I joined Dashlane in February 2020 and was let go in November 2020, just five days before my daughter was born (the People team knew I was about to be a father, as I was discussing my leave with them, so did the Marketing team).
On November 17th, 2020, twenty people across three different offices (Paris, Lisbon, and New York) were let go. All folks had meetings with people team members simultaneously, and managers didn't know about that (including my manager, who had her whole team dissolved without any further notice).
I was told this was no reflection on the dedication or the contribution made to the business but a necessary result of a need to reshape the company.
What I've seen during 2020 was an ever-changing marketing strategy, with teams having no visibility about budget and therefore unable to plan their work. The former CEO (allegedly) quit - The CMO did the same a few months later.
I could barely work on the things I was initially hired for, as 1. we had no visibility on budget and 2. COVID hit the business, and the team I was part of was required to support Product Marketing (which is totally fine and made sense at that time).
During my onboarding, I learned that transparency was one of the values that the company cultivated. If blindsiding managers that way doesn't seem very transparent, imagine what one can say about a few months after being fired start receiving LinkedIn and Glassdoor emails suggesting (guess what?) I'm a fit for two positions they just opened: First, Associate/Product Marketing Manager, B2B, in March, and then Product Marketing Manager, B2B, in April. In other words, positions that myself and my fellow coworkers took (informally) during the course of 2020.
Well, despite all the wording from the interim CEO around the "need to reshape," I also read that an immediate restructuring was needed so that the company could reach greater levels of efficiency, optimization, and profitability and that eliminating my position was essential for adapting the company's organizational structure to the level of activity and the results determined and expected.
It turns out that at least myself and a fellow coworker could take this open position, hence previous and also in-house experience in the required field. Remember, people were told that their contracts' termination was not related to performance, AND we worked as a product marketing interim team during 2020.
I think whoever joins this company needs to know that. Seeing the company opening positions that could be taken by at least some people who were fired is a lack of respect and also the most substantial proof that the company's strategy is all over the place.
