Casper winds down European operations and lays off 78 people – TechCrunch
Mattress company Casper is shutting down its European operations and laying off 78 people as it focuses on “achieving profitability,” according to a statement by the company. The layoff impacts 21% of its corporate workforce globally.
In the statement, the company said that it is winding down European operations to “concentrate on the strength of the North American business.” The action out will result in more than $10 million in annualized savings, per the company.
The company also noted that Casper’s CFO and COO, Gregory Macfarlane, will be departing from the company on May 15.
Casper said it will give impacted employees in both North America and Europe severance, extended medical coverage, career coaching and new job placement support.The company did not immediately return a request for comment.
In the months since its lackluster IPO and troubled public market debut in February, the company has struggled amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Last month it announced it will shut down all retail locations and furlough all retail employees.
Ahead of going public, Casper hinted at some struggles. The company cut its valuation by more than 50% by lowering its expected price range from between $17 to $19 per share to between $12 and $13.
Casper was one of the recent tech unicorns to make it to the public market, and might be for a while given an increasingly tumultuous economic environment. Tech unicorns have not been immune to the massive number of layoffs seen around the world right now. GetAround, Knotel, Sonder, ZipRecruiter, TripActions and Bird are all among the second wave of unicorn layoffs.
As reported by Crunchbase News with data from layoffs.fyi, 46% of all reported layoffs for private companies come from unicorn companies. Roughly 36 private unicorn companies have laid off staff since the COVID-19 outbreak, according to the data.
It’s worth remembering that amid these massive layoffs, it is likely that employees in satellite offices will likely be affected. Casper is a clear example of this, as the New York-based company cuts its Europe team.
The company is throwing up warning signs ahead of Q1 earnings, which it will report on May 21, 2020.
