This is probably not what they meant when they said “trim the fat.” Weight loss app Noom will lay off 495 total wellness coaches in the coming days, according to a report from Well-informed person based on company documents.
An unnamed wellness coach, who was not part of the cuts, told reporters that 180 coaches had already been let go Thursday during a series of small-group video calls. The company plans to cut another 315 coaches through next week. The anonymous trainer said it was almost a quarter of his 2,000 wellness coaching staff.
Apparently laid off staff are offered eight weeks of voluntary severance pay, though that won’t include unpaid vacation time.
Apparently, the company’s goal is to reduce text-based training and move toward video-based training. Insider reported that the move will likely give each individual trainer a higher workload.
In a statement to Insider, Noom said “parting ways with a portion of our coaching staff is a decision we don’t take lightly and we appreciate their contributions,” but added that they would continue individual training.
The company’s website proudly shows how it has received high marks in recent years for being one of the best tech workplaces on sites like Glassdoor and Fortune, although recent cuts would represent a loss of nearly a fifth of US personnel. The 2,000 wellness coach staff before the cuts made up more than 80% of the company’s US workforce of 2,439, according to Fortune’s employee count. The company’s employment page does not list any new coaching positions available.
The coach’s job is essentially one person who texts the user to offer advice and goals on how to change or eliminate eating habits. A Noom subscription costs $59 per month or $199 per year.
The mostly remote trainer workforce was offered significant benefits, according to the Noom website, including the ability to choose your own hours. Insider reported that the company will be switching to scheduled video-based calls that will likely require more stringent timing from trainers. The reporters also cited unnamed sources who told them the trainers were often on edge, swamped with hundreds of clients at a time.
Noom was originally founded in 2008, but the app saw a huge increase in revenue due to the pandemic, especially as people at home worked to lose weight during the lockdown. In 2021, the company was valued at $3.7 billion and saw $540 million in investmentthat the company used also start working on mental health related products.
Noom has promised to lose weight without dieting, but calorie counting apps like Noom have been criticized for their weight loss methods that focus primarily on cutting calories, even though estimates of how much each individual should limit are according to their size and daily activity. The app was bombarded by Twitter users earlier this year for what they called psychological manipulation, which the company responded they were just trying to develop healthy eating habits.
Gizmodo has reported on the inherent limitations of this calorie-counting fad before. Although there is much debate about how many calories someone should consume for a healthy life, reported Fast Company the app advocated that men consume less than 1,400 calories one day. The Academyand Nutrition and DieteticsA trade association of food and nutrition professionals recommends that women consume between 1,600 and 2,200 and men consume between 2,000 and 3,200, depending on overall daily activity.
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