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This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with <keyword id="23300967" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nicholas-Whitaker" source="keywords">Nicholas Whitaker</keyword>, who worked with <keyword id="19902762" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Google" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Google" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Google">Google</keyword> for nearly 13 years and got laid off in 2023. He is now running a venture of his own. It has been edited for length and clarity. I joined Google over a decade ago and it became much more than just a job. At that time, Google had approximately 40,000 employees, and the atmosphere felt very much like a startup. Teams were nimble and cooperative, offering ample opportunities for personal and professional growth. There was an unmistakable sense of optimism and potential in the air. It was my first experience in the tech industry, and I viewed that period as a significant phase in my development. I gained valuable skills and benefited from the early support and mentorship of my colleagues and leaders. Perhaps this is why the experience of being laid off hit me so hard. I remember the moment vividly. It was 3 a.m., and I received a ping on LinkedIn from a colleague asking if I was safe. Initially, I thought there had been some kind of emergency—a shooting or perhaps a natural disaster. But when I checked my personal email, I discovered the real reason for their message. I found a short, impersonal email informing me that my role had been eliminated. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="113637185" title="Fired from Google after 13 years of service, he used his severance to build a business around helping others with their careers" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> <h2>I was laid off without a warning </h2> What shocked me the most was the lack of warning. After my colleague's message, I checked my work email only to find out that it was locked out of my phone and laptop. I then checked my personal email and there it was, a short email informing me about my layoff, providing basic instructions about returning company property and navigating unemployment. The next few months were spent sending back my laptop, badge, and other Google gear. Along the way there were multiple errors and miscommunications from the team that made it all even more uncomfortable. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="113619411" title="Rename home Wi-Fi, leave badge at office: Ex-Amazon employee reveals tricks used by employees to not work from office" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> There was only one text message from my former manager, asking how I was doing a few days after the layoff. Beyond that, I heard nothing from my old team. It was such a brutally impersonal and inhumane process. <h2>If you have been laid off, you are not alone</h2> If you’ve been laid off, the first thing I want to say is: You’re not alone, and this moment doesn’t define you. When it first happens, it can feel incredibly personal, but <keyword id="19916567" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="layoffs" source="keywords">layoffs</keyword> are usually about business decisions, not your individual worth or performance. After spending over a decade at Google, I know how disorienting it can feel. But over time, I realised that this was also an opportunity to rethink what I really wanted from my career and life. Here are a few pieces of advice that helped me navigate this uncertain time: Give yourself space to process what happened: It’s okay to feel angry, sad, or uncertain. Let yourself experience those emotions, but try not to let them dictate your next move. Take the time you need to recover emotionally before jumping into something new. Reframe the situation: As hard as it sounds, a layoff can also be an opportunity to reassess what you want from your career. For me, the layoff became a catalyst for starting my own venture and reconnecting with what truly matters to me. This is a chance to explore new possibilities that may have been overshadowed by the stability of a previous job. Invest in your health: It’s easy to get caught up in the stress of finding the next thing, but make sure you’re taking care of your mental and physical health. For me, mindfulness and self-care were key to navigating this period. You can’t pour from an empty cup, so make sure you’re refilling yours. Reconnect with your network: Don’t be afraid to lean on your network for support, advice, or job leads. It can feel uncomfortable, but remember that people are often happy to help. Reach out to former colleagues, mentors, and friends, and let them know you’re in transition. Don’t rush the next step: Sometimes, the instinct is to jump into whatever comes next to avoid the discomfort of uncertainty. But if you can, take a beat and make sure your next move aligns with your values and long-term goals. Use this time to reflect on what you want from your next role or career path. Explore new avenues: If you’ve ever thought about starting your own business, freelancing, or shifting industries, now could be the perfect time to explore those ideas. That’s what I did with Changing Work Collective, and it’s led me to a more fulfilling and purpose-driven career than I ever had before. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="113800304" title="'Microsoft employee gets $300,000 for working 15-20 hours a week’: X user’s post goes viral" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> Ultimately, a layoff is just one chapter in a much larger story. It can be a painful experience, but it’s also a chance for reinvention and growth. Stay grounded, take care of yourself, and trust that you have the resilience and skills to navigate this and come out stronger on the other side.

