Capital Factory, perhaps the most prominent startup organization in Austin and throughout Texas, said it has placed 33 full-time employees and nine part-time employees on furlough for an indefinite period of time as the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic.
The announcement went out to Capital Factory members in an email Thursday morning. Capital Factory CEO Joshua Baer said the organization intends to re-hire the furloughed workers. But he said it's not clear when that can happen, given shelter-in-place orders and other health recommendations aimed at preventing the spread of coronavirus.
The organization now has 43 employees, and Baer said he doesn't expect to have any additional furloughs or layoffs.
"The staff we’ve had to furlough are great people who, like many others in this difficult time, now need our help," he wrote to members. "I want to hire them all back, but I’m just not sure when we’ll be able to. Please help them find new opportunities now."
Baer told Inno that Capital Factory will reopen as soon as city and state regulations allow.
"I’m not sure how long it will take for people to get back to 'normal life' and for large in-person events to be safe again," he wrote. "Of course, eventually it will be bigger and busier than ever. I’m sure some things will be different, too."
Capital Factory has grown significantly in the past three years, adding additional coworking space and several rooms specifically built for small, medium and large events. Meanwhile, it has branched out and forged new partnerships statewide -- most notably in Dallas, where it has coworking offices and events spaces.
Those in-person meetups, which occurred several times each day in Capital Factory's spaces and drew hundreds of people, are no longer possible. It has also closed its coworking spaces, and it remained unclear Thursday how it would handle rent payments from members under a variety of its plans and membership levels.
"As always, we will try to treat everyone fairly," Baer said.
But the organization has quickly shifted to virtual events, which he highlighted in an open letter earlier this week.
Recently, it helped set up an Air Force pitch event with 5,000 participants. Meanwhile, it's continuing to offer office hours and mentor meetings statewide over Webex. And Baer also hosted a roundtable with the CTO of the Texas National Guard and a dozen startups working on COVID-19 solutions that include testing and treatment.
"Now, we are looking at how every experience can happen virtually and how the existing ones can be more interactive," he wrote to members. "We’re also exploring new media and platforms that we will roll out in May."
The news comes as several Austin startups have announced layoffs, including Yonder, The Guild and OutboundEngine. And, given the rapid economic downturn, it's likely many others will follow.
Still, while Baer told members he could have planned better to prepare for a disaster like this, he said the organization will forge on.
"We’re not giving up," he wrote. "We will learn from this. We will rebuild. We will improve. We will rehire. Our community will survive this pandemic and come back stronger – and Capital Factory, this thing we made together, that we’re all so proud of and that does so much good, Capital Factory will be stronger, too."
