A number of recently released Peloton staff disrupted the first hands-on meeting of the company’s new CEO, according to a new report.
Yesterday we reported on the news that the troubled exercise equipment company was cutting 20 percent of its workforce and replacing its CEO following a calamitous drop off in sales. Now it seems that at least some of those 2,800 disgruntled former employees have made their views known in no uncertain terms.
CSNBC claims that during a virtual hands-on meeting to introduce new CEO Barry McCarthy, current and former staff bombarded the chat with angry comments about the job cuts.
According to the messages obtained by the news outlet, these ranged from accusations of mismanagement to claims that the meeting was “awfully tone deaf”. One employee wrote that “I’m selling all my Peloton apparel to pay my bills!!!”.
As the conversation wrapped up (earlier than planned, it should be said), McCarthy was asked if laid off employees had somehow gained access to the chat, to which he replied “No comment.”
Peloton experienced a major boom over the lockdown period, as home exercise suddenly got bumped up the agenda for many people. Inevitably, as restrictions eased, that demand fell quite abruptly.
This led to reports in January that Peloton was struggling to shift stock, which the company put down to increased competition and the increasingly challenging economics of buying its expensive gear.
To heap further misery on the company, it’s being claimed that the recent Peloton Guide workout camera hasn’t been the huge hit that Peloton expected.
All of this has resulted in a company that was valued at $50 billion just a year ago stooping as low as $8 billion in more recent times.
