At least 19 Basecamp employees, about 34% of its workforce, have announced their resignations in light of its leaders' recent decision to ban political and societal discussions in the workplace.
Basecamp currently employs 57 people, including its founders, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, according to its team page.
"As a result of the recent changes at Basecamp, today is my last day at the company," Sam Stephenson said on Twitter today. "I joined over 15 years ago as a junior programmer and I've been involved with nearly every product launch there since 2006."
Another employee, the head of marketing at Basecamp, also cited the recent changes as the reason for his leaving.
Earlier this week, Basecamp said political and social discussions are "a major distraction" that hasn't served the company well. "And we're done with it at Basecamp," Fried wrote.
As part of its announcement to ban certain types of discussions, Basecamp offered employees a severance package in the event they want to leave. Basecamp will provide packages worth up to six months of salary to employees who have been with the company for more than three years. Those who served at the company for fewer than three years will be eligible for three months of severance.
"No hard feelings, no questions asked," Heinemeier Hansson wrote in a blog post. "For those who cannot see a future at Basecamp under this new direction, we'll help them in every which way we can to land somewhere else."
April 30, 2021 at 2:55 pm PT: This story has been updated to reflect the most recent number of departures at Basecamp.
Climate TRACE's data show emissions at the facility-level.Image: Climate TRACE