I was fired from Google after 13 years of service. Here's what I learnt on how to deal with layoffs

<div type="image" title="Companies are embracing the unbossing trend" msid="113256383" hostid="261" sizebytes="1440779"></div> If there’s one thing both a productive team member and an underperformer hates in the corporate world, it’s being micromanaged. Now, imagine a workplace where the boss isn’t calling all the shots. Instead, everyone has a voice, and innovation flows freely. The recent corporate trend of "Unbossing" promises to do just that, empowering employees by eliminating the heavy hands of hierarchy. Sounds too good to be true? Well, globally, not just the new-age start-ups, but dozens of major corporations have embraced this trend and trimmed their middle management. <h2>Managers managing managers — no more!</h2>In January last year, <keyword id="399907" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="META" source="Orion">Meta</keyword> CEO Mark Zuckerberg made headlines for declaring 2023 as the “year of efficiency” and saying that he doesn’t want a management structure that's just “managers managing managers”. <div type="image" title="Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg" agency="ANI" msid="113256403" hostid="261"></div> The same month, it was also reported by Command Line that Meta's chief product officer Chris Cox, had shared a post on the company's communication platform, Workplace, highlighting the necessity to "flatten" the organisation's structure. What followed was reports of Meta slashing middle management roles. Gradually, other companies like Shopify, Bayer, and Cisco began making headlines for showing the exit door to some of their middle managers. Loosely, unbossing is essentially cutting down the middle management roles. It cuts significant costs for the company and the new-age workforce also endorses the trend as efficient in enabling faster decision-making and innovation. However, critics argue this trend also limits the extent of mentorship that the younger generation receives while entering the workforce, which often remains an intangible value if your boss turns out to be a good mentor. Therefore, for some, it’s not about firing the middle management, but just another leadership philosophy on how leaders (and ‘bosses’) should conduct themselves. This approach advocates bosses working along with the team as a part rather than shouting instructions from the top. Whatever one’s understanding, this trend of “Unbossing” appears to be taking corporate America by storm in 2023, as evidenced by hundreds of media reports highlighting the same. Overall, most agree that the trend is restructuring organisational hierarchy to enable direct communication between employees and leaders. Cut to 2024, this trend is still prevalent and making headlines. A Bloomberg report recently said that Georges Elhedery, the incoming CEO of HSBC Holdings, might also consider plans to streamline the company's operations by reducing layers of middle management. But what’s the scenario in India? Are Indian companies ready to ditch the old-school approach and adopt this new way of working? Let’s dive in and see what the experts have to say! <h2>Layoffs to impact senior professionals: Naukri.com survey</h2>A survey by job portal Naukri.com early last year had suggested that recruiters in India expect a decline in layoffs during the first half of 2023. The survey, which included responses from 1,400 recruiters and consultants across ten industries, revealed that only 4 percent of participants anticipated layoffs to be the main focus of hiring activities within their organisations. However, the survey also highlighted that information technology roles and senior professionals were likely to be the most affected by hiring adjustments. About 20 percent of recruiters predicted that layoffs would predominantly impact senior professionals, while freshers are expected to face the least disruption from these hiring corrections. Interestingly the survey came around the same time when the Unbossing trend had begun picking up pace abroad. <h2>Layoffs at Wipro, <keyword id="18635" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="amazon" source="Orion">Amazon</keyword> and Collegedunia</h2>In January this year, Wipro India was in the limelight for laying off hundreds of its mid-level executives. The company reportedly culled many jobs as part of its strategy to improve margins. An ET report citing two sources familiar with the situation had said that the leading Indian IT firm reduced mid-level roles at its onsite locations. "Notices began being issued earlier this month, and hundreds of mid-level executives onsite are being let go," one source revealed. Another source added, "They have costly resources onsite in Capco, and although growth is returning, it's not sufficient. Aparna Iyer, Wipro's chief financial officer, has been tasked with delivering better margins this quarter." <div type="image" title="Amazon decided to lay-off middle managers in May" msid="113256170" hostid="261"></div>Then in