This company laid off its entire 200-member staff over a Google Meet call

Founded in 2017, Frontdesk managed over 1,000 furnished apartments across the United States and had raised around $26 million from investors that included the likes of Veritas Investments, Sand Hill Angels and JetBlue Ventures. (Representational Image).

Lay offs in any organisation can be a brutal experience for all categories of employees, across different stages of the hierarchical structure.

However, it can be particularly devastating if all staff members are given the pink slip as was seen recently when Frontdesk, a proptech company, laid off its entire staff of 200 employees over a two-minute call on Google Meet, a Techcrunch report said.

As per an employee who was present in the call, the terminations occurred owing to the company's unsuccessful attempts to secure extra capital. Frontdesk CEO Jesse DePinto informed the employees on the call that the company would be filing for a state receivership- an alternative to bankruptcy.

As per sources, Frontdesk, whose business model involves leasing apartments at market rental prices and furnishing them for short-term rentals in excess of 30 markets, had faced challenges because of capital expenditures, high upfront costs and demand fluctuations and rental rates. The company did try to secure investors by proposing a new plan for full building management, but it was not accepted by investors.

Founded in 2017, Frontdesk managed over 1,000 furnished apartments across the United States and had raised around $26 million from investors that included the likes of Veritas Investments, Sand Hill Angels and JetBlue Ventures.

This is not the first recent example of a company laying off employees in the United States in large numbers at once. In 2022, a British shipping company terminated 800 employees over a video call and planned to replace the employees with cheaper workers.

Also read: Vishal Garg's Better.com starts job cuts again, lays off entire real estate team