Posted on 02/02/2024 6:12:21 AM PST by Red Badger
BEDFORD - About 350 iRobot employees are going to lose their jobs after the Bedford-based company announced a 31% cut to its workforce. iRobot was set to merge with Amazon, but the technology giant said it was calling off the deal as a result of increased merger scrutiny in the United States and European Union.
Boston College professor and economist Peter Ireland told WBZ-TV's Paula Ebben that it's a frustrating turn of events for workers at the business that invented the hugely popular Roomba robot vacuum.
"When you hear news like this about a company, particularly a Massachusetts company, immediately our thoughts go out to the people directly affected," Ireland said. "It's hard for us, I think, locally to spin this in any other way - it's disappointing and sad."
Competition concerns from EU, FTC The European Commission made it known last year that it thought the merger could be anticompetitive, and had concerns that Amazon might make it more expensive for iRobot's rivals to sell on its platform. The deal was also at risk of being blocked in America by the Federal Trade Commission.
The news could have ramifications for future tech company merger conversations, Ireland said.
"I do think corporate management will have to take into account the decreased likelihood that linkups of this kind are going to work," Ireland said.
The future of iRobot Amazon is paying the Bedford company a $94 million termination fee, per their merger agreement, and iRobot says it sees "a clear path to reinvigorating our outstanding brand, product performance and underlying technology."
Ireland agreed there's still hope that iRobot can still be a successful business in Massachusetts.
"iRobot has been an innovative company that's really succeeded at producing appliances that American consumers really want and really pay for," he said. "They've long been a successful corporation and hopefully this reset will provide them with a firmer foundation on which to rebuild."
Should other Massachusetts workers be concerned about layoffs? Ireland said anytime there are stories about mass layoffs, workers may be concerned about their own jobs and worry that the country is headed for a recession. He says right now, though, there is "no evidence of a serious slowdown."
"We got a very strong report on GDP last week. We're going to be looking forward this Friday to an employment report that also promises to be quite solid, if not equally strong," he said. "Despite these stories from individual companies, particularly in the tech sector, the thing to remember is the United States economy right now continues to grow robustly."
Since the vacuums are made in China, what do these Boston folks do? I assume the 1/3rd were useless DEI hires and females, and they kept the useful male engineers.
I never understood the appeal of these robot vacuums. It seems you would still have to go around and run a regular vacuum by hand jst to clean up where these things missed.
“iRobot has been an innovative company that’s really succeeded at producing appliances that American consumers really want and really pay for,”
But they are laying off 31% of their work force. Either that statement is false, or American consumers no longer want and are not willing to pay for their products.
None of them are worth a damn.
My 2 dogs like them. Gives them something to chase and bark at!
Was this a unionized shop?
I bet they do! Dog toys....
I find as an older guy/gal, these vacuums are tripping hazards. My son wants them running in his house all day long, I won’t visit then. Nightime would be better but this one makes so much noise.
It was a failed shop that is going to have severe difficulty surviving.
Assembled in China, designed in USA.
Don’t know for sure but I suspect they got rid of some good people.
There is a meme on one of my American Bulldog groups showing a big, beautiful bulldog with one of those vacuums chewed all to hell. I know of someone with a Great Dane who had a similar experience. $700 one-use chew toy.
Yeah it is the bleeding edge for these devices. We were given one by a friend and it is a royal pain to use.
But over time I am sure they will figure it out. Robotics will eventually take over more and more tedious chores.
We had one years ago. It sucked, broke after about a year. We got it because the Mrs knew one of the MIT guys that started the company. He was/is a robotics engineer. We basically got it for free. My wife used to rent an apartment in their house back in the 1990s.
I know people who have them now. They say the work well on solid surface floors(like hardwoods). Not so great when they have to transition from carpet to solid floors and back.
Deal was killed by Liz Warren, she feared it would create less competition. So as a direct result of Ms. Warren’s action a large number of Americans no longer have a job.
Mortgages still need to be paid, electric bill is still due, groceries are kind of important too. Ms. Warren, the economic genius, captain of industry, and renowned rocket scientist- has screwed with a lot of American families. Finding a new job can months. Nice job Liz….
Nope, ran one for years until I moved... run daily, and do a great job of keeping things clean.
The need to break out the big vacuum was maybe a few times a year.
Never had any issues with mine, worked great. Wouldn’t hesitate to buy another one if I needed one.
My dogs are dachshunds. The youngest one was a very destructive chewer but now that he’s an adult his rope chew toy satisfies him. They just view it as a toy. Something to chase in some ways better then chipmunks. They look forward to its use. When it’s in its charging cradle they bark at myself or my wife to release it.
I really want to like ours.
It gets stuck under our furniture.
I have to go around and pick up the dog toys before I start it.
About 1/3 of the time it can’t find it’s way back to the base.
We still have to vacuum about once a month.
Heavy sigh.
Reminds me of a recent quip about Biden finding his way from the podium being like a Roomba looking for its base.
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