Salesforce plans to cut 10% of its workforce and close some offices, citing the need to cut costs after rapid pandemic hiring left it with “too many people” in the midst of an economic slowdown, sending its stock up 5%.
The cloud-based software company said on Wednesday that it expects to incur charges ranging from $1.4 billion to $2.1 billion as a result of job cuts, with approximately $800 million to $1 billion recorded in the fourth quarter.
Companies ranging from Meta Platforms to Amazon have reduced their workforces in the last year to prepare for a downturn as global central banks aggressively raised interest rates to tame stubbornly high inflation.
Businesses that relied on cloud services during the pandemic are now attempting to cut costs by laying off employees or delaying new projects, putting Salesforce and Microsoft at risk.
“The environment remains challenging, and our customers are exercising greater caution in their purchasing decisions,” co-CEO Marc Benioff wrote in a letter to employees.
“As our revenue increased due to the pandemic, we hired too many people, which contributed to the economic downturn we’re now experiencing, and I accept responsibility for that,” Benioff added.
Salesforce had 73,541 employees at the end of January last year, representing a 30% increase from 2021.