May, Amazon also decided to reduce layers of middle management within its customer service divisions as part of an organisational restructuring, a Fortune report had said. The cuts impacted over 100 customer service managers in Level 5 and Level 6 middle management roles, both in call centres and virtual positions, primarily based in the U.S. and India. Not just large tech companies, startups too seem to be adapting the <keyword id="23125775" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="unbossing-trend-in-India" source="Orion">unbossing trend in India</keyword>. Last month, educational portal Collegedunia confirmed that around 100 employees from its Study Abroad department had been given the pink slip. A report in CNBC-TV18 had said that additional job cuts were happening across other departments as part of a broader reorganisation. The restructuring, as per the report, was aimed at automating many tasks to reduce costs. Interestingly, despite the layoffs, Collegedunia had posted 13 job openings on LinkedIn for various roles in different locations, primarily entry-level positions requiring up to two years of experience. "While Collegedunia is laying off several employees, it is also hiring fresh talent, allowing them to keep staffing levels up but at a lower cost," one employee told CNBC-TV18 at the time. Another source confirmed that while Collegedunia had been actively recruiting for some months, it has also been letting go of employees, including senior staff members with 7-8 years of experience at the company. <h2>What do experts say?</h2> <div type="image" title="Experts&amp;#39; opinion on unbossing trend" msid="113256250" hostid="261"></div>Mr. Sumit Kumar, Chief Strategy Officer at TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship, told Business Insider India, “From the perspective of HR leaders and CEOs, the strategic culling of middle management is viewed as a means to streamline operations, reduce overhead, and foster a culture of autonomy and innovation.” He also noted that even though employees can “exercise greater ownership and agility in decision-making” through this approach, there are also significant downsides. “The erosion of middle management creates a vacuum in leadership development, mentorship, and the retention of institutional knowledge, potentially leading to disengagement, a weakened talent pipeline, and misalignment with organisational objectives,” Kumar noted. Talking specifically about the Indian scenario, he said, “Implementing this trend in India would be a strategic move, positioning organisations to remain competitive in a rapidly evolving business environment. However, to fully capitalise on this approach, developing a more robust talent pipeline that integrates the ability to multitask at all levels is imperative. In today's landscape, leadership demands thinkers, strategic visionaries, and individuals who can execute with precision. We need to cultivate a new breed of leaders who are both thinkers and doers, capable of navigating complex challenges while driving innovation and growth. By building versatile, agile leaders through targeted talent development programs, Indian organisations can ensure they are well-prepared to thrive in a decentralised, high-performance environment.” RP Yadav, Chairman and Managing Director of Genius Consultants Limited, told ET recently that the Unbossing approach simplifies hierarchies and encourages open communication between frontline employees and senior management. He had added that the concept of “the oldest in the room is always the wisest of all” is no longer applicable. Meanwhile, Aditya Narayan Mishra, MD and CEO of CIEL HR Services told ET that the unbossing trend is predominantly seen in tech companies, creative roles, and startups, where swift decision-making and the unrestricted exchange of ideas are crucial. For example, the tech sector often thrives with flattened hierarchies that support rapid innovation and agility, while creative industries such as advertising and media use unbossing to cultivate a more collaborative and idea-focused environment. Thus, the unbossing trend is gaining traction beyond global companies and is finding its way into Indian organisations as well. While this approach can streamline operations, reduce costs, and enhance agility, experts caution that it also brings challenges, such as gaps in leadership development and the loss of institutional knowledge. To fully harness the benefits of unbossing, Indian companies must focus on cultivating agile leaders who can navigate complex challenges and drive growth. By building a strong talent pipeline and fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration, Indian organisations can position themselves to thrive in a more decentralised and dynamic business environment. Do you have insights or personal experience to s hare on layoffs, <keyword id="34447" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="workplace-trends" source="Orion">workplace trends</keyword>, or career changes? Contact us at businessinsider@timesinternet.in.

