Alright, so like, Bench, that accounting and tax startup that got bought in a fire sale last December? Well, they just went ahead and did a round of layoffs, which they confirmed to TechCrunch. They didn’t really give a specific number, but one person working there estimated that they were getting rid of a bunch of folks – like, dozens of positions. And that’s a pretty big deal considering they have around 300 people on their team.
The cuts hit departments like client success and tax services pretty hard. Someone who knows what’s up told TechCrunch that most of Bench’s U.S.-based tax advisory team got the boot. Ouch.
The company that bought Bench, Employer.com, said that the decision to lay people off wasn’t something they took lightly. The CMO, Matt Charney, made sure to thank all the hard-working employees who were doing their thing to keep things running smoothly.
Under the old ownership, Bench managed to raise a ton of money from VC funding and debt, but they never actually made a profit. They burned through all that cash and ended up shutting down out of the blue, leaving their entire staff without jobs and their customers without access to their accounts. But then Employer.com swooped in, saved the day, bought Bench for $9 million, and brought back most of the employees to try and revive the company.
Now, here’s where it gets a bit sketchy. Two current Bench workers and a former one spilled the beans to TechCrunch that most of the workforce is being kept on as independent contractors. They’re renewing their contracts every month instead of being hired as full-time employees. Apparently, this was supposed to be a temporary fix, but who really knows?
Oh, and get this – Bench is saying internally that most of their employees will be based outside of North America. But CMO Charney insists that the recent layoffs were more about fixing old issues than some grand outsourcing plan.
Charney did mention that Bench is looking into better options for their employees, who they call “Benchmates.” But for now, this setup seems to be the best way to get things moving quickly after the sale.
Besides all the workforce drama, Bench has been dealing with other issues too. Lots of customers bailed after tax season, and apparently, Bench couldn’t get everyone’s taxes done on time. That’s gotta be rough for the folks waiting on their returns.
And to add to the mess, some customers are claiming that Bench charged them for services they already paid for under the previous owners. Bench swears they’re honoring all pre-paid services, but it’s still a headache.
Charney did admit that some customers left willingly, and that was part of a plan to let go of the ones that weren’t bringing in enough dough. Apparently, they were losing money on some accounts and had to cut ties.
Looking ahead, Bench is supposedly planning to add new features and hire more people. Let’s see how that plays out.
Alright, that’s the scoop on Bench. Not really sure why all this matters, but hey, that’s the news for ya!
