LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The giant online shoe and clothing retailer Zappos is denying rumors that the company is laying off employees.
On Aug. 24, it was announced that Tony Hsieh, one of the founders of the company and CEO, had been replaced by Chief Operating Officer Kedar Deshpande.
It was announced that same day that Zappos lost one of its biggest names — Nike.
When asked if any Zappos employees had been laid off, the company sent the following response:
This is not a layoff. As part of ongoing business planning, Zappos regularly assesses and shifts funding for investments across the company. Our current plans include pivoting investments to refocus more on initiatives that will further Deliver Wow for Zappos customers. With this in mind, we are building off a similar Offer from back in 2015 to give impacted employees the opportunity to voluntarily depart with an even more generous compensation package. Zappos is a family, and we are making every effort to take care of all Zapponians as they determine which decision is best for them.
In 2015, more than 200 employees took buyouts when Hsieh announced to the company that Zappos, which is headquartered in downtown Las Vegas, would be moving to a flatter management structure and doing away with “people managers.”
About 14% of the company’s employees who did not want to make the switch took advantage of the buyout offer.
At that time, the employees were offered 3 months severance and 3 months of COBRA benefits if they had been with the company 4 years of less. Employees with the company more than 4 years received an additional one month of severance for every year with the company, according to GeekWire.
