When Salesforce announced it was laying off 10% of its workforce last month, you might have thought it meant everyone affected was notified at the time. Social media is full of people talking about Salesforce layoffs today. The company says these are part of the original announcement, but some people are learning about their fate today.
According to the company, the total of about 7,000 people announced in early January remains unchanged. “These are some of the cuts we announced in January,” a company spokesperson told TechCrunch.
Some of today’s announcements have hit Europe, with the Irish Independent reporting that 200 of its 2100 Irish employees were laid off today, meeting its 10% target.
CEO Marc Benioff said in a telegram last month that the sales group could be targeted at a company meeting, saying remote workers aren’t as productive as those in the office and half of the sales team earns 96% of the revenue. %. The other half was only 4%. That sector looks likely to be hit hard.
Either way, more people learned they were out of work today, joining the sad procession of tech employees who have been laid off in recent months. At the time of the announcement, Benioff said the company had hired too many people during the pandemic for that,” Benioff said.
Salesforce has been under pressure from activist investors to cut costs. Last week, Elliott Management announced a multi-billion dollar investment in Salesforce. That was after Starboard Value acquired a large stake in his October. Two of his other activists, ValueAct and Inclusive Capital, also work internally. At the same time he has four activists, which may contribute to the pressure to increase profitability and cut spending, which often leads to laying off workers.
On Friday, the company announced it would welcome three new members to its board of directors. This may have been a nod to activists who prefer board representation as part of their strategy.