Robotics company iRobot, maker of the popular Roomba vacuuming robots, recently announced plans to cut 7% of its workforce, or 85 employees. This comes in the wake of its pending acquisition by Amazon for $1.7 billion, which is being investigated by the Federal Trade Commission for possible antitrust violations.
The layoffs are a result of market conditions that are expected to remain challenging into 2023. iRobot will take a $4 million impairment charge as a result of the layoffs.
iRobot is joining a list of tech companies that have announced layoffs in recent months in response to rising interest rates, slowing consumer demand, and fears of a recession. Amazon, Google, Salesforce and Meta have all announced significant job cuts.
In August of 2022, iRobot had already laid off approximately 100 employees, and closed a number of open positions, as a means of better aligning its cost structure with near-term revenue and cash flow, as well as improve profitability.
It is unclear what the future holds for iRobot and its employees. However, if the acquisition by Amazon goes through, the company could benefit from Amazon's smart home dominance and expand its reach into new markets.