Earlier this morning, Gusto CEO Josh Reeves sent the following email to all of Gusto.
Hello Gusties,
Company-building is about driving meaningful impact for those we serve, which includes navigating meaningful change. And, without question, one of the hardest changes is letting people go. Today, I’ve made the decision to let go of 126 Gusties, which represents 5% of the company. All Gusties will get a follow-up email in the next few minutes letting you know if you have been impacted or not by this layoff. If you have been impacted, the email will be sent to your personal email account and it will include details of your severance offering and next steps. Every impacted Gustie will have the option to have a conversation with their org leader and a people partner today as well.
To the Gusties impacted by this decision, I am sorry. I know it upends your lives and livelihoods, and that it’s particularly painful given our product is the People Platform, and our mission is to create a world where work empowers a better life. I am grateful for the care and dedication you put into your work on behalf of the employers and employees we serve. You will be missed. And we are committed to helping you find what’s next, whether that’s a new role elsewhere or starting a business of your own. We’ve set up this opt-in alumni talent directory to help facilitate introductions between you and companies in need of great talent.
What Gusto does — payroll, health benefits, employee onboarding, tax credits, remote hiring, and more — is core to every business. And it’s never mattered more than it does today for the hundreds of thousands of small-and-medium businesses we serve. For the past few years in particular, those businesses have had to adapt to many challenging circumstances, and Gusties have been hard at work to help them each step of the way. Our existing customers use Gusto more than ever before, and we’ve more than doubled the number of customers on Gusto during one of the most difficult periods to run a business. As usage and revenue accelerated, we hired aggressively to meet customer demand and invest in new products and services.
The reality is the macroeconomic situation has changed significantly over the past several months and affected all businesses as a result. Adapting is important, so we can ensure the work we do ultimately drives the impact we seek — especially in this volatile economic climate. I own and acknowledge that we didn’t always get this right. And one of the impacts of that is saying goodbye to a number of Gusties today.
Support for Departing Gusties
For the Gusties whose roles are impacted in this layoff, we want to enable you to start your next chapter as smoothly as possible.
Severance Pay: We will offer a minimum of 12 weeks of base salary, and up to 16 weeks, based on tenure as of today.
Health & Mental Well-being Benefits: We will offer a cash equivalent of a minimum of 3 months of COBRA, and up to 4 months based on a Gustie’s tenure as of today. Gusties will receive a cash stipend for Modern Health use through the end of the 2023 calendar year.
Equity: We will remove the 1-year cliff on vesting for any Gustie who has been at Gusto for less than a year. In addition, all departing Gusties will receive pro-rata vesting of their RSUs through today. We will also allow any Gusties who have stock options and have not yet reached their 3-year Gustoversary the full 10 years to exercise those options.
IT Equipment: Gusties will be issued a laptop stipend and are able to keep their other equipment (monitors, keyboards, etc.) to support them in their future job search.
Alumni Support: Gusties can opt-in to an alumni career directory (to be shared externally), plus opt-in to share a farewell note and their personal contact info with their Gusto colleagues.
Immigration: Gusties on a work visa will have the opportunity to book sessions with Gusto’s immigration counsel to get additional support.
New Business: If a departing Gustie starts a new business in the next 12 months and wants to use Gusto, it’ll be free for the first year.
Today it’s important we give impacted Gusties the time and space that is needed to process and ask questions. We’re closing our offices in SF, NYC and DEN today and tomorrow. And for transparency, I’m simultaneously sharing this email externally as a Gusto blog post. For those Gusties not impacted directly, we will be holding a company all-hands meeting tomorrow.
Building a durable business that drives real impact for those we serve has been our North Star at Gusto since day one. The businesses we serve are resilient. They make meaningful differences in our lives and communities. They are the backbone of our economy. Gusto has the privilege of serving hundreds of thousands of them. The opportunity ahead – serving millions of small and medium businesses and solving the countless pain points in their lives – is significant. It’s on us as a team to continue to turn that potential into reality. I’m proud of the progress we’ve made in the last 10 years, and I know that we’re still just at the beginning of what’s possible.
I am grateful to all Gusties – those we are saying goodbye to today, as well as those who are continuing the work of building Gusto. Thank you for being a part of Gusto’s journey.
-Josh
