Salesforce to lay off 2500 employees in next few weeks: Reports

California-based software company Salesforce could lay off up to 2500 employees in the software verticle, Protocol reported on Tuesday. The decision to trim the workforce comes amidst a bid to cut costs in the face of a new activist investor challenge and harsh economic conditions, the report says.

The report cites “an industry source and a former employee” and claims that the company plans to lay off “roughly 2000 people or more” due to performance-related uses. Along with it, hundreds of workers who come under protected groups, like persons with disabilities, will undergo a 30-day review period and most of them will be laid off at the end. The report also claims that the layoff will come before the Thanksgiving holiday.

Also read: Facebook parent Meta lays off over 11,000 employees

Although the company did not respond to this particular report by Protocol, it confirmed to CNBC in a statement on Tuesday that it fired close to 1000 employees after demand became lighter than anticipated in some countries and industries. 

“Our sales performance process drives accountability. Unfortunately, that can lead to some leaving the business, and we support them through their transition,” Salesforce said in the statement. 

The Salesforce layoffs come as a sharp contrast to the company’s trajectory over the past year. CNBC says that the company employed 73,542 people at the end of January 2022, and then in a filing from August 2022 it claimed that its headcount has risen by 36% over the past year. The reason for increasing the workforce, the company had claimed then, was “to meet the higher demand for services from our customers.”

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Salesforce CFO Any Weaver had told analysts that demand has slowed done in small and medium-sized businesses in North America and Europe and the sectors affected were consumer goods, communications, media, and retail. 

Earlier, Silicon Valley giants like Meta, Microsoft and Twitter also laid off hundreds of employees across the world.