Peloton Laid Off 2,800 People But Don't Worry, They're Getting Free One-Year Peloton Memberships

The Independent — Peloton has laid off 2,800 of its employees, and part of their severance is a 12-month subscription to the company’s fitness services.

John Foley, the exercise bike company’s co-founder, announced the layoffs on Tuesday in a bombshell message, in which he also said he’d be stepping down as CEO.

“I recently shared that we have been in the process of re-evaluating our costs across the entire organization to ensure we are appropriately structured for the post-COVID landscape,” Mr Foley wrote. “As part of this program, we’ve made the difficult decision to reduce the size of the Peloton team by approximately 2,800 positions globally.”

The former CEO – now Peloton’s “executive chair” – added that outgoing employees would receive a “meaningful cash severance allotment,” extended health coverage (“for a period of time”), career services, and a free year of Peloton’s live-streamed exercise classes.

“The Peloton monthly membership will be complimentary for impacted team members for an additional 12 months,” he said.

Thank you, John Foley! Look, I know a whole bunch of y'all just got laid off, but all you have to do is go buy a $1,500 bike from your former employer — that nobody is buying, hence you having lost your job — and they'll throw in the $40/month classes for free! This asshole is still trying to come out ahead on severance packages.

If it's any consolation to the nearly 3,000 people who are no longer employed, Foley is also stepping down as CEO. Sure, he just bought a $55 million house in The Hamptons two months ago, but he's just like them!

Blackwells Capital, an investor in Peloton, released a lengthy slideshow detailing Foley's incompetence as CEO, which I'm sure is a much more enjoyable parting gift than free workout classes. Every former employee who got laid off should have been able to submit one sentence about Foley to be included in the presentation.

I'm just glad some companies still know how business is done. All these people may no longer have jobs because of their employer's incredible incompetence, but they have a full year of free Peloton classes. They should be thanking Foley for his generosity.