As Peloton fires over 2,800 employees, it's giving them a free 1-year subscription on the way out

• Peloton is firing over 2,800 employees — about 20% of its corporate staff.
• Part of the severance package for those thousands of fired employees is a one-year Peloton membership.

Peloton is firing over 2,800 employees — 20% of its corporate workforce — due to an ongoing downturn in the company's business.

As part of the severance plan for the over 2,800 laid off employees, Pelton is offering a curious benefit: A membership to Peloton.

"The Peloton monthly membership will be complimentary for impacted team members for an additional 12 months," Peloton said in its press release about the layoffs. That's in addition to a "meaningful cash severance allotment" that's determined "based on job level and tenure" with the fitness company, alongside several other benefits.

Peloton announced CEO John Foley is stepping down as the chief executive, with former Spotify and Netflix CFO Barry McCarthy stepping into the role. The company is also scrapping plans to build a new factory in North America.

In the last few months, Peloton has seen a major downturn after home fitness products spiked in popularity during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

With gyms re-opening as vaccine rates increased, Peloton's business took a huge hit: The company's market value has dropped from $50 billion last year to $9.8 billion as of early February 2022.

On the company's second-quarter earnings call on Tuesday morning, Peloton execs said they expect further sales decreases in coming quarters as the at-home fitness market continues to contract to pre-pandemic levels.

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