New York, New York-based WW, formerly Weightwatchers, a company dedicated to assisting individuals in losing weight and improving their lifestyle, is continuing to restructure the company to broaden its focus from weight loss to lifestyle and wellness as well as reposition the company as a technology-based enterprise.
The company recently conducted a mass layoff, estimated by some, to include thousands of part-time and full-time employees. The company acknowledges the reduction in force but refuses to disclose further details. What was different was the extent to which the company used voice-only Zoom calls to inform the employees of the bad news.
While WW CEO Nick Hotchkin declined to state the number of employees laid off or the number of employees terminated by Zoom calls, he did comment, “It wasn’t practical to have all of the conversations be one on one. Even as we start a phased reopening of some of our locations, we know our business will continue to be impacted by this crisis. That was the context in which we decided to restructure our studio business, and make substantial changes to our corporate structure and workforce.”
Prior to the Chinese Virus pandemic which curtailed significant customer interaction with nation-wide group leaders, the company was attempting to position itself as a technology company with a content-rich platform and technology-enabled interaction with its client base. The company has previously announced a target of $100 million in cost savings that included a reduction in force, salary cuts, and a reorganization of a labor-intensive operation to one that benefited from increased automation.
According to the company's earnings call to investors...
"WW is a technology company delivering a human experience. Our transformation from primarily offline to a digitally enabled experience has been underway for several years, with all members enjoying the tools, features, content and connect community available in the WW app. In mid-March to ensure the health and safety of our members and our coaches, we proactively pivoted from in-person workshops for our global studio members, which represent approximately 25% of our overall membership to an entirely virtual experience. Over six days sprint, our studio operations, technology and digital product teams developed a solution for our coaches to host their workshops virtually. We trained over 14,000 coaches and guides globally for virtual workshop, and created Connect groups for each studio, so that members can continue to engage with each other, inside the WW ecosystem in between workshop. The move to virtual workshops has accelerated our digital first strategy. While face-to-face experiences will always be a core part of WW, we are strategically repositioning our studio business to have a smaller real estate footprint with fewer locations."
The company has struggled in recent years from declining participation, changing consumer tastes, and the proliferation of free and engaging diet and wellness apps.
Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?