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BREAKING: CrossFit Announces Significant Layoffs Just Ahead of 2023 Semifinals

April 27, 2023 by and
Photo Credit: CrossFit (instagram.com/crossfit)
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CrossFit LLC is letting go of 20% of its employees only a few weeks before Semifinals and just months before the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games begin.

  • “In assessing our organization and cost structure while considering the current economic environment, it became clear that we needed to make some changes. While this was an incredibly hard decision, these reductions will help us create a more sustainable business model, ensure that we’re prepared for economic uncertainty, and position us to make some big bets against our most important priorities,” according to a statement from CrossFit LLC Chief Executive Officer Don Faul.

Though CrossFit didn’t provide an exact number of employees affected by the lay-offs, nor did they provide details about the positions that were terminated, the Morning Chalk Up has heard from individuals in various departments across the company, including partnerships, DEI, adaptive and affiliate management positions.

  • Jordan Holland is one of them. The former regional manager for US Affiliates, who also ran events such as affiliate summits, confirmed to the Morning Chalk Up he was laid off on Thursday, as did Alec Zirkenbach, who was the Accessibility and Adaptive Sport Specialist at CrossFit.

Remind me: The company has gone through its fair share of layoffs, specifically in 2018 and 2019, under the leadership of CrossFit founder Greg Glassman, when he announced a restructuring of the company and let go of the majority of the CrossFit Games media team. 

CrossFit LLC has also gone through several leadership changes in recent years. In August of 2020 Eric Roza bought the company and stepped in as CEO for 18 months, but transitioned to Board Chairman in early 2022. 

In August of 2022, Faul, who is a US Marine veteran with vast experience in the technology space including roles at Pinterest, Meta and Google, took over as CEO

One of Faul’s most recent interviews was with CrossFit legend Jason Khalipa on his podcast Effort Over Everything. The two had a wide-ranging conversation regarding affiliates, Faul’s approach to business, and the future of CrossFit. 

Faul also mentioned during the interview  he and his team were working to build the business from the ground up and shifting the business model from a startup mentality to a big business outlook. 

The bottom line: It is yet to be seen if or how the layoffs will impact the current CrossFit Games season.  All eyes will be on the company as it navigates the major events coming up. 

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