Peloton, US exercise, and fitness equipment company, CEO Barry McCarthy has announced to lay off nearly 500 employees.
These Job cuts are 12 percent of the total workforce. Earlier, in August the company laid off roughly 780 employees. The previous layoffs were the result of several stores shut down and hiked prices on bikes and treadmills.
Post the layoffs the company’s strength will be nearly 3,800 employees globally. This will be less than half the number the company hired at its peak last year.
CEO Barry McCarthy is unable to understand why the people are not happy with the decision. He was apparently surprised to learn that media reports “accentuated the negative” from his lay-off announcement.
The Verge reported, citing an internal memo the CEO issued, that accused the Wall Street Journal of creating the wrong impression instead of praising the company.
“We were expecting a story about redemption and the successful turnaround of Peloton, which is why we invested time on a background briefing them on the state of our turnaround,” he wrote.
“The headline should have been that recent strong execution and today’s restructuring have positioned us to meet our fiscal year-end goal of break-even cash flow, with a renewed focus on accelerating our growth,” McCarthy said.
Instead, “the article creates the impression we have six months to live, which is at odds with the story we told and the state of the business. That’s on me and I apologize,” he mentioned.
McCarthy said that “I don’t want this news cycle to overshadow the difficult reality that 500 of our colleagues have been impacted today, or the gratitude I have for all they and you have done for the company”.
Peloton is the leading interactive fitness platform globally, with a passionate community of more than 7 million Members in the US, UK, Canada, Germany, and Australia.
The peloton makes fitness entertaining, approachable, effective, and convenient while fostering social connections that motivate its Members to commit to their fitness journeys.
