Musical Chairs at Checkr, But the Music Just Stopped!

Well, buckle up folks. No one saw this coming, but here we are. We've gotten wind that Checkr, the San Francisco darling of startups, kick-started a game of musical chairs without any music. Yup! A company-wide layoffs happened on a fine Tuesday, affecting people across all levels and departments, which was later confirmed in an email by Checkr.

Here's the real heartbreaker though: “In response to economic conditions that have impacted companies’ hiring, we made the difficult and painful decision to reduce the size of our team. This will allow us to operate more efficiently and ensure the long-term health of our business”, a ghost from the Checkr corridors voiced. (Okay, it was their spokesperson, but it sounds cooler to imagine it was a ghost, right?)

Where's My Chair? 32% Chairs Gone!

Now, dear readers, keep in mind, these layoffs have swooped away a whopping 32% of the Checkr workforce, and they come only a couple of years after Checkr pulled a $400 million rabbit out of its hat by acquiring Inflection, the parent of GoodHire, a platform for background checks for small and midsized businesses.

With prominent backers such as Durable Capital Partners, Fidelity Management & Research, Franklin Templeton, BOND, and Coatue Management, Checkr has a simple yet innovative mission. It allows companies to background check potential employees by diving into driving and criminal records, and verify their identity (like a super-sleuth, only…it's a tech company).

From Startup to Star!

Launched in 2014, the astonishingly successful Checkr offers an online form (or its API, for the tech geeks among us) for companies to conduct these background checks, which can be seamlessly integrated into their hiring or onboarding systems like Workable and Zenefits. Counting the likes of corporate big-wigs like Uber, Instacart, Netflix, Adecco, Airbnb, and Coinbase among its key customers, Checkr has since roped in tens of thousands more, from small businesses to Fortune 500 employers.

In light of the layoffs, Checkr is offering the you’re-off-the-payroll folks at least 10 weeks of severance and health insurance, as well as career and mental health support. Now that's class!

The startup, however, remains mum about its present structure and future fundraising plans. As of now, it boasts a jaw-dropping $679 million in funding, with the last bout of financial injection - a staggering $250 million - coming in as recently as September 2021.

In summary-Ish

So, the ride at Checkr has been one heck of a rollercoaster, with thrills, chills, and everything in between. How things shake out remains to be seen. But whatever happens, one thing is clear – in the world of startups, the music can stop at any moment. Better have a chair when it does!