Two weeks ago, a leading app and telemental health company offering self-guided care, behavioral health coaching, therapy, and EAP services, Headspace, announced a widescale layoff of 181 workers, representing 15% of its workforce. Thirty-three of those employees were therapists. In an email response to a HIMSS reporter and quoted from a MobileHealth News article published on July 5, Headspace CEO Russell Glass explained,
“With the privilege of supporting the mental health and wellbeing of millions of people around the world also comes great responsibility to focus on the health of our business and safeguard it for the future. On June 29th, we announced several important changes to our strategy and organizational structure at Headspace, including reducing the size of our workforce by 15%. These changes will equip the company for the future and pave a strong path to profitability. We’re deeply grateful for the employees we said goodbye to and are committed to supporting them through this time of transition.”
Headspace offers services directly to consumers as well as to employers. It invites users to select a mental health plan of services from its homepage for $5.83 per month or $12.99 per month. In 2021, the company merged with Ginger, an online mental health platform, in a deal that led to the valuation of the combined company at $3 billion. Since then, additional acquisitions of an artificial intelligence sleep app and a multicultural platform have raised the value of the company even higher. The company’s newsroom contains several articles about its growth, including plans for entering foreign markets.
Headspace Layoffs & Therapeutic Issues
On July 7, 2023, the Los Angeles Times carried a related Headspace layoff story that focussed primarily on the therapist and patient community’s reactions. The article explained that the most recent headspace layoff involved 33 therapists who were terminated without forewarning. The report assumes that the lack of a therapist’s ability to give termination notice left patients unaware of their therapist’s reason for suddenly leaving the relationship. The layoff process apparently raised concerns among the dismissed therapists because they were denied access to the people they treated. According to therapists quoted in the LA Times article, their scheduled appointments were canceled without reason, potentially harming some patients.
The LA Times article referenced one of the therapists they interviewed, who remained unnamed. Specializing in serving the LGBTQ+ community, this therapist shared that one of their clients “came out” as gay during a therapy session the day before the sudden layoff, leaving the patient without continuity of care and most likely wondering why the therapist suddenly left. The therapist’s access to the system was reportedly revoked before he could begin his day’s first session. “Had we, the clinicians, done this to our clients, we would be facing license revocation,” he lamented.
The LA Times article also commented that Headspace had swiftly notified affected members and offered guidance to transition to the remaining therapists. When asked about the whereabouts of their former therapists, the company reportedly emphasized its need to protect its member’s and