Weight Watchers Slammed For Firing 4,000 Employees On A Zoom Call

Weight Watchers is getting ripped for the way they handled a massive workforce reduction.

It's no secret that COVID-19 has caused many businesses to make tough decisions in the face of this unprecedented economic impact, but Weight Watchers isn't being slammed for what they had to do; they're being slammed for the way they chose to do it.

Devastated staff members have "voiced their frustrations" over the fact that some 4,000 employees were let go on a five-minute Zoom call.

The abrupt firing came after Weight Watchers (WW International Inc.) said they planned to cut jobs due to the economic downfall caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Just a few hours before the call Weight Watchers announced their studios would begin opening as states began to lift their lockdown orders across the country.

According to one former employee, those who were being fired were muted on an "audio-only Zoom call" where those being let go were read a script before being "abruptly disconnected."

I cried for about 24 hours because a company that I respected and valued, devoted my life to, felt I and countless others deserved to be permanently fired with a cold mass script!

The workers felt they were muted so they couldn't ask questions and claim that by the time they were disconnected their Weight Watcher emails had already been deleted.

For supposed champions of women, to FIRE 4,000 dedicated long term mostly women of a certain age bracket during a pandemic in a 3 min phone call is disgusting

One former employee said they were asked not to "discuss the terminations" and

Oh, and you can't discuss this with anyone. No explanation to members as to why we aren't there anymore. No options of furlough, but we could reapply in the future if any positions open. We are being swept under the rug.

Weight Watchers hasn't reported on the number of employees that were let go but in a statement to the Huffington Post, they said that the coronavirus has "forced the company to make difficult decisions."

As the COVID-19 crisis has forced the closure of our physical studios around the world, we have had to make some difficult decisions that have directly impacted the lives of some of our valued team members. We thank them for all of their efforts on behalf of our members during their years of service.

Could Weight Watchers have gone about this a different way? The coronavirus has caused many businesses (large and small) to make some of the hardest decisions of their life, but could they have been more graceful in theirs?

This article from Huffington Post also highlights how Zoom layoffs are quite the new trend, but I'm not quite sure how to feel about it.

Sound off and let me know how you feel in the comments.