US Company Throws Lavish Party For Employees, Then Lays Off 13 Per Cent Workforce

US-based cybersecurity firm Bishop Fox laid off 13 per cent of its workforce or 50 employees just a few days after it hosted a grand party for its employees, as per a report in TechCrunch. The company hosted a party at the RSA cybersecurity conference where it reportedly offered branded beverages it referred to as "cyber soup". The organisation will have "other events in Vegas later this year," according to Bishop Fox's official Twitter account, referring to the Black Hat and DefCon security conferences held there annually.

In late April, many employees took to Twitter to share pictures of the party and of them having a good time. However, a few days later, some of them revealed the layoffs at the company. 

Last night was so much fun! Thanks to everyone who hung out with us after our #RSAC #BFLive event at @HotelZeppelin, and experienced the #ArtOfCyber with us!

Where to next? Maybe … Vegas this summer? 🥳#RSAConference #RSAC2023 pic.twitter.com/NTSoZMDD5n

— Bishop Fox (@bishopfox) April 27, 2023

Bishop Fox spokesperson Kevin Kosh said in an email to the outlet that they had a space at RSA "reserved many months in advance and was primarily secured for the purposes of the day-long livestream (mirroring the one we did for DefCon), which was a forum to engage, and share knowledge with the larger community. The reception followed that for the participants, team, industry friends and RSA attendees." Mr Kosh further informed the outlet that the firm had around 400 employees before the layoffs on May 2.

In a statement to TechCrunch, CEO Vinnie Liu said, "We proactively made these changes in response to the global economic situation and opportunities we identified to make our business more efficient. While demand for our solutions remains solid and our business is stable, we can't ignore the market uncertainty and investment trends in this very different global economy."

"Bishop Fox remains healthy, and we continue to be bullish about our growth and technology investments over the coming quarters and years. Our firm's cash reserves (including our Series B raise), combined with this restructuring, allow us to maintain a strong financial position that enables scale, innovation, and of course, delivery of the high-quality solutions our customers have come to expect," the CEO concluded.

Many employees termed the layoffs as "unexpected". One of them also stated that the layoffs were "due to internal restructuring."