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Zume calls upcoming layoffs a shift in strategy

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January 10, 2020

Monday is D-Day for 360 staffers at the 500-employee Zume Pizza, and some of the details of the mass layoff are becoming clearer. The pizza-making robot division of the company is taking the lion's share of the hit, according to Business Insider, which has received numerous leaked emails from employees at that division in San Francisco.

A mandatory all-employee meeting Wednesday at that office, led by Zume CEO and co-founder Alex Garden, made it clear that the division was closing on Jan. 13 and all employees there would be terminated with up to four months of severance, according to the company. 

Garden confirmed the layoffs on that day as well, telling Business Insider the company was making a "strategy shift." 

"As we move forward with this new strategy, many of the current roles at Zume no longer exist and we regret we must say goodbye to a number of our valued friends and fellow Zumers," Garden wrote in the email.

Garden delineated that the company would increase its actions around compostable food packaging and expand its manufacturing facilities and capabilities this year in the U.S. and India. Garden also said the company would continue to provide "food production and delivery systems," roles that would be concentrated at Zume's Mountain View, California, headquarters.

CNBC reported the company would add 100 positions in its packaging division.