HR leader was instrumental in company's shift to four-day workweek
The chief people officer of San Francisco-based fintech startup Bolt is leaving the company.
Jennifer Christie is leaving "to pursue another opportunity more aligned with her career aspirations," said a Slack message sent on Wednesday by Bolt's CEO Maju Kuruvilla, Insider reported. Bolt also confirmed Christie's departure in an email to Insider.
Christie’s last day at work will be May 27. He joined Bolt as the company’s CPO in January this year.
She helped oversee Bolt’s shift to a four-day workweek, which began officially in January. The change is meant to increase productivity, keep employees happy and reduce burnout, Bolt said, adding that it’s drawn a lot of interest as a recruiting strategy. That’s every tech firm’s top priority during the Great Resignation, in which historic turnover is happening in companies across the United States.
Read more: California company puts new spin on four-day workweek
Previously, Christie was Twitter’s chief HR officer from January 2019 until she departed. She also held the head of people strategy and experience post from January 2017 to 2019. Christie was also an executive at American Express for seven and a half years.
Adam McBain, Bolt’s vice president of people operations, will replace Christie, according to the report.
Christie's departure came months after Ryan Breslow, Bolt founder and previous CEO, announced that he’s stepping down after seven years at the helm of his San Francisco-based tech firm.
Bolt implemented a three-month hiring freeze in April and has considered increasing more funds, the New York Times previously reported.
Multiple officials have also left their employers in the past few weeks. Earlier this month, Moderna Inc. announced that chief financial officer Jorge Gomez left the COVID-19 vaccine maker after just one day following an internal investigation at his former employer. Kayvon Beykpour, head of Twitter’s consumer division, and revenue product lead Bruce Falck are also leaving their employer, Reuters reported, following Elon Musk acquisition of the social media company.
In April, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) executive director resigned from her post, citing an issue with the compensation of those working for LAHSA.
Meanwhile, other companies also announced appointments to leadership posts. Cloud security company Zscaler named Brendan Castle, a former Google and Citi executive, as its new chief people officer. Software company Intercom named L. David Kingsley as its first chief people officer. Also, GEICO announced that Shannon Hobbs joined the company as its new chief people officer.
Recently, Goldman Sachs announced it is giving managing directors and partners a new “flexible vacation” benefit, allowing them “to take time off when needed without a fixed vacation day entitlement.” In March, Goldman Sachs announced it is looking to retake vested stock from executives Omer Ismail and David Stark, who left the company last year for companies that would be considered clients, reported Bloomberg. The company is also pulling unvested compensation from the two, according to the report.
