Global Courant 2023-05-01 07:32:02
Weight-loss giant Jenny Craig may close its headquarters as early as Friday as part of a likely transition to an e-commerce company, ABC News has learned.
In WARN Act letters sent by the company to employees and obtained by ABC News, Jenny Craig informed employees that it plans to close the company’s Carlsbad, California location where its corporate headquarters are located and “it majority of the operations” in the facility. on or about June 24, but wrote that if it cannot secure funding to continue operations, the facility could close as early as May 5.
In another WARN Act letter obtained by ABC News, the company said it plans to close its New Jersey facility on or about July 24, but possibly as early as May 5.
The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires large companies to notify workers before plant closures or mass layoffs.
In an FAQ sent to employees on Tuesday and obtained by ABC News, Jenny Craig said it is beginning “the process of winding down physical operations, probably transitioning to an e-commerce model.”
“We don’t know exactly which employees/groups this will be impacted on, and whether any employees can be retained,” the employee FAQ says. “As a result, we recommend anticipating that your job may be affected and seeking other employment.”
The company has about 600 centers worldwide, with nearly 500 owned and franchised locations in the US and Canada, Jenny Craig said in a press release earlier this year.
A Jenny Craig sign hangs on the wall outside the weight loss store April 28, 2023 in Miami.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The FAQs sent throughout the company included links to unemployment resources for 39 states and Canada.
A Jenny Craig spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Companies, mainly in technology and media, have laid off thousands of employees so far this year.
Amazon announced in early January that it is cutting a total of 18,000 positions, including layoffs announced in November 2022. The company announced last month that it would lay off an additional 9,000 people.
Payments company PayPal is cutting 7% of its workforce, which equates to about 2,000 employees, president and CEO Dan Schulman said Jan. 31.
E-commerce company eBay announced in a February 7 SEC filing that it will lay off 500 people, or 4% of its workforce.
Jenny Craig is saddled with $250 million in debt and looking for a buyer, Bloomberg Law reported this in March.
The weight loss industry is going through changes as the trade in obesity drugs has skyrocketed in popularity.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Ozempic, also known as semaglutide, as a treatment for type 2 diabetes in addition to diet and exercise if other medications fail to control blood sugar levels well enough.
While Ozempic is not explicitly approved for chronic weight management, it can be prescribed off-label and used safely for obese people.
WW, formerly known as Weight Watchers, announced last month it acquired Sequence, a subscription-based telehealth platform that offers telemedicine appointments with doctors who can prescribe Ozempic and Wegovy, a similar drug but at a higher dosage.
The drugs, which mimic hormones found in the body to support weight loss, have recently grown in popularity thanks to reported use by celebrities and posts by regular people on social media about successful weight loss.
Katie Kindelan, Dr. Avish Jain, Kiara Alfonseca and Max Zahn of ABC News contributed to this report.
