Because this wasn’t your average layoff, another story of a failed startup. I sometimes imagine knocking on Irma’s and Jake’s doors to ask them for answers. So how could the CEOs of a company that promoted a culture of inclusivity, that believed “rest isn’t earned, it’s necessary,” that built castles for underdogs, instantly destroy the lives of those it claimed to serve? And the company instituted every other Friday off to prevent burnout. In 2022, Bitwise formed a wellness team and hosted weekly virtual meetings for employees to share how they were feeling. Most of all, I believed I had found a company that truly cared for its people. I believed it was possible to create a successful tech company in Fresno. But as more blighted buildings became Bitwise locations - ”castles for the underdogs,” the CEOs called them - and friends remarked how incredible the culture was, I became intrigued. I used to drive downtown and wondered whether they were all about coding or selling co-working space. I was a skeptic for Bitwise’s first eight years of life. Those who always wondered, “What did Bitwise even do?” and those who fiercely believed in the company’s professed mission - ”We build tech economies in underestimated cities” - continue to be at odds. In the fallout of one of the Central Valley’s biggest stories in decades, two camps emerge: skeptics and true believers. I listened in shock as the CEOs - who reassured me just weeks before that I didn’t have to worry about the financial stability of the company - confirmed that my last check likely would not clear. Memorial Day meeting, as she and co-CEO Jake Soberal suddenly furloughed all 900 Bitwise employees, even the ones with matching tattoos. Just over a year later, Irma spoke to me for the last time in an emergency 8 p.m. I’m not a hugger, but I felt compelled to open up my arms, and we briefly embraced in the tattoo shop. “Can I give you a hug?” Irma asked me before she left. In less than a couple of hours, the duo was inked, honoring the bond between not just a boss and staff member, but friends. gets a tattoo in tandem with a company employee.
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