Fab made headlines earlier this month when it announced layoffs for 101 employees worldwide, or nearly a fifth of its staff, but now the online design store is trying to lend those employees a helping hand.
The startup held a job fair in New York on Wednesday for all but one of the 84 recently laid off employees based in the city (the one holdout was apparently on vacation). The job fair lasted a few hours and offered employees the chance to network with more than three dozen tech, fashion and publishing companies, including Google, Amazon, Kate Spade and Condé Nast.
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"We employ really talented people and we do want to help their careers whether it's in Fab or outside," said Renee Harper Lee, Fab's recruiting chief, noting that Fab also provided laid off employees a week's worth of workshops for cover letters and resumes leading up to the job fair. "We continue to want to take care of our employees no matter what the situation or the circumstances are."
Fab job fair setup. Fab employees, marketable forever. Always Fab fam.xo pic.twitter.com/uo5z8MIPCg
— Renee Lee (@_ReneeLee) October 16, 2013
Fab took a similar approach in August, holding a job fair for about 100 employees in Berlin who were getting laid off.
The move appears to be part of Fab's efforts to put a positive face on the layoffs inside and outside the company. In a memo to employees earlier this month, CEO Jason Goldberg noted that laid off employees would receive severance and hold onto their vested stock options.
"Doing the right thing for Fab encompasses doing the right thing for our people who will lose their jobs," Goldberg wrote. "Our goal is to ensure that compassion infuses every interaction with those who will be leaving Fab."
Image: Fab