![\"unicorn-falling_\"](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/unicorn-falling_preview.png?w=730&crop=1\")
<\/p>\nEarlier today a grip of new data presented a sharply negative picture of the American economy. And this afternoon, news broke that a trio of well-known, heavily-backed unicorns were cutting staff.<\/p>\n
With stocks down as well, we’ve received negative signals from the private market, the public market and the economy as a whole in the same day. Let’s take a minute to set the macro stage, and then go over the latest cuts from Carta<\/a> (first reported by Bloomberg<\/a>), Zume<\/a> (Business Insider broke that particular story<\/a>) and Opendoor<\/a> (via The Information<\/a>).<\/p>\n The backdrop for today’s cuts is a faltering American economy. A glance at recent news is sufficient. In the last few hours, home builder confidence recorded the “biggest drop in history<\/a>,” while retail sales fell 8.7% in March, what CNBC noted was<\/a> “the most ever in government data,” and CNN Business reported<\/a> that American factories’ output fell 5.4% in March, “their steepest one-month slowdown since 1946.”<\/p>\n It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that we’ve seen unicorn layoffs all year. In January the news was Vision Fund-backed companies cutting burn<\/a> to skate closer to profitability. Then, the first round of COVID-19-forced staff cuts landed at big companies<\/a>; firms like Bird and TripActions slashed staff as their companies were rent by a slowdown in their core operations by the pandemic and its related economic and social changes.<\/p>\n Slimmer cuts at smaller companies have happened on a nearly chronic basis, something that TechCrunch has covered, as well.<\/p>\n Today, however, saw three cuts from three unicorns (private companies worth $1 billion or more) that have long been objects of TechCrunch’s attention. So, let’s talk about them briefly:<\/p>\n It’s getting hard to keep track of all the cuts. Heck, I helped break Modsy layoffs<\/a> recently with TechCrunch’s Natasha Mascarenhas<\/a>, and we were first to the BounceX cuts as well<\/a>. It’s a rough, bad economy, and it’s harming growth-oriented companies that like startup unicorns.<\/p>\n More when we have it, probably sooner than we’d like to report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Tags:<\/b> Alex Wilhelm<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Image Credits: Bryce Durbin\/TechCrunch Earlier today a grip of new data presented a sharply negative picture of the American economy. And this afternoon, news broke that a trio of well-known, heavily-backed unicorns were cutting staff. With stocks down as well, we’ve received negative signals from the private market, the public market and the economy as a … Continue reading Unicorn layoffs keep piling up as the economy gets worse<\/span><\/a> Continue Reading Economic malaise<\/h2>\n
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Alex Wilhelm<\/p>\n
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