From Salesforce, HP, Amazon, Roku and Beyond Meat to Meta and Twitter, big names across a number of sectors have announced major layoffs in recent months. Salesforce Salesforce Inc. CRM, 3.04% will lay off 10% of its workforce as part of a restructuring plan. The San Francisco-based company announced the layoffs in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Jan. 4. In addition to the job cuts, Salesforce plans to exit some real estate and reduce office space.
The restructuring plan is intended to reduce operating costs, improve operating margins, and continue advancing Salesforce’s commitment to “profitable growth,” the company said, in the filing. Salesforce estimates that it will incur approximately $1.4 billion to $2.1 billion in charges in connection with the restructuring plan, of which approximately $800 million to $1 billion is expected to be incurred in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. Most of the layoffs will be made in the coming weeks, wrote Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff in a letter to employees that was also filed with the SEC. The Salesforce chief said that the company grew too quickly for the current environment.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about how we came to this moment,” he wrote. “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.” Last year, Salesforce laid off hundreds of employees from its sales team, according to news reports, as the tech sector as a whole wrestled with a challenging economic environment. “Our sales performance process drives accountability,” said a Salesforce spokesperson in a statement emailed to MarketWatch in November. “Unfortunately, that can lead to some leaving the business, and we support them through their transition.”
As of February 2022, the customer-relationship-management software company had over 78,000 employees globally. Intel In October, Intel Corp. INTC, 3.14% announced plans for job cuts as it reported its third-quarter results. The chip maker said it was focused on driving $3 billion in cost reductions in 2023. “Inclusive in our efforts will be steps to optimize our headcount,” Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger said during a conference call with analysts to discuss the third-quarter results. Additional details of the layoffs emerged in early December. The chip maker, which had 121,000-plus employees worldwide at the end of last year, is laying off around 200 employees in California, according to letters sent to the state Employment Development Department. Intel said that 111 employees in Folsom, Calif., and 90 employees in Santa Clara, Calif., which is home to the chipmaker’s headquarters, are affected by the job cuts. The permanent layoffs are scheduled to begin Jan. 31. Google Alphabet Inc. GOOGL, -1.39% GOOG, -1.47% is considering cutting 10,000 jobs, according to a report on The Information, which says the layoffs would amount to 6% of the tech giant’s workforce. The company may employ a ranking system that would eliminate the lowest-ranked “poor-performing” employees, the report said.
“Earlier this year, we launched Googler Reviews and Development (GRAD) to help employee development, coaching, learning and career progression throughout the year,” a Google spokesperson told MarketWatch in a statement. “The new system helps establish clear expectations and provide employees with regular feedback.”