SIMPLY PUT: What’s with all “Unbossing” talks? Are Indian companies also embracing this global trend?

<keyword id="19902762" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Google" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Google" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Google">Google</keyword> laid off thousands of employees in 2023 and many found their lives turned upside down with just an email notification. After all, when you have given your heart and soul to an organisation, it is never easy accepting the fact that you are being asked to leave at a moment’s notice. The situation becomes even more complicated when you have been with the company for more than a decade. Something similar happened with <keyword id="23300967" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nicholas-Whitaker" source="keywords">Nicholas Whitaker</keyword>, who had been working with the company since 2010 and found out about his <keyword id="20118388" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="layoff" source="keywords">layoff</keyword> abruptly. <h2>The 3 am email bringing bad news</h2>“My layoff experience was traumatic. I got an email at 3 am to my personal email, that I only found because a colleague pinged me on Linkedin in the DMs to ask if I was ‘Ok’ and if I was ‘safe’,” Whitaker told <keyword id="21390875" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Business-Insider-India" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Business Insider India" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Business Insider India">Business Insider India</keyword> in a conversation. He added that when his colleague enquired about his safety, he thought it was a “shooting or some natural disaster.” In other words, he didn’t even imagine that he was being laid off from Google. He then revealed that when he checked his work email, he discovered that he was locked out of his laptop and phone. He then checked his personal email and there it was, the “short and impersonal email” that told him that his role at Google was being eliminated. <h2>The layoff process was uncomfortable</h2>When Google announced large-scale layoffs last year, the company made a lot of headlines for handling them in an unprofessional manner. In March 2023, several Google employees had even written an open letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, asking him to deal with layoffs in a better manner. Whitaker, narrating his own experience, shared with Business Insider India that after receiving the dreadful layoff email at 3 am, he spent the next few months completing formalities to get his payments that were due. He said, “It took all of the next several months for me to mail back my laptop, badge and any gear that I had that was Google property. (I also had to) navigate unemployment, health insurance and get all of the documentation I had to submit to "self Offboard" and to receive payments that I was supposed to get.” “Along the way there were multiple errors and miscommunications from the team that made it all even more uncomfortable,” he said. Whitaker also noted a complete lack of communication and empathy from his old team at Google. “I got a single text message from my prior manager asking how I was doing a few days after I was laid off, but otherwise no one reached out to check on me or offer assistance from my old team. Overall I found the process to be brutally impersonal and inhumane,” he said. <h2>Experience at Google</h2>But was Google always “inhumane” in his experience? Not really. There were some amazing days too and Google, according to Whitaker, was a different company when he had joined. “My initial experience working at Google was like it was a completely different company. I started as a temp, contractor and then a vendor for Google back in 2010, and at the time I think it was something like 40,000 employees. It had a real startup feel to it. Teams were agile and collaborative, and there was a lot of room for growth. It may have been specific to my team and org, but it felt like you had a lot more room for experimentation and autonomy to make decisions, and failure wasn't seen as a bad thing, but a necessary part of innovation,” he said. Whitaker also said that a “class system” was there at Google, especially since he was a TVC (Temporary, Vendor and Contractor). “As a TVC you wouldn't be included in many of the activities and learning opportunities that full time employees had, and didn't get invited to extracurricular activities. There was a real bias towards culture at the time, and words like Don't be Evil, and be Googly were often used.” However, in general, he added that the atmosphere was positive and full of possibilities. “Colleagues generally were very supportive, collaborative and encouraging to work with. I was excited as this was my first time working in big tech, or Corporate America and I saw that period of time as a real coming of age for me. I learned how to be a professional at Google and appreciated all of the early guidance and support that I got from colleagues and leaders.” <h2>Helping others</h2>It has now been over a year since Whitaker was laid off. He now has his own venture and helps other people navigate their careers. Talking about what motivated him to kick-start his own venture, he said, “After 13 years in big tech, the last few years in particular being particularly difficult due to toxic teams and leaders, I didn't want to jump right back into that kind of experience again. A year before getting laid off, I had experienced a bad <keyword id="19956983" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mental-health" source="keywords">mental health</keyword> crisis that was the result of workplace bullying, gaslighting and toxic leadership. "I wanted to help others avoid and recover from similar situations and create a community where people can find mutual support and coaching on how to best navigate their careers in a conscious way. My severance after working so long at Google allowed me to fund the launch of my coaching business, and eventually ‘changingwork.org’." <keyword id="23300968" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Changing-Work" source="keywords">Changing Work</keyword>, Whitaker explained, is his way of addressing a deep need in corporate life — helping people rediscover their sense of purpose and alignment in their careers and finding ways to build more conscious leaders and businesses. He added, “What makes this so transformative for me personally is that it allowed me to step into a role where I could integrate all the lessons from my own career—especially the parts that were hardest for me. During my time at Google, I saw firsthand how high-pressure environments can lead to burnout, anxiety, and a disconnect from our true selves.” The recent tragic death of a young CA at Ernst &amp; Young (EY) employee in India has turned the spotlight on toxic work cultures prevalent in many high-pressure industries. Broader debates on burnout, mental health struggles, and unrealistic expectations in corporate environments in the workplace have occupied social media platforms. This incident serves as a painful reminder that companies must prioritize <keyword id="21050364" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="employee-well-being" source="keywords">employee well-being</keyword> and mental health to foster sustainable, humane workplaces. And makes the work that people like Whitaker are doing all the more important. “I’ve spoken publicly about how mindfulness practice, coaching and therapy literally saved my life during some of my darkest times at Google. Changing Work is the culmination of that journey. It’s not just about helping others find balance and fulfillment—it’s about creating a space where I can live those values every day,” he concludes.

