With the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the nation and causing economic downturn, companies across the country are struggling to stay afloat. In most states, any non-essential businesses are unable to open their doors at all, leading to massive lay-offs and for unemployment rates to soar, as 36.5 million Americans have now filed for unemployment since March. Of course, as unfortunate as it is, the closing of these businesses has been a necessary precaution in order to save human lives. That being said, it is sometimes hard to humanize those unemployment numbers and hard to imagine what smaller businesses are going through, especially when we are more isolated than ever.
One particular business has a story that is definitely worth telling. Toast Incorporated, a smaller software company whose headquarters is located in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of many companies hit hard by the current climate. Toast sells “point of sale” systems to restaurants, which in layman’s terms, are the touch screen machines that a cashier uses to take your order and complete your payment. The company was launched in 2013, and now has five locations and a total of about 2,000 employees.
Toast’s top clientele are restaurants, and with restaurants across the country currently struggling, the company had to lay off 50% of all their employees in April to prevent going under. While it’s widely understood that restaurants across the nation are fighting to stay above water, a company like Toast gets lost in the shuffle of people’s empathy, as the company operates with business to business sales method, which means it is not a company where consumers interact directly (at least in terms of consumption). Like so many businesses, Toast is a quiet casualty of COVID-19, and it is truly an example of how far reaching the pandemic is. The company also had to rescind any offers they had to employees who were set to start any time after April, meaning any college students who were set to work there after graduation lost their jobs before they ever got to work a day.
One of those college students who lost their spot at Toast before ever clocking in was Bryant University Senior Marissa Mealey. Marissa was hired by Toast all the way back in October as an internal sales associate. Toast informed Mealey that they had to take their offer back in April, meaning she had lost five months of her senior year when she could have been looking for another job. Toast was cordial and apologetic when giving Mealey the news, and informed her that once they righted the ship, she would be on their short list. While she could have been bitter or angry– and no one would have blamed her– Mealey had a completely different reaction: one of high resolve and understanding. “It was obviously disappointing because I really wanted to work there, but I completely understood that it was what had to happen,” said Mealey. “This whole thing is bigger than me, and crying ‘woe is me’ would be selfish.”
Toast was so impressed with Mealey’s handling of the situation, that even though they are struggling, they took time to reach out to Bryant University to sing her praises, and even though they hope they can eventually re-offer Mealey her position, they urged Bryant to do all they could do get her a job. “That was definitely a really nice gesture by Toast,” said Mealey. “It meant a lot to me that they would do something like that, especially in these chaotic times. It says a lot about the company. A lot of employees who got laid off that I have spoken with are more sad that they will not be working at Toast than they are that they lost their jobs and I think that is rare.”
On LinkedIn, current and ex-employees of toast rallied around each other and tried to help anyway they could. Under almost every post one made about no longer working at Toast, there were about a dozen comments by colleagues recommending different Sales Development Representative roles.
Much like their almost employee Marissa Mealey, Toast is not letting unfortunate circumstances get the best of them. When the pandemic first started leading to businesses closing, Toast was on the front lines advocating for the CARES act. The CARES Act– which stands for the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act– is a two trillion dollar economic relief package signed into law on March 27th. The Act helps unemployed workers and small businesses impacted by Coronavirus, and Toast lobbied heavily for this act, as it would help employees they had to lay off, restaurants and Toast itself.
Toast has also started trying to get involved in their community and trying to rally around local restaurants. Toast started the Rally for Restaurants Challenge, where they encourage people to purchase gift cards to local restaurants in order to win prizes.
In addition, Toast has been proactive in developing products that benefit the company and restaurants in these trying times. In April, they developed “Toast Delivery Services” which is a “flat rate delivery platform, built exclusively to benefit restaurants.” The service eliminates high third party fees, by giving all restaurants a flat rate when hiring delivery drivers and other expenses that come with the process of transitioning businesses to rely almost entirely on delivery for revenue. The service has helped local restaurants stay open, and has helped Toast start earning again.
While Toast’s struggle and hardship is not unique, their handling of these dark times has been inspiring. Even though they have fallen on hard times and had to part ways with so many members of the company, they have not stopped advocating for their people and for their clients, whether it be through initiatives or by going out of their way to uplift an ex-employee. So many people and businesses have fallen on hard times in the last few months, and while Toast was hit hard, they are trying to hit back. Their story is encouraging, and is probably one of millions of uplifting stories from this pandemic that most people will never hear.
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