Two weeks after news broke of possible financial wrongdoing and hundreds of furloughs, local tech incubator Bitwise officially terminated all 900 employees on Wednesday via email.
Interim Bitwise President Ollen Douglass wrote: “On behalf of Bitwise Industries, Inc. (Bitwise), we regret to inform you that your position will be eliminated Wednesday, June 14, 2023. Bitwise Industries, Inc. does not have a job bumping system, that is, employees will not be able to displace more junior employees out of their job positions as a result of this mass layoff, which is due to unforeseeable business circumstances and other reasons. Due to these unforeseeable business circumstances and other reasons, we were unable to provide you more notice.”
300 workers in Fresno were let go along with approximately 600 others in locations around the US, including Merced, Bakersfield, Oakland, Chicago, Las Cruces, Toledo, Buffalo, El Paso and Greely, Colorado.
