Home > Latest News > Peloton Tipped To Close OZ Operation After 2,800 Employees Sacked

Peloton Tipped To Close OZ Operation After 2,800 Employees Sacked

US interactive fitness Company Peloton, is set to close their struggling Australian operation after announcing the sacking of over 2,800 employees worldwide according to sources.

The business was set up in Australia as serious questions were being asked about the US operation and the quality of their interactive training machines.

Peloton is also replacing its CEO John Foley as speculation mounts that both Amazon and Nike are running a ruler over the business.

The job cuts amount to around 20 percent of the former pandemic darling’s corporate workforce.

Employees are being offered complimentary fitness classes for 12 months as part of their severance package.

The Peloton membership, which typically costs $40 per month, comes in addition to more typical layoff measures including cash severance payments, extended health care coverage and help finding new jobs.

“We are equipping every team member leaving Peloton with helpful tools to make them as comfortable as possible as they explore their career path post-Peloton,” wrote Foley, who dropped $55 million on an East Hampton estate in December.

Foley — who will stay on as executive chairman after former Netflix and Spotify chief financial officer Barry McCarthy takes the reins as CEO — broke the news in a companywide email overnight.

What is not affected are the army of Peloton instructors that earn over $600,000 a year telling users how to best use their Peloton gear.

Peloton hopes the changes will boost profitability after waning demand for its connected fitness equipment have made it an acquisition target.

“The company’s roster of instructors is foundational to the user experience, and Peloton will continue to invest in its content creators for the benefit of its loyal and growing community,” Peloton said in a press release, assuring customers that the layoffs “will not impact the current Member experience.”

The New York Post claims that back in December, Foley hosted an invite-only holiday party at Manhattan’s swanky Plaza Hotel for some of his instructors — even after he nixed a companywide bash as a cost-cutting measure.

Foley argued that the champagne-soaked event was a “personal party for our vaccinated family and friends to celebrate all NYC has been through over the past two years,” but some staffers still felt wronged.

“All of the instructors and their plus-ones were invited to attend but companywide there was a moratorium on hiring and any holiday parties,” one Peloton employee grumbled at the time. “Morale is at an all-time low.”

Local management have not commented on the layoffs and David Jones have not said whether the Peloton store within a store will be closed.

A little over two weeks ago, activist investor Blackwells Capital LLC called for Peloton to fire Mr. Foley and explore a sale of the company, which the Journal has reported is attracting potential suitors including Amazon.com Inc.

Blackwells reiterated its call Tuesday, saying Mr. Foley should leave the company entirely rather than become executive chairman. Blackwells also released a 65-page presentation in which it estimated a sale could value Peloton above $65 a share. Peloton shares closed Monday at $29.75.



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