Peloton Shares Frustration with Employees in ‘All Hands’ Meeting
Top Peloton execs address hiring freeze, stock dips, and future plans.
Leaked audio from a recent Peloton “All Hands” meeting reveals that top Peloton executives are just as frustrated as employees, according to Business Insider. The interactive fitness company addressed November’s rough month and its immediate hiring freeze.
Business Insider reports that they spoke to a current Peloton employee who noted that the atmosphere has been “gloomy” within the fitness company.
CEO John Foley addressed the current state of affairs in the meeting, saying that the demand of the pandemic resulted in delivery delays, and in trying to meet demands, Peloton became undisciplined. Foley said that the company will take a “back to basics” approach to charter a more steady course.
Chief Financial Officer Jill Woodworth indicated that subscriber growth is where employees should focus. Woodworth says that the company will have to make adjustments to the cost structure but not at the expense of Peloton’s member experience. The company just released the AI-enabled Peloton Guide, its first connected strength device.
The immediate hiring freeze was presented as a way to “reinvest” in Peloton’s nearly 9,000 employees. It is uncertain how long the hiring freeze will last.
Earlier this month in the earnings call, Foley said that Peloton always expected member engagement to dip slightly coming out of COVID.
“I mean it’s just the idea that gyms are available, people can get out of their house now. They’re not locked down. So we knew that we weren’t going to see those crazy elevated COVID engagement numbers forever,” Foley noted.
He said that Peloton would continue to focus on innovating content and indicated that post-holidays is a time of a health reset for many.
“Some of this you can’t fight. I mean, in the cold winter months, coming out of New Year’s resolutions, people are working out on our platform more than they are in August. And that’s just — there’s only so much we can do to shift that. But I will say, we continue to be dramatically better — to see dramatically better engagement than any gym or any other connected fitness product platform. So we feel good, and we’re bullish about the coming quarters and how that’s going to play out with engagement,” Foley said.
Peloton just offered $1 billion in stock offerings, which caught the interest of major investors. It also came as a surprise, as Woodworth said Peloton wasn’t planning to raise more capital earlier this month. In response to the stock offering, shares of Peloton rose to $54.85, a sizable gain, a possible indicator that all could be forgiven — at least, for now.
