Flock Safety Offers Buyouts to All 1,500 Employees as Surveillance Backlash Erodes Customer Base
ATLANTA — Flock Safety, the automated license plate reader company valued at more than $8 billion, is offering voluntary buyouts to its entire workforce of roughly 1,500 employees, a move that signals deepening strain at a company that has become the focal point of a national debate over mass surveillance. The buyout program, announced internally on Friday, was described in company communications as the “most generous” severance package Flock has offered since its founding in 2017, roughly double its previous offers. Packages include several months of health care coverage and the right to exercise stock options for up to two years after departure. Employees have until October 2 to apply, with acceptance decisions expected by October 9. Those approved will depart around October 29. Flock framed the program as a way to provide “greater agency” for workers and to “treat employees with transparency, respect, and choice.” But people familiar with the situation told WIRED that without suffic...