Online food delivery platform DoorDash on Wednesday said it is laying off around 1,250 employees.
Those impacted received an email notification on their personal devices to both DoorDash and personal email address.
“Anyone impacted will receive 17 weeks severance pay, as well as your February 2023 stock vest,” said DoorDash CEO Tony Xu.
“I did not take this decision lightly. We have and will continue to reduce our non-headcount operating expenses, but that alone wouldn’t close the gap. This hard reality ultimately led me to make this painful decision to reduce our team size,” said Xu.
Employees will also continue to receive healthcare benefits through March 31, 2023.
For employees in the US on a visa, DoorDash will set the termination date for March 1, 2023, so they have enough time to find a new job.
“We will create an opt-in directory for companies to reach you and offer recruiting support to help you find your next job,” said Xu.
“If you are among those impacted, I am truly sorry and I apologize to have some of you wake up to this news as opposed to reading it during more normal hours,” he added.
Prior to Covid-19, DoorDash was actually undersized as a company.
The pandemic presented sudden and unprecedented opportunities to serve the evolving needs of merchants, consumers and “Dashers”.
“Most of our investments are paying off, and while we’ve always been disciplined in how we have managed our business and operational metrics, we were not as rigorous as we should have been in managing our team growth. That’s on me. As a result, operating expenses grew quickly,” said the CEO.
