Grammarly CEO details real reasons for the 230 employee lay offs

Last week writing-based asssistant Grammarly confirmed it was restructuring and that means it will lay off approximately 230 members of their global team.

This is all to advance their focus on an AI-enabled workplace of the future, the firm said.

“We recognize the impact of this decision, particularly on those who will no longer be working with Grammarly. The company is committed to supporting them through this transition,” the firm wrote in their statement.

“This decision supports Grammarly’s vision of bringing responsible AI writing assistance to people and workplaces everywhere. Millions of people and thousands of businesses use Grammarly to achieve more through better writing. People at 96% of the Fortune 500 already rely on Grammarly, with organizations saving an average of 19 working days per employee annually in lost productivity. We remain focused on helping people and companies communicate more effectively.”

The business model remains profitable and Grammarly continues to hire across a variety of functions.

CEO’s take

CEO Rahul Roy-Chowdhury noting the changes that the firm had weathered said Grammarly had grown its team from 200 to 1000, but the decision to restructure was made after a look at the organisational design and the current skilsets of the teams.

Looking through the lens of the company strategy, Roy-Chawdhury says the focus was to strengthen the focus toward driving the AI-enabled workplace while deepening technical investment in AI.

This means looking at a different mix of capabilities and skillsets, he said.

The organization will be looking at redesigning the organization in an effort to improve quality going forward.

A minimum of three months base pay and more for those with longer tenures, health insurance benefits including the option for six months of health insurance continuation will be provided to those exiting as compensation.

Those exiting will keep their issued laptops for personal use, with a stipend allocated for individualized career coaching or resume review.

The focus is moving towards AI and Grammarly appears to fundamentally believe that AI will change the workplace for the better.

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