Salesforce to lay off around 700 employees across company: Report

With this, Salesforce has become the fourth tech major to trim its workforce in 2024 after Google, Twitch and Amazon

In its latest round of layoffs in the tech industry, Salesforce will hand over pink slips to around 700 employees across the company, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Friday. The company had in 2023 laid off 10 per cent of its employees.

The current layoffs will impact around 1 per cent of the company’s total workforce of 70,000 people. With this, the company has become the fourth tech major to trim its workforce in 2024 after Google, Twitch and Amazon.

Google, earlier this month, announced that it has decided to let go of 12,000 people from the company. 

“I am confident about the huge opportunity in front of us thanks to the strength of our mission, the value of our products and services, and our early investments in AI. To fully capture it, we’ll need to make tough choices,” said Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer at Google.

Also Read: Business Insider to lay off 8% of workforce, to invest in growth verticals

“So, we’ve undertaken a rigorous review across product areas and functions to ensure that our people and roles are aligned with our highest priorities as a company. The roles we’re eliminating reflect the outcome of that review.”

Amazon said it was laying off 30 employees from its Buy with Prime unit. Twitch announced it would hand over pink slips to more than 500 employees, more than one-third of its total staff.

According to WSJ, Salesforce had a tough last year after its sales were hurt owing to the post-pandemic slowdown. Several investors including Elliot Management bought stakes in the company, pressurising the company’s management to improve margins at a faster pace. 

Salesforce then took several steps including layoffs and cutting expenses on real estate and retreats to meet the target.