Jan 10, 2020

Layoffs are the latest trend for on-demand companies

Ina Fried

Illustration of a man on a scooter moving out of frame — Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

A number of on-demand services companies are turning to layoffs to trim costs and shore up their balance sheets.

Why it matters: After years of seeing their unprofitable growth subsidized by plentiful venture dollars, companies are facing increased pressure to prove they can stand on their own two feet.

Driving the news: Here's a sampling of the cuts from just this past week:

Scooter company Lime is exiting a dozen markets and laying off around 100 employees.
Robot coffee shop Cafe X is closing three San Francisco outlets and cutting an unspecified number of jobs, as it focuses on its more high-volume airport locations.
Rappi, a SoftBank-backed delivery startup operating in Latin America, laid off hundreds of employees, Axios has learned.

Go deeper: WeWork to lay off 2,400 employees

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Layoffs are the latest trend for on-demand companies

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