When Salesforce reported, “it was laying off 10% of its workforce last month, you might have assumed that meant that everyone who was affected was informed at that time. With social media flush with people talking about Salesforce layoffs today, the company says these are part of that original announcement, but some folks are learning about their fate today.”
According to the company, “The overall number of approximately 7,000 people announced at the beginning of January remains unchanged.”
A company representative said, “These are part of the reductions we announced in January.”
In Europe, some of today’s statements are pounding. The Irish Independent notified that “200 of 2,100 Irish employees were laid off today, fitting in with that 10% target.”
CEO Marc Benioff reportedly advised that “The sales group could be targeted by telling employees in a company meeting last month that remote workers weren’t as productive as folks in the office, and that half the sales team accounted for 96% of the revenue, suggesting that the other half accounted for just 4%. It seems likely that the department could take a big hit.”
However, many workers realized that they were fired today. In January the employees also joined the sad procession of last month’s tech workers being laid off.
When the announcement was done, Benioff said that “the company had hired too many people during the pandemic. As our revenue accelerated through the pandemic, we hired too many people leading into this economic downturn we’re now facing, and I take responsibility for that.”
Salesforce has been under stress to cut prices from activist shareholders.
Elliott Management informed last week that, “it had taken a multibillion-dollar investment in Salesforce. That was after Starboard Value took a significant stake in October. Two other activists, ValueAct and Inclusive Capital, are also operating inside the company. Having four activists at the same time is probably contributing to the pressure to increase profitability and reduce spending, which often translates into workers being let go.”
On Friday, the company announced “it was bringing on three new members to its board of directors, which was likely a nod to the activists, who like to have board representation as part of their strategy. These layoffs are also probably another step in appeasing the demands of the activist investors.”
