Salesforce to slash 10% employees by FY24

In a regulatory filing in the US, Salesforce chief Mark Benioff announced plans to slash 10% of the company’s workforce — thus making the enterprise software firm the latest US-based tech firm to let go of employees. Employees that have been let go are likely to have been notified already, and will receive “around” five months of severance pay, as well as insurance and other related support.

“The environment remains challenging and our customers are taking a more measured approach to their purchasing decisions. 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,” Benioff told his employees in an internal organization-wide letter, Bloomberg reported.

The top executive’s statement reflects a similar tone as the precedent set by the likes of Meta, Alphabet and Amazon, among others. While Twitter under new chief executive and owner Elon Musk, did not offer a reasoning for its layoffs, the company, in November, let go of nearly all employees from its India division.

Salesforce’s internal letter said that those outside the US will “receive similar support aligned with local employment laws,” according to Bloomberg.

The company plans to conclude its workforce overhaul by FY24, giving it over one year to streamline its workforce. The company also plans to “reduce real estate holdings” by FY26, suggesting prolonged effects of inflation that could play out over multiple years.

To be sure, this is not the first time that tech firms, which have typically garnered reputations offering some of the best pay packages and benefits, have faced such a setback. Notable tech crashes include the dot-com crash at the turn of the millennium, as well as the slowdown caused by the recession years of 2006.

Going forward, it remains to be seen if more firms join the likes of Salesforce and Meta in also slashing jobs. The former had a strong run through the pandemic years, even outpacing long-term industry rival SAP in the enterprise resource planning software field.