Things are looking pretty bleak for the vape giant Juul at the start of 2020. This is partially due the fact that the company ended 2019 in a sour note, having laid off 650 of its employees. Those that remain could soon be out of a job as well in the coming year, thus leading to what some employees have called an “all time low” for company morale, according to Buzzfeed News.
Juul’s headquarters are based in San Francisco, California where they used to employ over 4,000 people. While the company used to seem unstoppable, bringing in billions in revenue, it has since taken a major hit after the nation began to find out what dangerous side effects these products can have on customers’ health.
One Juul employee that was interviewed said they intended to soon get another job, “based on the trajectory of how the company is doing.”
Another employee slammed their own company, saying they are “Looking for new opportunities out there with companies that actually care about their employees and are truly mission focused. The work environment here is truly toxic.”
Other employees agreed that there may be little future for Juul, even believing it could become irrelevant in the next few years of even months.
The FDA says teen vaping is an epidemic. JUUL CEO acknowledges his product is a big part of the problem. Roughly 1 in 5 high school students, & nearly 1 in 20 middle school students said they vaped last year.
JUUL’s CEO tells CBS News what’s being done to stop underage vaping. pic.twitter.com/i2PbftQmPi
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) August 29, 2019
A Juul spokesperson named Austin Finan responded to statements about their employees’ dissatisfaction.
“We are extremely proud of our team of experienced and committed professionals, and we work hard to foster a supportive and open workplace. We will continue to engage the entire JUUL team in a transparent manner as we work to reset the category and position the company for the long term.”
Nevertheless, it seems unlikely that there will be much left for this company. By the end of 2019, not only was the FDA after Juul more than ever, but new stories of young people’s lives being nearly cut short due to vaping habits seemed to come out on the daily.
Despite the fact that the supposed original intention of Juul was to help adult longtime smokers quit their habit, the sweet flavors the company offered appealed to young people. Before long, teenagers were getting hooked on nicotine unnecessarily and putting their health at major risk. Now, the company is facing plenty of lawsuits from cities claiming they marketed their products towards young people, with the city of Denver, Colorado one of the most recent to join the list, as The Inquisitr previously reported.