The San Francisco tech startup that helped popularize a push for a four-day workweek in Silicon Valley, is now laying workers off.

As first reported by the New York Times, Bolt, the payment services startup with offices near San Francisco’s Union Square, laid off around 250 of its around 900 employees Wednesday in a move to “secure our financial position, extend our runway, and reach profitability with the money we have already raised” amid industrywide financial challenges, according to a letter to staff.

A Bolt spokesperson confirmed to SFGATE Thursday that “approximately a third of the company” was laid off.

“It’s no secret that the market conditions across our industry and the tech sector are changing, and against the macro challenges, we’ve been taking measures to adapt our business,” recently appointed CEO Maju Kuruvilla said in the letter, which was made public Wednesday.

One laid-off employee, posting on the anonymous forum Blind, said that they received the news “after getting a pay-raise just a couple of weeks ago.”

The company, already dealing with a rocky 2022, now has to contend with the realities of a challenging period for fledgling tech startups.

Shortly after the wave of good press Bolt received in January for implementing a permanent four-day workweek (and, more crucially, its titanic $11 billion valuation), the company suffered a torrent of bad news. Founder and former CEO Ryan Breslow posted a fiery Twitter thread accusing notable startup accelerator Y Combinator of “Mob Sh*t” and being corrupted by “money, power, and greed.” (Breslow stepped down as CEO for the company just days later.)

In April, Authentic Brands — a fashion retail conglomerate that owns Forever 21 and Reebok and one of Bolt’s most high-level clients — sued the company for its failure to deliver on its promises for a checkout system for the brands in a timely manner.

The New York Times also ran an exposé earlier in May alleging that the company stretched the truth about its services to investors and prospective merchants.

“There’s no good way to share news of a restructure but it’s in our culture to be committed to candor and care, today and always,” Kuruvilla ended the letter. “I can’t thank you enough for all of your past, present, and future dedication to make Bolt what it is. We have an incredible team, great product, and the market needs us more than ever before. But today, my focus is on our people. Please be mindful and caring for your colleagues and yourself.”

It is unclear what severance benefits employees who were laid off will receive.

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An ailing San Francisco start-up has fired 250 of its 900 staff just five months after it was hailed for moving to a permanent four day working week.

Bolt, which manufactures payment software, announced the layoffs in an email sent to staffers on Wednesday by new CEO Maju Kuruvilla, according to SFGate.

He was vague about the exact reasons for the layoffs, hinted that Bolt was losing money, and didn’t mention whether letting staff have a three day weekend was to blame.

‘To laser focus on our core business and products, we will be prioritizing our roadmap and making several structural changes,’ Kuruvilla wrote. ‘Unfortunately, this includes reducing the size of our workforce and parting ways with some incredibly talented people on our team as of today.’

‘The leadership team and I have made the decision to secure our financial position, extend our runway, and reach profitability with the money we have already raised,’ he added.

Bolt CEO Maju Kuruvilla, pictured, laid off 250 of his firm’s 900 staff Wednesday

Bolt, a Silicon Valley-based tech startup that made headlines for moving to a permanent four-day work week, announced Thursday they were laying off over 250 employees

Many of those laid-off had just been given pay rises a few weeks ago. They watched their co-workers Slack accounts disappear over the course of the day the firings were announced to see who’d been culled.

Former CEO Ryan Breslow announced last September that the company would be moving to a four-day work week to keep staff happy.

‘What’s the rationale? Work is changing and the biggest obstacle we have to face is burnout,’ he wrote at the time.

‘The four day workweek speaks to a shift in people’s working styles – namely, that if you can get your work completed from Monday to Thursday, then there should be no latent expectation that Friday is time on,’ he continued. ‘Instead, it can be time off – a period to rest, recover, engage with loved ones, think creatively and all the other things that enliven us.’

Breslow, 27, stepped down in February to become its executive chairman and promoted Kuruvilla to replace him.

The payments company, launched in 2014, secured over $963million in venture capital after a $355million funding round in mid-January put the company’s valuation at $11billion.

Former CEO Ryan Breslow announced last September that the company would be moving to a four-day work week

Breslow, 27, stepped down in February to become its executive chairman and promoted Kuruvilla to replace him

However, the company has run recent problems, as they are currently entangled in a lawsuit from its biggest customer, Authentic Brand Group – who own Brooks Brothers, Forever 21, and Reebok – which claimed Bolt’s tech doesn’t work as promised.

The company also recently provided loans to employees, allowing them to buy more shares in the company’s stock, Forbes reported.

A Bolt spokesperson claims that the number of employees who did that and were laid off was ‘in the single digits’ and the value of those loans was under $200,000.

Several firms have begun experimenting with a four day working week, after it was claimed doing so does not harm productivity, and that it can boost staff retention.

Bolt was one of the highest-profile firms to make the move. Its bosses have yet to give any indication of whether they plan to reinstate a traditional Monday-to-Friday working week as the firm tightens its belt.

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