Earlier today, Adaptive Co-Founder and CEO Chad Robins sent the following note to Adaptive Biotechnologies employees:
Dear Adapters,
I am writing to you today with hard news to share. As many of you are aware, we recently announced a restructuring to create a more streamlined and focused organization with two business units that will best position us for success: MRD and Immune Medicine. As part of this process, we have made the difficult decision to reduce our workforce. This directly impacts approximately 100 current team members.
Personally, this is one of the hardest decisions I have had to make in my 12 years at Adaptive, especially since I have close, personal relationships with several impacted Adapters. I am also confident that this is the right decision. Our vision and mission have been our north star. We are doing something transformative here. This reorganization and the headcount reduction are necessary for us to enable patients to benefit from our game changing technologies in as short a time as possible.
Ensuring we have the capital and the resources to fuel our growth while navigating turbulent market conditions has resulted in the need to make hard choices. This is a business decision but believe me, I know it affects us all very personally.
Focusing and Prioritizing to Drive Growth
Over the past several weeks, the executive team has made decisions to prioritize key product development efforts that will be most impactful to our goals and objectives for each business area. Given current market conditions affecting Adaptive and the biotech industry more broadly, it is also critical to manage our operating expenses and extend our cash horizon.
We performed a comprehensive review of all departments across the company in conjunction with the ongoing reorganization of the business. It became clear that we had to cut operating expenses, deprioritize certain projects and programs, and make significant adjustments to expenditures on capital projects. This decision was a last resort after considering all these alternatives.
Transition Support
I have always told you that I consider our team to be more than just co-workers, and I truly mean it. Each Adapter has played a crucial role in building the vision that we strive towards every day. You have brought talent, knowledge, dedication, and passion to our organization. We have built Adaptive together and your role in helping to create a new category of medicine will be part of your – and all of our – shared legacy.
There is no easy way to share this news or to say goodbye to our colleagues and friends whom we respect and admire. I want you to know that our team is doing everything we can to support all of you during this transition with the utmost compassion and thoughtfulness. All departing colleagues will be receiving a comprehensive exit package comprised of the following elements:
- Separation payment based on tenure
- 2021 Bonus Payout
- Continued benefits coverage support through the end of May for those currently enrolled + their dependents
- Extended access to the Employee Assistance Program through end of May
- Our internal talent acquisition team will offer resume reviews and interview workshops, create a resume book to share across a broad network of companies, and assist with other outplacement support
- Execs will help impacted employees to network with other companies
Next Steps
Those of you leaving Adaptive will receive a calendar invite momentarily to a departure meeting with a senior leader in your department. The final working day for departing employees is today, March 8th.
For those of you remaining with Adaptive, you will be hearing from the executive leader on your team today. Tomorrow, we will be holding an all-company meeting to discuss the future of Adaptive and answer questions.
A Final Note
We are parting ways with many extremely talented and dedicated colleagues. We know this is difficult and, for many, will take a long time to process. We will get through this together, and we will be providing resources to help us all navigate this time.
For those who will be leaving us, I want to thank you again for the time and work you have put into Adaptive; we would not be the organization we are today without your dedication and hard work. The contributions, the relationships, and the lessons we have all learned together will endure, and we sincerely hope you are proud to be part of the Adaptive story.
Please reach out if there is any way we can help you as you continue the next part of your journey.
With gratitude,
Chad