After Magic City-based startup Landing initiated another round of layoffs Wednesday, the company provided a statement this afternoon.
"Landing has evolved substantially over the past year," the statement read. "We've continued to expand into new verticals and offer additional options to members. Concurrently, operational requirements across departments have shifted, and, as a result, we've made the difficult decision to reduce select roles — some of which were temporary and seasonal employees," the statement continued, noting that the decision "was not taken lightly."
The company did not comment on the number of layoffs, what percent of the company it impacted or where the roles were based, though several employees took to LinkedIn Wednesday to share that they were laid off and open to work in hopes of finding a new position.
The employees affected by the layoff will be provided with severance pay, company-covered COBRA and career counseling to support them in securing their next role, according to the statement.
The most current round of layoffs follows two that took place last year, one of which in October 2022 totaled 110.
The company, which rents furnished apartments on a flexible basis, also laid off an undisclosed number of employees in December, citing economic downturn creating turbulence for the tech sector.
The December layoffs impacted remote workers in Birmingham, San Francisco and Mexico City, but Landing did not respond to questions about how many employees the layoffs affected, or how many of them were in Birmingham.
The Birmingham City Council and the Jefferson County commissioners approved incentives for Landing in July 2021 for moving its headquarters from San Francisco to Birmingham and bringing an estimated 816 full-time jobs. The city agreed to provide incentives to Landing up to $1,632,000, payable in the amount of $2,000 per new full-time employee over a period of up to five years.
Jefferson County approved tiered support to Landing in the form of $2,000 per employee who earns $50,000. For each employee who earns $75,000 to $100,000, the county agreed to provide $3,000 per employee, and for every employee earning over $100,000, the county agreed to provide $4,000. The incentives go into effect after an employee has been at Landing for over a year.
Smith said in October 2022 that Landing was still committed to growing in Alabama and investing in the Birmingham tech community.
Landing first opened in 2019. Smith, who sold Shipt to Target for $550 million in 2018, selected Birmingham as the headquarters for Landing in 2021, citing the city's rapid startup growth. The Landing headquarters, which was once in California, is in the John Hand Building, the same structure that used to house Shipt.
