Chief executive blames 'challenging economic times'
Teletherapy and medication management company Cerebral is laying off about 20% of its workforce to match patient demand and lower growth targets.
Some 400 people will lose their jobs, primarily clinical staff and care counselors, reported Insider.
But the changes would be spread across all divisions of the Walnut, CA-based company, including headquarters, clinical care teams and support staff, reported The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing a memo Cerebral chief executive David Mou sent to workers.
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“These are challenging times for many companies,” Mou wrote. “In order to continue to work towards our mission, we have a duty to our patients to ensure our business is healthy and sustainable throughout challenging economic times.”
Affected employees would be notified over the course of the week, according to the report.
The SoftBank-backed company is “doing everything we can to support our impacted colleagues as they pursue other opportunities,” Cerebral told TechCrunch. The moves are part of the company’s efforts to streamline operations while giving priority to clinical quality and safety, noted WSJ. Cerebral provides medication and therapy online to people with anxiety, depression, ADHD and other conditions.
Cerebral cut some contract workers, including nurse practitioners, earlier this summer, reported WSJ, citing documents. In recent months, the company terminated scores of support staffers and shifted duties to a firm called ResolvedCX employing workers in the Philippines.
In May, Cerebral parted ways with former chief executive Kyle Robertson, and promoted Mou to the vacated position.
Cerebral has joined a long list of employers that have announced cutbacks in their staffing, following the steps taken by Calm.com Inc., Beyond Meat, Warner Bros. Television Group and DocuSign.
Earlier this week, Seagate Technology also announced the same move.
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The Cupertino, CA-based company plans to cut 8% of its global workforce, or about 3,000 employees, citing declining demand and economic uncertainty, CNBC reported.
“In addition to adjusting our production output, to drive supply discipline and pricing stability, we are implementing a restructuring plan to sustainably lower costs, including reduction in our global workforce,” Seagate CEO Dave Mosley said on a call with analysts. The restructuring plan was announced after the Silicon Valley firm reported fiscal first-quarter earnings that missed Wall Street expectations for revenue and earnings per share.
Some employers, including SoulCycle, have also announced the closing of some locations.
Many employers have also been reducing their hiring efforts. In August, the number of job openings decreased to 10.1 million from 11.2 million in July, according to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).