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Breanna Robinson
Feb 08, 2022
Peloton Is Replacing Its CEO and Cutting 2,800 Jobs
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Peloton, the exercise equipment and media company, offered a free year of exercise classes to 2,800 it laid off - and people are criticising it for the offer.
The Peloton membership, which costs around $40 a month, comes in addition to general layoff measures including, extended health coverage, cash severance payments, and helping people find new careers.
“We are equipping every team member leaving Peloton with helpful tools to make them as comfortable as possible as they explore their career path post-Peloton,” wrote John Foley, the former Peloton CEO on Tuesday morning.
Foley, who recently stepped down as CEO, will stay on as the executive chairman after Barry McCarthy, the former Netflix and Spotify chief financial officer.
According to The New York Post, some employees found out about the layoffs from articles they saw on the internet before seeing Foley’s email and spent Tuesday morning trying to find out if they were among the 20 per cent to be let go.
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People on Twitter were taken aback by the announcement about the employees with one writing:
What a bad joke. Corporations more and more lose their connection to reality. No wonder so many people don't want to work anymore.— IMMORTAN-GME (@IMMORTAN-GME) 1644335977
Some also spoke on Foley’s recent multi-million dollar East Hamptons estate purchase:
Peloton CEO\nDecember: bought a $55 million estate in the Hamptons and held a swanky party at The Plaza while the company's stock fell 75%\nNow: Laid off 2,800 employees and will stay on as executive chairmanhttps://nypost.com/2022/02/08/peloton-offers-laid-off-employees-1-year-of-free-exercise-classes/\u00a0\u2026— Dan Price (@Dan Price) 1644341913
Manipulating stock price with the faux appearance of growth is now a viable business model. Pretty cool that your business can be a massive failure and you make 100 million. Anyway subscribe to my YouTube.https://twitter.com/DanPriceSeattle/status/1491104174293270528\u00a0\u2026— Billy Wayne Davis (@Billy Wayne Davis) 1644345654
A CNBC reporter also chimed in and said she got messages from former workers who found out they were being le\t go because the company “turned their Slack access off":
Am receiving many messages from (now former) Peloton employees who learned they were being let go because the company turned their Slack access off. $pton— Lauren Thomas (@Lauren Thomas) 1644335953
Someone else joked about seeing Peloton bikes in HomeGoods furniture stores:
Cannot wait for Peloton bikes to show up in HomeGoods for $299.https://twitter.com/notcapnamerica/status/1491116383622799360\u00a0\u2026— Lena Luther Vandross (@Lena Luther Vandross) 1644344926
Laid-off employees will still have the opportunity to take classes from their preferred Peloton instructors. The company said the instructors are not being affected by the job cuts.
This isn’t the first time Peloton’s corporate employees have felt that the exercise instructors were favoured more.
In December, Foley had an invite-only holiday party at New York City’s Plaza hotel for some of his instructors, although he rejected a companywide bash to cut costs.
The former CEO said that the event was a “personal party” for vaccinated friends and family.
Indy100 reached out to Peloton for comment.
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