AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT HERSHEY (05/07/24)

Am I Next? Layoffs at Hershey.

MAY 7, 2024 — 500-600 EMPLOYEES TARGETED IN PENNSYLVANIA

The company has announced the continuation of its two-year Next Century restructuring plan to cut costs and improve efficiencies. It is targeting between 500 and 600 employees at its Pennslyvania facility. It is expected that a large portion of any cost savings will come from driving productivity through increased automated processes.

MARCH 11, 2024 — Original post…

Hershey, Pennsylvania-based Hershey, the iconic multinational confectionery company famous for its chocolate bars, has announced its intention to increase automation of its operations and a 5% reduction in its global workforce.

The reduction in force could impact up to 1,000 full-time and part-time employees.

According to a company statement, "We do not expect significant disruption or impact to our employee base with the impact being less than 5% of our workforce. The layoffs are part of a new multi-year productivity initiative to generate long-term savings as the company looks to offset declining sales in the face of rising cocoa, sugar, and labor costs."

“The Company is implementing efforts to increase agility, enhance automation, and support a more efficient operating model to deliver its long-term business and financial goals. Examples of this would be driving greater efficiencies and connectivity through shared services, enabling better forecasting and responding to changes in the marketplace more quickly to better meet consumer needs.”

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. We see good people being laid off through no fault of their own. 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?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT GRAMMARLY

San Francisco, California-based Grammarly, a cloud-based typing assistant that reviews spelling, grammar, punctuation, clarity, engagement, and delivery mistakes, detects plagiarism, and suggests replacements for the identified errors, has announced a restructuring initiative that includes a cost-cutting initiative and a reduction in its workforce.

The reduction in force will impact approximately 230 employees.

CEO, Rahul Roy-Chowdhury noted...

Dear Grammarlians,

Today, I announced the difficult decision to lay off part of our global team as we restructure for continued success in the future. I recognize the impact of this decision, particularly on those who will no longer be working with Grammarly. I want to share some details on how we got here, the support we’re providing for those who are leaving, and what comes next for us as a company.

Restructuring Grammarly for continued success

Grammarly has spent the last 15 years building and improving our AI-powered writing assistance for millions of people around the world. Over the past five years, we’ve grown our team from 200 to 1,000 team members while running a profitable business.

In that time, Grammarly has also seen—and weathered—changes in our industry and the global environment, including a global pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and a new age of AI. Changes like these have challenged us to be more strategic and focused on the opportunities ahead—and they’ve also propelled our mission and product forward.

To arrive at today’s decision, we took a look at our organizational design and the current skillsets of our teams through the lens of our company strategy. As we strengthen our focus toward driving the AI-enabled workplace and deepen our technical investments in AI, we will need a different mix of capabilities and skillsets. We also need to redesign our organization to improve the quality and speed of collaboration — and that means, among other things, restructuring roles and co-locating certain teams. This is not a cost-cutting exercise. Grammarly’s financial position is, and remains, strong.

Support for our departing team members

This layoff affects most Grammarly functions and geographies. It’s of the utmost importance to me that we treat our departing team members respectfully and in ways that reflect Grammarly’s EAGER values.

As for Grammarly’s future: We see massive opportunity as every individual and business begins to harness the power of AI. For nearly 15 years, we’ve been building a product that helps millions of people every day, makes teams measurably more productive, and is already used by employees in 96% of the Fortune 500. We’ll build on this foundation to bring even more value to our customers. AI will fundamentally change the workplace for the better—and Grammarly will play a leading role in driving that change.

Thank you to all departing Grammarlians who’ve invested their time and energy into this company. And thank you to our entire team for your extended empathy and consideration of one another as we work through this change.

-Rahul

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. We see good people being laid off through no fault of their own. 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?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT GETAROUND

San Francisco, California-based Getaround, an online car sharing or peer-to-peer carsharing service that connects drivers who need to reserve cars with car owners who share their cars in exchange for payment, has announced a 30% reduction in its American workforce.

CEO Sam Zaid noted...

Team

2023 was a challenging year for Getaround, but we’ve come out of it stronger. It was our first full year as a public company, and – as many companies have also experienced, both public and private – it was a year filled with tremendous challenges, and successes.

One area on which we continue to focus is the profitability of the company, keeping the long-term success of the business in mind. In that regard, we have made the difficult decision to further reduce costs and our workforce, effective immediately. This decision is part of our plan to better meet the global nature of the carsharing business and will affect approximately 30% of our North American staff.

The Reason for This Decision

It is never easy and always a difficult decision to part with our valued, amazing team members. The team at Getaround is like none other. This decision was especially difficult as we’ve worked so closely together to overcome the challenges the company faced through 2023.

Getaround is committed to achieving profitability and long-term business success while staying true to our mission, keeping the best interests of our community and stakeholders in mind. This decision is expected to reduce costs and further accelerate our path to profitability. We anticipate this reduction in our workforce will result in savings of approximately $7 million on an annualized run-rate basis.

The Road Ahead

While this is challenging news, we believe the future is bright for Getaround. We have made considerable progress over the past year, including:

Steady and meaningful improvements in revenue growth, unit profitability, and in our overall adjusted EBITDA profile

Launched new A.I. systems to improve our business, such as our TrustScore A.I.

Restructured to lower our fixed costs, and improved our operating efficiency

Deployed a powerful new global app that unifies and enables seamless trip coordination across the U.S. and Europe.

Consolidated and expanded our leadership in carsharing for the gig economy, enabling gig workers across the U.S. to rent cars to drive for services like Uber and DoorDash.

As the only carsharing marketplace that is truly global, connected, and delivering a digital user experience, and as the leader in gig carsharing, we believe Getaround is increasingly well positioned for the future.

How We Move Forward

I want to thank all those teammates who contributed to the progress we’ve made at Getaround. While we believe this is the right decision for the business, it does not diminish the challenge of letting talented colleagues go, or the gratitude we have for the dedication and professionalism of the team.

These decisions are difficult but in the best interest of Getaround and our long-term success. I take full responsibility for this decision, and I do apologize for the heartache and disruption it will cause.

Thank you again to our current and former teammates for their invaluable contributions to Getaround and our mission to empower people to carshare everywhere.

- Sam

“We own too many cars,” Zaid said. “We park them 22 to 23 hours a day, so there’s a vast amount of underutilization.”

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. We see good people being laid off through no fault of their own. 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?