Juul Labs Inc. is readying a staff restructuring that includes a slowdown on hiring and elimination of some jobs, The Wall Street Journal reported Sept. 24, citing anonymous sources.
The San Francisco-based company this week told managers of some divisions to prepare staff reduction plans identifying must-keep roles, according to the Journal. Juul will try to avoid layoffs by redeploying staff to new or existing open positions if possible, the Journal reported. Juul last week rolled out a two-week hiring freeze but has made exceptions, according to the Journal.
Juul did not immediately respond to an S&P Global Market Intelligence's request for comment.
The reported plans for restructuring come as Juul is facing multiple investigations, including a criminal investigation by federal prosecutors in California. The Federal Trade Commission is also investigating Juul's marketing practices.
The regulatory landscape in the U.S. has also grown uncertain for e-cigarettes with the Trump Administration's plans to ban most flavored electronic cigarettes and other jurisdictions rolling out new regulations of their own.
Meanwhile, Walmart Inc. plans to stop selling e-cigarettes, and CBS Corp. and Warner Media LLC decided to ban advertisements for e-cigarettes.