Fired from Google after 13 years of service, he used his severance to build a business around helping others with their careers

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Amazon's return-to-office mandate is a move to cut head count, says Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom.</li><li>Bloom told BI the policy may harm areas like AI, where recruiting top talent is challenging.</li></ul><a target="_blank" rel="" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-forced-rto-tracking-employee-office-attendance-2023-9">Amazon's</a> strict return-to-office push is an attempt to reduce head count, according to Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom.Bloom, a leading expert on flexible working, said that requiring employees to work in the office five days a week could be a "backdoor layoff" strategy — a move sometimes used by employers to reduce head count without facing the consequences of formal layoffs.He told Business Insider the move would probably succeed on that basis but would "damage areas like AI where it is hard to recruit top employees.""Amazon presumably took the view they would rather control costs by cutting head count and take the hit of technology and innovation," he said.Amazon's new policy of requiring employees to work in the office five days a week has been unpopular with workers. After the announcement, some Amazon employees took to an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-workers-blast-strict-rto-mandate-five-days-week-2024-9">internal Slack channel </a>to blast the company's new policy.One Amazon worker in Germany told BI that the return-to-office mandate was a "betrayal" and that he <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-rto-employee-coffee-badging-office-2024-9">planned to "coffee badge"</a> rather than work in the office five days a week. Another employee told <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://fortune.com/2024/09/29/amazon-employees-angry-andy-jassy-rto-mandate/">Fortune they were "rage applying"</a> for other jobs.<h2 id="3df78d69-c645-40d8-b551-87a260dd0e81">Popular perk</h2>Hybrid work is generally very popular with employees and has been shown to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/remote-work-good-for-productivity-here-to-stay-pwc-2024-9">boost retention and productivity.</a>Amazon's strict stance on full-time office work is still somewhat of an anomaly within the tech industry. According to research from Flex Index, most tech companies still have a hybrid or remote policy.Google, Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI all still operate a hybrid work policy with some mandated office days. At Microsoft, an exec recently reassured staff it wouldn't mandate an office return unless productivity dropped."I don't hear about other tech firms following suit, and indeed the broad consensus I hear is this is a great opportunity to pick off some top talent from Amazon," Bloom said."In particular, key AI personnel at Amazon are now being aggressively approached as the leading firms in this field — places like Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI — are all hybrid. So this is an incredible opportunity for them to hire from Amazon," he added.<h2 id="f7d2a513-db6c-4826-878f-706ee944f8b4">Cost-cutting move</h2>In the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/ceo-andy-jassy-latest-update-on-amazon-return-to-office-manager-team-ratio">memo announcing the</a> RTO policy, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy hinted at plans to reduce managers.He said the company plans to flatten departments and ask senior leadership teams to increase the ratio of individual contributors to managers by at least 15% by the end of the first quarter of 2025.Jassy said the move was part of an effort to get the company operating "like the world's largest startup," allowing employees to "move fast" and not waste time with "unnecessary processes."A <a target="_blank" rel="" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-fewer-managers-leaked-document-2024-9">copy of an internal document obtained by Business Insider</a> indicates the new plan could result in role eliminations as "organizations may identify roles that are no longer required."Bloom said Amazon may be shifting from a phase of growth into a phase of consolidation and cost cutting.He noted that Amazon is a well-organized company that analyzes everything in detail."They clearly thought about this long and hard and presumably calculated it was more cost-effective to run a head count reduction via an RTO than active layoffs. This avoids the need for severance pay. The obvious downside of the RTO strategy is a lot of top talent will quit, so it has a growth hit," he said.Representatives for Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.

