Meditation App Headspace Relieved Stress For Everyone But Its Own Employees, Say Former Staff

(Bloomberg) --

But the rest of the workday at Headspace was often less Zen. While the company's raison d'etre was to promote mental health and well-being, many staffers described working intense hours, skipping family functions to meet deadlines and a high rate of turnover. In interviews with more than 20 people who worked at the startup from before the pandemic through earlier this year, employees depict an intense and sometimes grueling work environment.

“I absolutely had to go to therapy,” said one former staffer, who like other people who talked to Bloomberg, spoke on condition of anonymity in order to preserve their future job prospects. Three other people also said they started seeing psychiatrists to help process the stress of working at the company.

The startups were valued at $3 billion combined at the time of the deal. disputing the characterization of its culture as unusually demanding

Simon Perry, a former human resources executive at Headspace, said that the company's mission was part of what drove employees to work hard. It was challenging to log off at the end of the work day, knowing that Headspace's app was helping users who may be going through difficult times, he said. “I had a real hope and heart for growing a business through the lens of our mindful practices,” Perry said. He said he pushed himself, and his team, to ensure they were still finding work-life balance, but “in any startup, it is challenging.”

Today, as the economy reels and venture capitalists scale back investments, funding for digital health companies dropped 36% in the first quarter of this year compared to the previous quarter, according to the research firm CB Insights. Globally, average weekly downloads of the Headspace app in 2022 fell by almost half from highs in 2020, the year the pandemic began and the US saw a divisive presidential election that strained Americans' mental reserves. But there are still plenty of people looking for some peace through meditation: Headspace has been downloaded more than 2.5 million this year alone, according to Data.ai.

The company did make some efforts to lessen the stress, including scheduled meditation breaks, no-meeting Fridays and “Mind Days” — a Friday off every other week. However, because the actual workload didn't change, many employees simply worked through the days off, two people said. 

It's why we continue to add additional benefits and programs” for staff. 

Today, some former Headspace employees say they no longer use the app—instead of being calming, it's now triggering.

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