Bird Lays Off 23% of Workforce to Accelerate Path to Profitability
Micromobility company Bird cuts 138 employees amid broader economic headwinds and a push for sustainable growth.
Shared micromobility company Bird lays off 23% of its staff, affecting approximately 138 employees across various departments and regions. The company confirms the cuts to TechCrunch, attributing the decision to tough macroeconomic trends that force an acceleration of its path to profitability. Former employees on LinkedIn verify that the layoffs impact everyone from senior managers to recent hires, with the majority of the cuts occurring in Los Angeles.
Bird states that reducing its cost structure allows it to responsibly expand its eco-friendly transportation services into more than 400 cities. As part of this financial strategy, the company eliminates all non-critical third-party spending and pauses its retail operations for e-bikes and e-scooters. This downsizing follows Bird's first-quarter 2022 earnings report, where executives explicitly warned about plans to streamline resources against its core business.
This marks the second major round of mass layoffs for Bird, following a 30% staff reduction at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company, which went public via SPAC last November, currently faces the same challenging economic climate that prompts over 16,000 tech worker layoffs in the previous month. The ongoing reductions highlight the difficult reality of balancing climate-friendly transportation initiatives with the demands of a volatile market.