Amazon's RTO mandate is a 'backdoor layoff' strategy, future of work expert says

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Sword Health cut a portion of physical therapists last month, the company confirmed to BI.</li><li>The startup is working to increase the number of patients its physical therapists care for using AI.</li></ul>Sword Health has made cuts to its clinical workforce as the $3 billion startup seeks to manage more patients with the help of AI, Business Insider has learned.The startup, which provides virtual care for conditions like muscle and joint pain, let go of 13 of its physical therapists treating patients in October, Sword confirmed to Business Insider.Three former employees who spoke with BI on the condition of anonymity said Sword previously had around 75 physical therapists actively caring for patients, putting the October cuts at around 17% of Sword's treatment-facing clinicians.The layoffs come as Sword seeks to enable its PTs to treat more patients using AI. Sword aims to have its physical therapists manage an average of 700 patients at any given time by the end of 2024, according to documents reviewed by BI. That's a significant jump from the caseload previously allotted to Sword's clinicians, according to three former employees, who said a high caseload at the beginning of 2024 would've been around 200 to 300 patients per therapist. These numbers could include patients who aren't actively engaged in therapy, according to the company.In a statement to BI, a Sword spokesperson said the cuts were "all performance-based decisions, made on clinical engagement data." The spokesperson said Sword currently has open positions for more than 30 physical therapists. Sword, which hit a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://swordhealth.com/newsroom/introducing-phoenix">$3 billion valuation</a> in June after pulling in $130 million in fresh financing, has been vocal about its ambitions to scale its business using AI while keeping clinicians in the loop."What we're looking to do internally is to have AI as one master expert, but at the same time, everything gets vetted and validated by a human person," CEO Virgilio Bento <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sword-health-strategy-focusing-on-ai-ahead-of-a-potential-ipo-2023-8">told BI</a> in September 2023.Three former employees said that Sword began using AI-generated messages for patient conversations in the spring. The technology allows the physical therapists to accept an AI-generated message, edit it, or reject it, before sending the message to patients, the former employees said. The AI also helps PTs prioritize the most critical patients who might need more attention, according to the company. Following its $130 million financing round, Sword announced an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://swordhealth.com/newsroom/introducing-phoenix">expansion of its AI platform</a> with a new product that the company said can converse with patients during their virtual physical therapy sessions and give them feedback in real time.It's also hoping to land more employer contracts with an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://swordhealth.com/newsroom/outcome-pricing">outcomes-based pricing model</a>, unveiled in September. In those contracts, Sword will get paid based on how much progress its patients make.Sword's recent technology and pricing pushes also point to an approaching IPO. Bento told BI in 2023 that <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sword-health-strategy-focusing-on-ai-ahead-of-a-potential-ipo-2023-8">he'd only be interested in taking Sword public if it's profitable</a>. The startup said in June that it expects to be profitable by the end of 2024, and could go public <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.axios.com/pro/health-tech-deals/2024/06/04/sword-healths-road-to-ipo">as soon as the second half of 2025</a>.It's not the only digital health startup waiting at the IPO gates. Its biggest competitor, musculoskeletal startup Hinge Health, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hinge-health-s-1-morgan-stanley-ipo-2024-9">has hired banks, including Morgan Stanley, to file its S-1</a> in anticipation of a public market debut, Business Insider first reported in September.Omada Health is also expected to test the IPO waters. BI first reported in October that <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/exclusive-omada-health-confidentially-filed-s1-ipo-public-2024-10">Omada filed its S-1 this summer</a>.

