Square Roots , an indoor “ smart farm ” co - owned byElon Musk’sbrother Kimbal , has close up down four of its five locations and laid off most of its employees on Tuesday . The agriculture startup opened in 2016 , producing herbs , green , and salad mixes using artificial lighting in an indoor environment before distributing the produce to local and regional grocery depot .
A former employee at the Grands Rapids location toldBusiness Insiderthat the staff was send word mid - shifting on Tuesday to drop what they were doing and melody in for a Zoom group meeting where they were informed production would stop right away . They were informed there would be layoff and those affected would receive an e-mail shortly .
“ It was just a normal day , ” the former Grand Rapids employee said of the latest layoffs and farm closures announced Tuesday . “ We were in the middle of yield and everyone meet an e-mail and Slack say basically ‘ Drop everything and attend this Zoom call . ’ There was no setting as to why this was bechance so on the spur of the moment and everybody was kind of shocked . ”
Photo: Michael Loccisano (Getty Images)
A company voice toldWDRBit is now altering its business model to work “ exclusively for our strategic partners ” to search more methods of finding profitable ways to produce lineament crops and grow high - calorie solid food indoors . However , Square theme claimed in a assertion issue to the electric outlet on Thursday that “ we have had to pause commercial product in some of our facilities while we reconfigure them to be more suited for serve customers under the Farming as a Service model . ”
While Square Roots reportedly assured its employee that this would be nothing more than a “ break , ” an unnamed reservoir who take on part in the call toldWDRBthat the party was n’t hold back any employees .
The Grand Rapids X - employee tell Insider , “ It was entrap as a irregular thing , but the layoffs did n’t feel temporary . ” They added , “ It was n’t like they were saying ‘ You guys will be offer your jobs back ’ at any decimal point . ”
Square Roots Colorado - founder and CEO , Tobias Peggs , confirmed the company was close its Brooklyn location in a Januarynews release , saying at the time that 49 employees had been bear on . In light of the novel occlusion , the number of staff who were laid off has not been exhaust . Peggs claimed in the tidings firing that the decision is “ loosely in business line with the current wave of layoffs across the tech sector , ” add , “ Though , I apprise that will be of footling comfort to those impacted . ”
The occlusion come less than six months after Square Roots give locating in Wisconsin , Ohio , and Kentucky , all of which will be closed in summation to its first branch in Brooklyn , New York . Kimbal Musk toldCNNin 2020 that he had aspired to form Square Roots to bring people together , just as cooking brought his family together when he was a Thomas Kid . However , the abrupt “ break ” on the majority of the Square Roots location without a clearly - cut explanation and no data about whether or not the land site will reopen has ex - employee feeling dejected .
“ A lot of us find like we have to start from ground zero now , ” the Grand Rapids employee told Insider . “ There ’s not a lot of hydroponic startup in Michigan , so it ’s tough on everybody . ”
Square rootage did not right away respond to Gizmodo ’s request for comment .
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