How Weight Watchers Fired Workers Via Zoom, The New Cruel COVID-19 Layoff Tool

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Many of them were devoted longtime members of the iconic weight-loss program. They’re heartbroken.

Weight Watchers employees were busier than ever these past few months, as the coronavirus pandemic heightened eating issues for many people ― from those locked down at home obsessing over what to eat, to essential workers turning to food for comfort and to soothe anxieties.

Not anymore. Weight Watchers unceremoniously dumped Stein and many others last week in audio-only Zoom calls that lasted mere minutes. Employees logged on and listened to a manager read from a script. Their voices were muted so they couldn’t ask questions. They were told not to talk about it with anyone, some of those now-former Weight Watchers employees told HuffPost.

The pandemic has accelerated the company’s big plan to move more of its services online, in an appeal to a younger demographic. WW has 3,000 studios around the country. Amid the current crisis, it has taken the 30,000 weekly workshops held there and put them online, USA Today reported. It recently said it would start reopening some physical locations ― but many would not reopen.

But Stein did think the company’s transition to digital has been hard for its most devoted members, who she said have struggled as the company has switched its guidance from, say, tracking your food intake on paper to tracking it on your phone. The idea that the company would let them go en masse in just minutes, they said, was like being abandoned by a spouse or betrayed by a best friend.

Stein, who lives in Manhattan, has depressive disorder, among other conditions. The abrupt firing was a “shock,” she said. She cried for days afterward and scheduled an emergency appointment with her psychiatrist. “As someone who suffers from a mental illness, to be fired like that felt very difficult for me.”

What Happened To Wellness and Empathy?In recent years, especially since Oprah Winfrey bought a stake in the business in 2017, Weight Watchers has tried to rebrand itself as being less about body image and more about wellness.

 

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A 'touching' society, we lose endearing qualities of genuine caring and empathy...circles in the park; squares in parking lots, little children roped off classrooms...the notions won't go unfelt when playing on teams, hiring a person or...firing them: 'They're just other people'.

Damn that's heavy

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