$3 billion startup Sword Health cuts some physical therapists as it ramps up AI to treat more patients

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mkbhd-fisker-ocean-review-marques-brownlee-video-tiktok-2024-3">Fisker</a> initiated another round of layoffs on Wednesday, multiple sources told Business Insider.</li><li>The company has gone through a series of cuts and warned it might go out of business.</li></ul>The embattled electric-vehicle startup <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fisker-tells-staff-startup-in-talks-with-4-automakers-buyout-2024-4">Fisker</a> kicked off another round of layoffs on Wednesday, four sources with knowledge of the issue told Business Insider.Fisker has made several cuts to its workforce over the past few months. In February, its CEO announced plans to cut 15% of its staff. Most recently, Fisker sent a round of layoff notices on April 29.The series of cuts are designed to eventually bring the workforce down to a skeleton crew of only "mission critical" staff, one Fisker employee with knowledge of the issue said.The total number of employees affected by this latest staff reduction wasn't clear. A spokesperson for Fisker declined to comment.Fisker has repeatedly warned over the past few months that the company may go out of business within the year. On April 29, the company sent notices to staffers, in compliance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fisker-sends-employees-possible-layoff-notice-2-months-2024-4">that they may be laid off</a> in two months if the company can't find a buyer or additional funding.Fisker had that month told workers in an all-hands meeting that it was in <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fisker-tells-staff-startup-in-talks-with-4-automakers-buyout-2024-4">talks with four automakers</a> about a potential buyout.Last week, Fisker's CEO told staffers in a companywide meeting that the company had reached out to other automakers in addition to the initial four. "I do hope we're closing in on something serious here in weeks rather than months," Henrik Fisker said.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fisker-ocean-reservation-cancellations-electric-car-leaked-data-2024-3">In March, Business Insider first reported</a> that Fisker had delivered over 6,000 all-electric Fisker Ocean SUVs since the model's launch. The company said in early 2023 that it had "approximately 65,000" reservations for the vehicle ahead of its US launch that June, but the company has since faced <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mkbhd-fisker-ocean-review-marques-brownlee-video-tiktok-2024-3">negative reviews</a> and cancellations.Do you work for Fisker or have a tip? Reach out to the reporter via a non-work email at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:gkay@insider.com">gkay@insider.com</a>

Fisker cuts deeper with new wave of summer layoffs

US-based autonomous delivery robot <keyword id="17400486" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="startup-Nuro" source="Orion">startup Nuro</keyword> has announced that it will be laying off 30 per cent of its workforce, or about 340 employees, as part of a restructuring intended to extend its capital runway. Last week, <keyword id="5939073" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="nuro" source="Orion">Nuro</keyword> co-founders Dave Ferguson and Jiajun Zhu announced that the company would reduce staff and shift resources away from commercial operations and toward R&amp;D, reports TechCrunch. This year, Nuro will pause its plans to ramp up commercial operations and delay volume production of its third-generation delivery robot, the R3. According to Ferguson and Zhu, the company will be able to operate twice as long by making these changes, giving it enough capital to operate for another three years without raising more money. "While in the past we developed autonomy systems, designed and built custom vehicles, and deployed commercial pilots with partners in parallel, we will now pursue a more sequential development model," Nuro said in a blog post. "With our new approach, Nuro will not only get through this economic downturn, but we hope to emerge stronger on the other side," it added. This is the second time Nuro has laid off workers in a bid to cut costs and extend the capital runway. In November last year, the company laid off about 300 people, or 20 per cent, of its workforce. Moreover, the report said that those laid off will receive 12 weeks of severance, plus two more weeks for employees with two or more years of service, and eligible employees will receive 62.5 per cent of the target bonus (prorated for new hires) or spring bonus amounts for employees who receive a biannual performance bonus. Meanwhile, web services company Akamai Technologies is laying off nearly 3 per cent of its global workforce, as it focuses on the highest growth areas and sustaining profitability. According to reports, the layoffs are likely to impact about 300 employees. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/tata-motors-posts-net-profit-of-5408-crore-in-q4-beats-estimates/articleshow/100189259.cms">Tata Motors posts net profit of ₹5,408 crore in Q4, beats estimates</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/adani-hindenburg-row-sc-hints-at-granting-sebi-extension-on-probe-report-to-decide-on-may-15/articleshow/100185994.cms">Adani-Hindenburg row: SC hints at granting SEBI extension on probe report, to decide on May 15</a>

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