Hi team,

I’m writing to provide some context for the news I shared in today’s all hands.

We have decided to reduce the size of the Electric team by 25% and we will be saying goodbye to 141 Electrons. If you are one of those employees, you will receive an email with 1:1 time on your calendar today. Your manager and a member of our People team will share details, next steps, and support resources.

The last time we shared news like this I hoped it would be the first and only time we would have to announce a layoff. I’m truly and deeply sorry for this and acknowledge that in the context of previous layoffs in August and continued shifts in the tech market overall that this can be even more unsettling. 

Details on the reduction

These are teammates who helped build this business. We value and respect these Electrons and are grateful for what they’ve contributed to this team.

To care for one another, we sought to extend severance, benefits, resources, and career transition support in a way that is considerate and equitable across impacted teams.

• Severance: We will pay 1 month of base pay, plus two additional weeks for every year you’ve been with Electric.
• 2022 Bonuses: Employees eligible for their 2022 bonus will receive that payout in line with standard procedure.
• Benefits: We will extend COBRA coverage for 2 additional months.
• Technology and Home Office: Keep your home office setup as paid for by the work from home stipend, and your laptop. It will be remotely wiped prior to your last day.
• Transition support: On a voluntary basis, you may choose to work with our talent team for resume feedback, access to talent networks, and to receive coaching or other support. You may also reference our #jobs channel in Slack, set up today to assist with the transition. 

What led to this decision.

In the past quarter, we reduced spend across the business to operate in a way that is prudent in this environment. We cut spend in the tech stack, significantly decelerated hiring, reduced the size of our HQ office space, and refocused the efforts of some teams who could make impact elsewhere. The reality is, this is necessary discipline that any business needs even in the best of times. We are not in the best of times, technology companies large and small are all confronting a new reality and taking a hard look at their business models. We are certainly one of them.

At the same time, it was important that we look forward to the future of Electric and adapt to build a company that will be serving customers for a very long time. 

That future requires wholesale change in the way we approach product innovation in order to best serve our customers with technology that makes their jobs easier, and transformation in the way we deliver our services. For us to make these changes, we have to look honestly at how the business is structured, what we’re focused on, and build a long-term vision for what Electric needs to look like over the next several years.

Our pragmatic and honest evaluation of the ideal business model did not begin with any directive to further reduce cost or downsize in any capacity. Instead the focus was on building great products and solutions that can delight our customers and enable us to build a sustainable and successful business over the long run.

These changes will demand immense focus of our teams and our resources, and they are changes that required a restructuring of the business that led to the decisions we announced today.

How we made these decisions

The byproduct of restructuring and reorganizing the company around a new strategy is that the size and scope of our teams that made sense for the ‘old’ business don’t fit into the mold of the ‘new’ business. I can’t emphasize this point enough. This was not directly a cost reduction exercise and has no bearing on the quality of work by the 141 impacted Electrons.

We got here through months of strategic planning and discussions with senior leadership, executives, advisors, and our board, and ultimately I made the decision to reduce the size of the Electric team by 25%. Each executive or senior leader was responsible for making decisions in their own team, and there were clear agreements that drove these decisions. We agreed to:

• Build the future team from zero. Start with the mission ahead of us, the future state of the business, and the requirements for success. Then, structure teams that tie directly to those outcomes.

• Communicate respectfully. It is unfair to share incomplete or uncertain information. And to those of you who have felt the uncertainty and tension of this environment over the past weeks, I’m sorry you had to experience that.

• Care for one another. Share communication, resources, severance, and career support with those who are impacted. 

Today

Our collective focus today is on supporting Electrons who will be leaving the team. If your role has been impacted, you will receive a calendar invite from either a member of the executive or senior leadership team within the next 20 minutes. We will meet with each of you one on one with confirmation of the impact and to share details about the support that will be available to you.

Our SVP of People, Jamie Coakley will send an email in the next 30 minutes to confirm that all meetings were scheduled. We will conclude all meetings by the end of the day today.

What’s next

This evening, tomorrow, and through the end of the week, teams and departments will gather to discuss transition plans, answer questions in a more intimate setting, and support one another.

On Thursday, I will host an all hands meeting where we will spend time and share more about this decision and talk about the next chapter of the Electric story.

Over the coming weeks, you can expect to hear more about the future of the Electric product and the Electric MSP.

Thank you

To those leaving, I acknowledge these decisions have impact outside of your work and I am sorry for the effect this has on you and your families. Thank you for bringing your passion, your expertise, and your determination to this organization. What you accomplished here has impacted our customers lives, and for that I am so grateful.

For those of you who stay, I encourage you to show up in support of our teammates who are departing. I have seen Electrons come together to solve big problems, to serve our customers, and to sharpen one another. This time will be difficult, but I am confident in the Electric spirit that will power us to enter the next phase better together.

Thank you,

Ryan