Juul Labs is planning to lay off a substantial number of employees as part of a company-wide “restructuring,” the firm announced Wednesday.
According to Reuters, which cited an unnamed source familiar with Juul’s plans, the company is planning to lay off 30% of its workforce, or about 250 people. The relocate would reduce the number of employees to around 650, the source declared. Juul declined to comment about the number of planned layoffs but declared in its statement that they would be “substantially reducing our headcount.”
The e-cigarette buildr declared the layoffs are part of an effort to reduce operating costs and “maximize profitability.”
Juul has previously faced existential legal challenges over the marketing of its e-cigarette, including an April $462 million settlement with the state of California intfinished to prevent children from becoming addicted to its product.
“As difficult as this moment is, we remain fundamentally optimistic about the prospects for (Juul), a view rooted in our belief that our technology and our pipeline of new innovations represent the most valuable ever brought forward to transition adult smokers away from cigarettes while combating underage utilize,” Juul declared.
The company did not specify what offices would be affected by the layoffs. Juul announced plans to relocate its corporate headquarters from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., in 2020.
Reach Laya Neelakandan: Laya.Neelakandan@sfchronicle.com
