Salesforce Announces A 10 Percent Cut Off Its Employee Headcount

American cloud-based software company Salesforce has announced that it will be reducing its headcount this year. The announcement which came on Wednesday will see the company cut about ten percent of its employees as well as some of its office spaces. This is part of the ongoing restructuring plan the company announced. As of December 2022, Salesforce employed over 79,000 workers and its latest decision comes amid a challenging macroeconomic environment. 

In a letter co-CEO, Marc Benioff wrote to customers he highlighted how customers have been more cautious when it came to spending as a result of the challenging macroeconomic environment we live in. “The environment remains challenging and our customers are taking a more measured approach to their purchasing decisions. With this in mind, we’ve made the very difficult decision to reduce our workforce by about 10 percent, mostly over the coming weeks. I’ve been thinking a lot about how we came to this moment. 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. Within the next hour, employees who are initially affected by this decision will receive an email letting them know. Our leadership will reach out directly to these employees, and provide clarity for their teams about changes within their organizations,” he wrote. 

According to him, it was a very difficult decision to lay off workers but one that had to be done. He went on to add that “For those who will be leaving Salesforce, our priority is to fully support them, including by offering a generous package. In the U.S., affected employees will receive a minimum of nearly five months of pay, health insurance, career resources, and other benefits to help with their transition. Those outside the U.S. will receive a similar level of support, and our local processes will align with employment laws in each country.”