iRobot To Fire 350 Employees As Deal With Amazon Is Killed

Image Credit: Twitter/iRobot

New Delhi: Consumer robot maker iRobot has announced layoffs of nealy 350 employees with founder and CEO Colin Angle also expected to step down. This constitutes approximately 31 percent of the entire workforce.. The company (iRobot) has taken this move to improve profitability and key growth. 

The layoffs come a day after the mutual termination of the 1.7 billion dollars Amazon-iRobot deal because of regulatory obstacles. Following the announcement of the deal termination, iRobot's shares experienced a 10 percent decline.

iRobot, a popular robotics vacuum cleaning solutions provider, asserted that “As part of this workforce reduction, iRobot expects to record restructuring charges totalling between 12 million dollars and 13 million dollars, primarily for severance and related costs, over the first two quarters of 2024, with the majority of the restructuring charges anticipated in the first quarter of 2024".

Moreover, Andrew Miller, chairman of the board, reckoned that, “Though decisions that impact our people are difficult, we must move forward with a more sustainable business model, and a renewed focus on profitability. We are confident that the actions we are announcing today will enable us to chart a new strategic path for sustainable value creation.”

According to reports, iRobot's Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer Glen Weinstein has been appointed as the Interim CEO. Meanwhile, Andrew Miller, the lead independent director, has taken up the position of Chairman of the Board. The founder and CEO, Colin Angle, will remain on the iRobot Board until May 2024, and he has committed to serving as a senior advisor for a period of up to 12 months.