Salesforce, a pioneer in cloud-based software solutions, laid off a large number of staff members in July, affecting about 300 people.
This action is consistent with the firm’s continuous attempts to streamline its operations and spur expansion.
Bloomberg sources state that this month, the software giant made these layoffs.
“Like any healthy business, we continuously assess whether we have the right structure in place to best serve our customers and fuel growth areas. In some cases, that leads to roles being eliminated,” spokesperson for Salesforce commented.
The company did not indicate which departments or locations were most affected by the changes.
In addition to the 700 employees that were let go earlier this year, Salesforce also reduced its staff by 10% at the beginning of 2023. The company’s Irish division lost about 200 jobs as a result of these earlier cuts, and 50 more positions were removed later in the year.
Over 72,682 people were working for Salesforce worldwide as of the end of January. In spite of these layoffs, the firm has stated that it will strategically concentrate on hiring in order to increase income, especially in relation to its Data Cloud offering, while keeping a close eye on costs.
“Are we getting the most from everybody in the business – if we’re not, we’re going to have to make reshaping decisions,” said Brian Millham, Salesforce’s chief operating officer, during a June investor conference.
Salesforce’s latest layoffs are a part of a larger trend in the tech sector, where many businesses have announced significant layoffs in an attempt to rein in expenses after years of fast growth.
This month alone, a number of major tech organizations have announced substantial layoffs:
Microsoft: Well-known throughout the world for its software solutions, Microsoft has been laying off hundreds of workers from its Azure cloud division. There were up to 1,500 job cutbacks in Azure for Operators alone, according to insiders, and these layoffs affected teams including Mission Engineering and Azure for Operators.
Unacademy: A major Indian edtech company laid off roughly 250 workers, comprising 150 salespeople and 100 personnel in the fields of business, product, and marketing. As schools reopened following the pandemic, Unacademy laid off roughly 2,000 workers from the second half of 2022.
OpenText Corp: As part of its new business optimization plan, OpenText, a leader in information management solutions, announced plans to slash about 1,200 jobs, or roughly 1.7% of its workforce. Although the corporation would lose approximately C$60 million ($44.01 million) as a result of the layoffs, costs are predicted to drop by C$150 million by 2025. To encourage expansion and innovation, OpenText intends to reinvest C$50 million a year in 800 new sales and engineering positions.
In July 2024, there were 4,306 layoffs in the tech sector overall. According to tracking website Layoffs.fyi, 356 tech companies have let go of almost 100,900 employees so far this year.
