The internal memo from SoulCycle was signed by Sunder Reddy, the interim CEO of the company after former CEO Melanie Whelan stepped down in late November. It states that for the next 30 days, active full-time employees who are still able to work will be paid 75 percent of their base pay, as will some employees working reduced hours and some who are unable to work due to the studio closures. The fourth category of employee are those who are furloughed without pay for the next 30 days; the furloughed staffer we spoke to estimated that many studio employees would probably fall into that category, including front desk staff and assistant studio managers, while instructors and studio managers were likely all kept on with reduced pay.The internal memo also signaled that SoulCycle is also planning layoffs for later this week, with Reddy writing, “[W]e still have a few considerations that may impact a small number of people. These aren’t easy decisions to make, but we’ll reach out to that small number of people on Friday.”The furloughed staffer tells VICE that they’re in a marginally better position than many other Soul employees, given that they have a second job.“I’m very disappointed and still upset, though,” they added. Just six days ago, they watched as SoulCycle’s main Instagram account posted a photo of the Westchester, New York staff sending well wishes to everyone. “Now that team is essentially all furloughed. That sent a false message of hope to other staff knowing now what happened, and it tries to make it seem to riders that staff are being taken care of when they were potentially planning the layoffs. It seems like they’re being very strategic from a marketing perspective and it’s honestly makes me pretty angry.” The caption of the post read, “Even though we’re away from the studio, the love keeps flowing.”Do you know something we should know? We'd love to talk to you. Contact the reporter at anna.merlan@vice.com.
On Wednesday morning, SoulCycle still had not announced the staff changes publicly, but did post a spicy astrology meme.Sign up for our newsletter to get the best of VICE delivered to your inbox daily.Follow Anna Merlan on Twitter.In an effort to protect our teams in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic yet remain in the strongest position to reopen our studios globally, SoulCycle has had to make a number of difficult decisions that impact individual roles and payroll at all levels of the organization, including implementing pay reductions and furloughs for employees unable to work due to studio closures. Our people, who bring this brand to life every day for our riders and our communities, are at the core of everything we do. Through these actions, we are able to continue to compensate the majority of our workforce with as minimal a reduction in pay as possible, while continuing to provide health benefits and access to mental health services to all employees enrolled.