Waitr Reportedly Lays Off Much of Lake Charles Office Staff Abruptly June 27, 2019

Originally published June 27, 2019, at 4:49 pm – Updated June 27, 2019, at 6:03 pm.

There have been several reports that the food delivery service Waitr has laid off many of the employees at their office in Lake Charles. From the reports, the number of employees affected is between 80 and 100. Someone familiar with the staffing numbers at the local office indicated that that number of layoffs would be most of the Lake Charles office staff. Layoffs are also reportedly affecting other Waitr offices, and not only the Lake Charles office. It was also mentioned that the employees were given no warning of the layoffs, and were abruptly asked to leave.

One employee said that they were called into a room and told that they were being laid off via video conference.

In response to the layoffs, several people on social media have indicated that they will be deleting the Waitr app from their phones and no longer using the service.

Waitr Founder and CEO Chris Meaux said in a statement that the layoffs were due to the acquisition of Bite Squad, another food delivery service. He also indicated that the layoffs are unfortunate, but would streamline select parts of the organization through a synergistic reduction.