Background-screening firm Checkr cuts 32% of workforce, source says

By Jaspreet Singh

(Reuters) - Background-screening platform Checkr has cut 382 jobs, or 32% of its workforce, a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, the latest company in the tech industry to resort to layoffs to reduce costs in an uncertain economy.

The tech industry has led job cuts across the United States this year, extending its cost-cutting drive from the past two years into 2024.

The layoffs would allow it to "operate more efficiently and ensure long-term health" of its business, Checkr said in an email to Reuters.

The company will offer a minimum of 10 weeks of severance and health insurance, career and mental health support, it said.

U.S. layoff announcements rose 7% in March to the highest since January 2023, led by technology and government-sector job cuts, though cuts announced year to date are down 5% amid a still-strong job market, according to a report by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas last week.

San Francisco-based Checkr, which counts online grocery-delivery firms Instacart and DoorDash and U.S. ride-hailing platform Lyft as its customers, has so far raised $679 million in funding since its inception in 2014.

The company is backed by Vinod Khosla's eponymous investment fund Khosla Ventures, Fidelity Management & Research Co and T. Rowe Price, among others.

TechCrunch first reported on the job cuts by Checkr on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)