“ONE climbed from its third-place ranking in 2023. “What we’re finding is that the employees coming to ONE want to boldly go after that goal with us,” said Mujeeb Ijaz, former CEO at ONE in 2023. “They’re really on a trajectory with us trying to change the future.”
Investors seemed to agree. In February 2023, ONE announced a $300million funding round, a valuation of more than $1billion, and planned to grow to over 300 full-time salaried employees and 100 hourly workers by the end of the year, despite tough economic conditions.
It even planned to create over 2,000 jobs in the following years. “We'll be ready to grow as the market comes out of this, because our factories will be tooled,” said Ijaz.
So, how did it pan out for one of America’s best start-up employers?
Well, by the end of 2023, ONE laid off 25% of its team “in response to market conditions,” and Ijaz was replaced as CEO. Moreover, just one day before being ranked number one by Forbes, it announced a further round of job cuts, this time around 10% of its workforce.”
https://www.hrgrapevine.com/us/content/article/2024-03-06-dont-ruminate-on-employer-rankings-forbes-best-american-start-up-employer-for-2024-just-announced-more-layoffs