NordicTrack maker slashes 300 jobs in fifth round of layoffs

NordicTrack maker iFit Health & Fitness slashed 300 more jobs as the Salt Lake City, Utah-based  company continues to reel from a change in post-pandemic habits.

The cuts announced Monday were the fifth round of layoffs since late 2021 — trimming the ranks to 1,300 from 2,500, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

Pink slips were handed out in marketing, engineering, technology and consumer products, according to LinkedIn posts from laid-off employees.

“We are taking the steps necessary to keep the business stable in the immediate term while simultaneously bringing clearer definition and planning to our go-forward growth strategies,” said iFit chief executive Kevin Duffy in a memo to employees which The Post obtained. 

Earlier this year, iFit targeted its C-suite as the Peloton rival reorganize fsrom a family-run business to one backed by institutional investors.

Duffy was named to the top job in October after billionaire iFit founder Scott Watterson stepped down in February amidst a tussle with the company’s investors over control of the iFit, as The Post exclusively reported.

Four of Watterson’s sons work in senior positions at iFit and several cronies of Watterson, high-ranking officials of the Mormon church, were directors but have since left, as have other members of the family, The Post reported. Two of Watterson’s sons are still listed on the company’s leadership page on its website.

Following, Watterson’s ouster as CEO, investors — which include L Catterton and Pathlight Capital — sank $355 million into the company to orchestrate a turnaround.

“Over the last few years, fitness companies have been impacted by shifting macroeconomic trends,” Duffy said in his memo, in which he disclosed that iFit’s sales ballooned by 105% during the height of the pandemic.

“As the world reopened, naturally, that demand has normalized,” he wrote. “At the same time, rising interest rates, global supply chain pressures, the war in Ukraine, broader inflation and now mixed signals around a potential recession, all present obstacles we will continue to navigate on our path to profitability.”

A spokesperson for iFit declined to comment on the layoffs.

In October, Peloton eliminated 500 jobs in its fourth round of layoffs.

Its new CEO, Barry McCarthy said in a memo to employees at the time, “I know many of you will feel angry, frustrated, and emotionally drained by today’s news, but please know this is a necessary step if we are going to save Peloton, and we are.”