Employees, now laid off from financial services firm MyBambu, tell WPTV they were aware of the company’s financial struggles since the beginning of the year.
WATCH BELOW: ‘We were aware we were losing money,’ employee tells WPTV
The company would later announce they plan to hire an additional 200 people at a meeting with city and county officials, who celebrated the company’s success as proof of creating a “Wall Street South” financial hub in Palm Beach County.
However, the company told the Florida Department of Commerce it now plans to close their West Palm Beach office in a WARN letter released earlier this week. It’s unclear if any of the additional employees were hired as promised.
“We were aware we were losing money,” said one employee who sat in meeting with management that were keeping anonymous due to professional reputation in the industry. “…In meetings toward the beginning of the year. We were told that we had to, you know, break even by a certain part that year.”
This employee said management made statements about the company’s financial restraints, which was openly discussed in the office as “the rapture,” similar to a trend on social media about the end of the world. The employee then said the company didn’t make payroll.
“Everybody was sorta like staring at each other, like this might be it,” the employee said.
This employee said he was laid off on Nov. 3, which was the day the company said it expected layoffs to begin in their letter to the Florida Department of Commerce. The letter said the company planed to end 141 jobs by the end of the year, a majority would get cut around the end of October.
WATCH BELOW: Fintech firm MyBambu expands in West Palm Beach, eyes 200 new jobs
Ryan Barack said if more than 100 employees are being laid off the company is required by law to notify its workers and the government about its plan 60 days before terminations start. He said there are some exceptions for sudden unforeseen circumstances and if there’s a reasonable chance of receiving outside capital from investors to save the company.
Barack said he believes the company is trying to cite those exceptions in the letter because the company said it is “providing this notice as soon as practicable” along with touching on possible attempts at receiving outside investment. However, he said he would recommend employees talk with counsel to learn about their legal options.
“It depends on what the facts are,” Barack said. “The magical phrase doesn’t get you there. It whether or not you were in fact not able to see these circumstances were going to happen.”
MyBambu said it’s working on stabilizing its operations and it won’t reveal how many employees the company has laid off. However, the company said its deeply concerned about ongoing reporting about the company in a statement:
“We are deeply concerned that ongoing reporting based on speculation and unverified claims could jeopardize our current funding efforts and, in turn, the livelihoods of our employees and the trust of the customers we proudly serve,” texted a company spokesperson. “We respectfully ask that accuracy and fairness guide any reporting moving forward, as the consequences of misinformation extend beyond headlines—they directly affect real people and families who depend on this company’s continued success.”
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