Major layoffs hit Callowhill’s Tonic Design

Callowhill-based design firm Tonic Design laid off 12 people at the end of October, downsizing from a staff of 62 to a total headcount of 50, according to the company’s founder, Mac Morgan.
An initial report by a staffer who spoke to Technical.ly under the condition of anonymity said the layoffs were close to “half the company.”
“I don’t want to say [the layoffs] weren’t major, as I am sure they were to the team members affected and the ones still here and I want to be sensitive to that,” Morgan said. “However, it did not impact anywhere near half the team.”
The anonymous staffer also mentioned the loss of a major client as a determining factor, but the company denied any major accounts had been terminated. Tonic has done work for brands like AT&T, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.
Back in July there were also three terminations brought forth by “financial decisions,” said Managing Director Justin Matthews.
“While not a decision that was entered into lightly, it was something we felt we had to do to put the business in best position moving forward and we are doing what we can to help the team members that we let go transition to new opportunities,” Morgan said.
In 2014, Tonic Design unified offices in Callowhill after its merger with design studio DmgCtrl.