Human resources tech company PerkSpot has laid off part of its staff amid the coronavirus crisis, Chicago Inno has learned.
PerkSpot CEO Jace Mouse confirmed to Inno that the company laid off 10 employees in its new client sales and operations departments on Monday. He said that 90 people remain at PerkSpot, and that laid off employees are receiving severance and continuation of "some other benefits."
“We are continuing to operate our business at full capacity, but we made the hard decision to eliminate ten positions across the company in the wake of COVID-19,” Mouse said in an email.
PerkSpot, founded in 2006, makes a workplace benefit platform that employers can offer their employees to give them discounts at particular retailers. The startup negotiates with vendors on behalf of employers and takes care of all perk-related customer service requests. PerkSpot has nearly 1,000 clients, which include Lyft, Walgreens and Southwest Airlines.
In 2018, PerkSpot raised its first outside financing in a $50 million round from Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania-based Susquehanna Growth Equity. The round helped PerkSpot grow significantly in the months following the fundraise.
Mouse, who has worked at other tech companies like Orbitz Worldwide and Cars.com, joined PerkSpot as CEO in 2013, taking over for founder Chris Hill, who now serves as the company’s executive chairman.
PerkSpot isn’t the only local tech company to downsize amid the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier this week, Groupon furloughed “significant portions” of its sales and operations teams. Additionally, Showpad laid off 52 employees earlier this month, 18 of which were based in Chicago.
And in March, SpotHero laid off employees and Remote Year laid off about 50 people, both citing COVID-19’s negative impact on business.
