A few months after launching in Brazil, global HRtech Atlas has dismissed the entire team working on sales and marketing for the country as well as staff in other markets in the region and globally.
As a reaction to the global economic situation, the firm will reduce investments in certain slow-growing markets including Latam, Africa, the Middle East, Australia, and China, and has identified 40 countries with minimal growth and plans to exit them to save costs.
It is estimated that around 150 employees based globally have been impacted. The company, which provides technology to help companies hire cross-border talent under on a model dubbed employer of record (EOR), had approximately 500 employees worldwide.
The layoff was announced yesterday (23) in a meeting where staff were informed that they would lose their jobs. According to Atlas, impacted staff will receive outplacement support, access to learning and development programs to enhance their skills and marketability in addition to benefits and legally required severance packages.
Contacted by Forbes, Atlas founder Rick Hammell said the company will continue to support businesses seeking to establish their presence within Brazil and the broader Latam region. “Consequently, our operational and service teams will continue their uninterrupted operations, thus avoiding any disruptions stemming from this restructure”, he said.
The changes follow an internal reorganisation whereby Hammell stepped down as CEO and taken up the role of chairman. An interim chief executive, Raymond Dile, has been appointed while the firm seeks a replacement for the company’s top position.
“As we set our sights on the future, we also recognize the need to be mindful of the current global economic climate. To optimize our resources and be more conservative in our investments, we have made the difficult decision to reduce our commercial investment in slower-growing emerging markets and regions”, Dale said, in a statement sent to Forbes.
The company also noted it will restructure its organization to focus more on its core EOR business. The exercise includes dividing the operations into three regions: APAC, EMEA, and Americas and centralizing certain services.
Under its EOR model, Atlas combines its legal entities set up in 160 countries and a platform that enables clients to onboard, manage and pay their globally-distributed staff. The company received a $200 million Series B round announced in September 2022.
When it opened its Brazil headquarters in February with a local headcount of 50 staff, Atlas said the plan was to grow its Latin workforce by 30% in 2023.
Read the full article here
