This Company Is Laying Off Employees Via Text Message
Fast casual chain Dig offers a real-time case study in how not to handle tough economic times
For the better part of the past decade, hungry, fashionable, and mostly millennial office workers in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia have assembled in snaking, overflowing lines at the 32 locations of Dig — formerly known as Dig Inn — to get their fast-casual lunchtime fix. Behind the counter, workers swirl about in controlled chaos, serving up a desk-friendly farm-to-table fantasy: some combination of wild salmon filet, farro, roasted Brussels sprouts, or cauliflower in a biodegradable to-go container for the lunchtime trade-up cost of about $12.
Founded in 2011 by former private equity associate Adam Eskin, Dig has built a following of lunchtime customers loyal to its vegetable-forward offerings, often sourced right from regional farms. Bolstered by investments from the likes of restaurateur Danny Meyer and other venture capital and private equity cash infusions, Dig helped usher in the Sweetgreenization of buzzing startup office districts along the East Coast.
But on Monday evening — on the heels of mass quarantines, a market crash, and a reeling restaurant industry — an estimated 40% of Dig’s 100-person corporate workforce was laid off across…
