Salesforce is laying off more than 7,000 employees for hiring “too many people” during a pandemic

• For those who leave Sales teamthey are offered “a generous package”.
• In the US, affected workers will receive a minimum of nearly five months of wages, health insurance and career advancement benefits.
• At the start of 2022, the company had 73,541 people on its payroll.

Enterprise software company Salesforce has announced it will lay off 10 percent of its workforce, affecting more than 7,000 employees.

In a letter to employees, the CEO of Salesforce says Marc Benioff said the environment remains “challenging” and our customers are taking a more measured approach to their purchasing decisions.

“With this in mind, we have made the very difficult decision to reduce our workforce by approximately 10 percent, primarily in the coming weeks.” Benioff wrote.

Last month, Benioff said those hired by the company during the Covid pandemic are “facing lower productivity.”

In the letter to workers late Wednesday, as earnings accelerated due to the pandemic, he said “we’ve hired too many people, leading to this economic downturn we’re facing right now, and I take responsibility for that”.

“Within an hour, employees who will be initially impacted by this decision will receive an email notifying them. Our leadership will reach out directly to these employees and provide clarity to their teams about changes within their organizations,” wrote Benioff.

For those who are going to leave Salesforce, they will be offered “a generous package”.

In the US, affected workers will receive a minimum of five months’ wages, health insurance, career counseling and other benefits to help them transition.

“Those outside the US will receive a similar level of support and our local processes will be in compliance with labor laws in each country,” said Benioff.

At the start of 2022, the company had 73,541 people on its payroll.

In November last year, the company laid off hundreds of employees. However, the company told media outlets that the job cuts affected “fewer than a thousand” workers.

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