As if closing all non-essential businesses hadn’t already affected the fitness community, two of the big chains just took a major hit. Solidcore announced last Thursday that they laid off 98 percent of their workforce, and Flywheel made a similar announcement on Friday.
Solidcore's founder and CEO, Anne Mahlum shared that while laid-off employees would receive their final paycheck in full and that the brand will continue to pay for staff healthcare through the end of April, "making this decision is our only chance to be standing at the end of this."
Mahlum also shared that she has forgone 100 percent of her salary as well.
"No one wanted to make this decision, especially me, but the harsh reality is that our studios are closed and while we know that this is temporary, we do not know when we will be able to re-open them," said Mahlum.
Details on the layoffs were shared in an email to studio members as well as on social media. Solidcore had 137 full-time employees, 97 part-time employees, and 397 coaches before Thursday's announcement. They have been a company for 6 years now.
In a less public announcement about laying off 98 percent of their employees, Flywheel shared, "It is our greatest hope that this team will be able to carry the brand through the current crisis, find additional ways to support impacted employees, and be ready to welcome you to work out with us again."
Founded in 2009, Flywheel employed over 800 employees across 29 locations.
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