US clean tech unicorn Palmetto lays off employees in multiple job cuts

US-based clean-tech unicorn Palmetto has reportedly done multiple rounds of layoffs amid the market slowdown.

Some of the jobs eliminated include operations strategy managers, coordinators and warehouse managers, according to posts by affected employees on professional networking platform LinkedIn.

The undisclosed number of layoffs were implemented in September and last week, reports The Business Journals. The company had nearly 400 employees.

“Palmetto unfortunately implemented layoffs in response to the national market slowdown in one of our divisions, which is the residential solar and energy storage installations,” the company said in a statement.

“Palmetto did some reorganisation of the company to prepare for new innovations and services we are launching in 2024,” it added.

Chris Kemper, founder, chairman and CEO at Palmetto, said the firm started its transition to the city of Charlotte in North Carolina earlier this year.

Palmetto received about $555 million in funding and has several celebrity backers such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Billie Eilish, Drake and LeBron James, according to the report.

According to the company’s website, it is on a mission to stop climate change before we reach an irreversible tipping point.

“At Palmetto, we are fueling the rapid expansion of residential solar energy across the United States,” it said.

For the 78 million US households that don’t yet own or lease a solar energy system, “Palmetto is removing barriers and expanding access to improve the way we power our lives”.