At least 60 Coinbase employees are quitting the company and taking severance after the CEO declared a new policy that bans politics and social activism from the office.

In a memo, to employees, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said his week was filled with "many difficult conversations." He thanked those leaving for their contributions and recognized that he "could have done a better job" explaining the policy to employees ahead of posting it to Medium.

"It's been great to see the whole team come together to reach understanding here, and support each other through it. It's not easy to get through, but I think it will result in us having a stronger and more united team," he wrote.

The final count of employees taking severance is expected to be higher, as some employees are still in talks to leave.

Employees had one week to decide if they want to stay at Coinbase and adhere to it's "apolitical culture." If employees decided Coinbase is no longer the place for them, they would receive an exit package that includes 4-6 months' severance pay and health care coverage for up to six months.

The company did not yet have specifics on how many people in each role or department are leaving, although an anonymous source speaking to CoinDesk said that most people taking severance are engineers.

The engineering team led a virtual walkout in June after a companywide meeting during which Armstrong would not say, "Black lives matter." Armstrong later wrote the words in a lengthy tweet thread.

However, Armstrong did say that people in minority groups were not in the majority of people leaving.

"I've heard a concern from some of you that this clarification would disproportionately impact our under-represented minority population at Coinbase," he wrote. "It was reassuring to see that people from under-represented groups at Coinbase have not taken the exit package in numbers disproportionate to the overall population. We'll continue to keep a close eye on this to ensure we are building a diverse, inclusive environment where everyone feels they belong."

Armstrong's policy drew the attention of business owners elsewhere in the U.S.

Chris Schembra, the founder of New York City's 7:47 Club, told International Business Times that activism and empathy are essential when dealing with customers.

“A customer relationship is all about empathy," Schembra said, "and the more you can listen to the feelings and perspectives of the people you serve the better you can serve them. Broadcasting a public message about a stance can be tricky. But custom tailoring communications to different customers is the greatest form of connection you can have.

Schembra added, “If a customer believes in a social cause, your job is to empower and enable them to dive deeper into their activism. A vendor should not just be seen for product or for price, because people buy from people, not from companies.”

Many young, American employees have earned the stereotype of being more politically active in the workplace. However, at 7:47 club while the younger generation isn’t afraid to voice their opinions, it’s the older employees who have taken action in regard to social justice.

“At 7:47 we're privileged to have a diverse, majority female, open team," Schembra said. "The culture is driven by the notion that one generation does not necessarily know more than other generations. On our team, it may be the younger generation who is more vocally outspoken, but the older generation on our team has actually taken the action.”

Schembra also mentioned that, through COVID-19 and the social justice era, the demand for his products have skyrocketed. “With bringing our product virtual we've been able to serve more clients at a larger, more scalable way. It also allowed us to reach underprivileged communities and have more experiences tailored towards activism. A lot of our clients are now using us for their diversity and inclusion employee resource group.”

Schembra and his team conduct gratitude workshops in the hope of making workers more connected and understanding of each other.

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