 2020-07-01.

In July 2020, women's coworking operator The Wing laid off 56 employees, a mix of hourly and corporate staff, as part of ongoing restructuring due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This followed a previous round in April that cut the majority of hourly workers and half of the corporate workforce. The company, which had grown to about 12,000 members across multiple cities and raised over $100 million from investors, was forced to temporarily close its locations and pause memberships and programming. Facing a slashed valuation and operational challenges, The Wing aimed to rebuild its business model, offering severance and health benefits to affected staff while seeking a new path forward for its community.

Sharethrough laid off 18 employees on 2020-07-01.

Hired on 2020-06-30.

G2 laid off 17 employees representing approximately 5% of its workforce on 2020-06-30.

New Relic laid off 20 employees on 2020-06-29.

Argo AI laid off 100 employees on 2020-06-29.

Bossa Nova, a robotics company, laid off a significant portion of its workforce in early November 2020. While the exact number of employees affected was not publicly disclosed, the layoffs impacted dozens of workers, representing a substantial reduction as the company shifted its business strategy. The cuts were part of a broader restructuring, moving away from in-store inventory robots for retailers like Walmart—a sector heavily impacted by the pandemic—to focus on other robotics applications. This restructuring occurred within the competitive and capital-intensive robotics and artificial intelligence industry.

Katerra laid off 400 employees representing approximately 7% of its workforce on 2020-06-29.

Engine eCommerce, a Fayetteville-based e-commerce software startup, laid off its entire workforce of approximately 25 employees in early 2020 after a critical funding round collapsed at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company, which had raised $4.5 million in venture capital and was expanding its team and office space, effectively shut down, with its website going offline and employees listing themselves as former staff. Led by prominent entrepreneur John James, Engine had developed a cloud-based platform to optimize customer acquisition and conversion but was forced to close when financial backing disappeared amid the pandemic's economic uncertainty.

Byton on 2020-06-27.

Sprinklr, a customer experience management platform valued at over $1 billion, laid off at least 30 employees in late May, affecting multiple departments across the country with a notable focus on customer success roles. While the exact percentage of its total workforce impacted is not specified, the company has initiated a talent directory to assist those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the economic pressures within the tech industry that prompted this restructuring.

Sonos, the audio technology company known for its smart speakers, announced in a filing on Tuesday that it is reducing its global workforce by 12% as a direct response to the economic uncertainty and challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Based on its reported total of 1,450 employees, this layoff affects approximately 174 people. The company is also closing its New York City retail store and six satellite offices as part of broader cost-cutting measures initiated in March, which included reducing marketing investments and managing inventory. CEO Patrick Spence stated these difficult decisions are necessary to position the company for future opportunities. Sonos estimates the restructuring will incur charges of $25 to $30 million, with executive and board compensation also being reduced during this period.

GoDaddy, a major domain registrar and web services company, is laying off 814 employees, which represents approximately 10% of its workforce. This restructuring, announced in mid-2020, is primarily due to significant challenges with its outbound sales and GoDaddy Social product, as the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted many of the small business clients who use these services. The layoffs heavily affect teams in Austin, where offices are closing, and include 331 sales employees from the social division, along with reductions in fulfillment and customer success teams. While many affected employees are being offered new roles or relocation, the company is providing substantial severance packages. The move is part of a broader business shift amid the pandemic's economic fallout.

Dark, a programming language and service startup, has laid off at least six employees, which includes four engineers, one designer, and one business person, all based remotely or in the San Francisco Bay Area. This represents a significant reduction, effectively leaving co-founder Paul Biggar as the sole employee, though the company will continue operating. The layoffs occurred last week, following the release of a layoff list by Dark. Founded in 2017 with a $3.5 million seed round, the company operates in the software development industry as a small-scale startup. The move suggests a major downsizing, with its LinkedIn page now showing only the founders as active, indicating a near-complete shutdown of its workforce.

ScaleFactor laid off 90 employees representing approximately 90% of its workforce on 2020-06-23.