Fired Peloton employees flood call to introduce new CEO: ‘This is awfully tone deaf’

Meeting was held day after company laid off 2,800 employees

File photo: John Foley, who stepped down as Peloton CEO this week, will remain executive chairman of the board (AP)

A company-wide meeting to introduce Peloton’s incoming CEO Barry McCarthy was disrupted by angry former employees who had been laid off the previous day.

Mr McCarthy’s virtual meeting with his predecessor John Foley and other staff did not go as planned, and had to be cut short after some employees accused the company of being “awfully tone deaf”, CNBC reported, citing anonymous sources.

The meeting was held a day after Mr Foley announced his decision to step down as CEO and abruptly laid off 2,800 employees – 20 per cent of its workforce – in a bid to emerge from a precipitous decline in revenue and market value of the company.

Former workers flooded the chat with messages during the call, calling out the company for “leadership failures”.

“I’m selling all my Peloton apparel to pay my bills!!!” a former employee said in the chat.

“The company messed up by allowing people who were fired into this chat,” another member reportedly said. “Too late to mod [moderate] this.”

Before the meeting was cut short, the new CEO was asked if former employees had gained access to the meeting. Mr McCarthy responded with “no comments”.

Mr Foley will remain executive chairman of the Peloton board. He also retains a controlling chunk of the company’s voting shares. Announcing his decision on Tuesday, the former CEO said that outgoing employees would receive a “meaningful cash severance allotment,” extended health coverage “for a period of time”, career services, and a free year of Peloton’s live-streamed exercise classes.

At the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Peloton’s sales skyrocketed as gyms closed and fitness fanatics found themselves trapped in their homes. But as the lockdowns have loosened, Peloton’s profits have taken a huge hit – since January 2021, the company’s stock has sunk by 80 per cent.

Peloton is also scrapping its plan to build a factory in Ohio, which would have been its first plant in the United States.