Grindr (NYSE: GRND), the LGBTQ dating app, recently implemented a return-to-office mandate, resulting in the departure of nearly half of its employees.
The policy, announced in early August, required employees to choose between relocating to designated “hub” cities or leaving the company with severance. This move affected approximately 80 out of the 178 Grindr workers, many of whom had been hired remotely.
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) raised concerns about the policy, alleging that it was retaliatory in response to a move to unionize. Just two weeks before the policy change, a majority of Grindr’s employees had filed to organize a union.
“These decisions have left Grindr dangerously understaffed and raises questions about the safety, security and stability of the app for users,” Erick Cortez, Knowledge Specialist and member of Grindr United-CWA, said in the statement. “It is clear Grindr wants workers to be silenced and deterred from exercising our right to organize, regardless of the expense.”
The CWA has since filed an unfair labor practice charge against Grindr with the National Labor Relations Board.
Grindr, however, has dismissed these claims by the union, asserting that they have “no merit.” A spokesperson for the company told CNN that they are planning to return to the office in a hybrid model in October, emphasizing the aim of improving productivity and collaboration among the team.
Grindr CEO George Arison told investors at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology conference in San Francisco early in September that the departures would be good for the company’s bottom line in the near term.
Read: Google Cracks Down on Hybrid Setup, Wants Workers Back In the Office
“The team will be smaller than where we were before and where we want to be,” he said. “So that’ll obviously impact margin in a positive way in the near term. But I also think that shows that you can have a lot of leverage in this business because you don’t need that big of a team to do the things that we need to do.”
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