The just laid people off - Avis employé Employé (anonyme) Influitive

I’m sorry that you were among the 19 people we just let go (or so it would appear), and I hope you are doing OK. It’s unfortunate that you disagree with our decisions about how to allocate our resources. You’re absolutely right, companies face decisions about whether to spend on salaries (i.e. people directly) or on areas that help their people be productive, grow professionally, connect with one another, and enjoy a high quality of life (i.e. people indirectly). While we have made decisions to curb spending in other areas of the business, we felt strongly about avoiding any cuts that represented investments in our people and culture. Instead of letting go of some amazing people, we could have eliminated education spending, reduced health benefits, taken out the mini-gym, moved the office to a nondescript industrial park, and stopped providing any food for the team. Combined, these would have saved the equivalent of 4-5 people’s salaries. However, after consideration of these options, our leadership team unanimously agreed to take our team down to the right size, while continuing to invest in our people. The 19 people who are no longer on the team will land in great roles, and we’re helping them do that by sharing a list* of the people who are available, offering resume reviews, and making introductions to other great companies and people we know. As tough a decision as it was, to not make that decision would have been reckless with the careers of the entire team, not 12.5% of it**. We chose to make the more difficult choice, which optimizes the chance that we’re ultimately successful in building something enduring. * https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bGLsEkX4gqIKAQmiqwgiUMadF1XwxLgdrs-1mDznKmU/edit?usp=sharing ** http://betakit.com/influitive-lays-off-13-percent-of-staff-citing-need-to-focus-on-sustainability/