Jul 8, 2020
Sonder Response
5yWe are saddened to hear your views of your experience with Sonder, and we are working hard to alleviate some of the key concerns you cite, such as our extended guest wait times.
We do have to provide some different context to some of your points. While making the decision to do a reduction of our workforce and to hours was an incredibly difficult one, it was a necessity to the business and had to be handled quickly. We know this has been an incredibly tough time for our employees, especially those on the front lines in guest facing roles, and appreciate all you and your colleagues do/have done to support our guests during this time.
The change in our messaging platform had been in the works since 2019, and it’s original launch was scheduled for March. We delayed as long as we could in hopes we could launch when we’re back in the office, but we had to decide to keep advancing -- future iterations of our new platform will unlock really amazing things for our people and our guests. It will also improve the scheduling for our teams. We also do give priority to our existing team members for shifts as they become available, but still have to meet the demands of our guests. We have brought hours back to normal and increased our hiring dramatically to alleviate stress on our existing workforce and allow more senior folks more schedule preferences.
One of the things we strive for in every market we enter is that we are good neighbors, and contribute to the growth and success of the communities we are in. One great example is when Sonder contributed over $100k worth of furniture to help refurbish living spaces in the city of Vancouver’s non-market housing program. In other examples, Sonder’s commitment to real estate developments has stabilized financial prospects to ensure buildings are built, and that they have affordable housing included. Those buildings wouldn’t exist without Sonder. We’re very proud to be able to do so much to support our communities, even as we try to become a profitable, self-sustaining business.
If you’d care to share anything more, please reach out to our People Partners at peoplepartners@sonder.com.