Well folks, it looks like Lyft is cleaning house! One week into newbie CEO David Risher’s tenure and the company announced that they will be laying off a significant amount of employees. We’re not sure why they hired him in the first place, perhaps they were hoping he was an expert in unemployment benefits? Anyway, a spokesperson declined to comment on exactly how many workers will lose their jobs but the Wall Street Journal reported that at least 1,200 people will face the guillotine. That’s roughly 30% of Lyft’s 4,000-person workforce. Ouch, that’s a lot of pink slips.
“I’m confirming that we will significantly reduce the size of the team as part of a restructuring to focus on better meeting the needs of riders and drivers,” Risher told Lyft employees in an email. Really? That’s his reasoning? It seems like Lyft isn’t too inconvenienced with the idea of “basic employee rights.” Risher’s appointment was announced in March and went into effect April 17, meaning he barely got settled in his chair before he started swinging the axe. Maybe he should change his job title to “Head Executioner.”
Lyft’s already had to make job cuts back in November, where they canned 700 employees. That’s around 13% of their workforce. But clearly, that wasn’t enough bloodshed for them. According to Risher, the layoffs are part of a plan to make Lyft a “faster, flatter company.” It sounds to me like they’re trying to turn the company into a pancake mix. Yum!
Who is David Risher, you ask? Well, apparently, he’s a former Amazon executive. Maybe he got inspired by the movie “The Devil Wears Prada” and is trying to be his own version of Miranda Priestly. In a town hall a few weeks ago, Risher warned his employees that layoffs were coming so that they could update their resumes and LinkedIn profiles, just in case. Talk about some tough love!
Lyft has been struggling against its rival Uber, who is still considered to be the leader in the ride-sharing game, in terms of market share and market capitalization. Lyft debuted at a whopping $72 and now trades under $10. Woof, that’s a steep decline. Maybe they should rebrand themselves as “Lyft: The Bargain Bin Ride-Share Service.”
A Lyft spokesperson told CNBC, “This is a hard decision and one we’re not making lightly.” Yeah, sure. They’re probably not even providing tissues for their employees to cry on. The tech industry as a whole has been struggling with layoffs lately. Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have collectively laid off over 172,000 employees so far in 2023. Looks like tech firms need to step up their game with employee retention.
Lyft says that the restructuring won’t impact previously issued guidance. Wow, someone should give them an award for being the most optimistic group in the room. The company is set to report earnings for the first quarter of 2023 on May 4. As for the rest of their employees, we hope they have some good contacts in the job market. Farewell, dear Lyft workers. May the job hunt be ever in your favor.
In conclusion, Lyft is going through tough times and apparently, the only thing that will help them is to make a bunch of their employees unemployed. It’s like that saying, “When life gives you lemons, make your employees unemployed.” It may sound harsh, but we’re sure Lyft knows what it’s doing. Right? *crickets*
Serious News: cnbc
