Frontdesk, an online rental platform, recently made headlines as the first tech startup to terminate all 200 employees through a brief two-minute Google Meet call.
The layoffs affected both full-time and part-time staff, as well as contractors, leaving the proptech startup on the brink of closure. Jesse DePinto, CEO, has, as reported by TechCrunch, informed the workforce that the company intends to pursue state receivership as an alternative to bankruptcy.
Just two months before its downfall, Frontdesk displayed optimism by posting job openings, including a chief of staff role, on LinkedIn. The report highlighted that, in the past two years, global tech companies, including startups, terminated over 4,25,000 employees, with more than 36,000 job cuts in India during the same period.
In 2023, the global technology and startup sectors witnessed the layoffs of nearly 2,60,000 employees. The ongoing trend of employee layoffs, attributed to global macroeconomic conditions, has affected big tech firms and startups across the industry spectrum.
Established in 2017, Frontdesk has successfully managed over 1,000 furnished apartments throughout the US. Despite securing approximately $26 million from investors such as JetBlue Ventures, Veritas Investments and Sand Hill Angels, the startup, which had initially sought to raise additional funds, ultimately failed in its endeavour.
