Salesforce plans to lay off a tenth of its staff. The company justifies this decision by the fact that it hired too many people during the pandemic.
Salesforce will reduce its workforce by regarding 10% and sell part of its real estate portfolio. As Bloomberg reports, the software provider said it took on too many staff during the pandemic-driven boom and is now adjusting to more cautious customer spending.
“The environment remains demanding and our customers are being more cautious in their buying decisions,” Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said in a letter to staff. When our turnover suddenly increased due to the pandemic, we hired too many people, which led to the slowdown we are currently experiencing, and I take responsibility for that.”
Salesforce has almost tripled its workforce over the past four years, largely through dozens of acquisitions, including Slack in 2021. Between January 2020 and the end of October, the number of employees increased by more than 30,000. The company still employs around 80,000 people.