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Despite having one of the strongest quarters in its history, Salesforce has announced plans to cut up to 1,000 roles.
Noticeable restructuring is set to take place at Salesforce in the wake of an earnings call to remember. According to The Wall Street Journal, approximately 1,000 of Salesforce’s 54,000 staff have been told their role is no longer required and that they have 60 days to find a new role within the company.
“We’re reallocating resources to position the company for continued growth,” Salesforce said in a statement.
“This includes continuing to hire and redirecting some employees to fuel our strategic areas, and eliminating some positions that no longer map to our business priorities.”
The move was hinted on a call with investors following its recent earnings report, in which Salesforce’s chief financial officer, Mark Hawkins, said: “We’ll be redirecting some of our resources to fuel growth, and areas that are no longer as aligned with the business priority will be de-emphasised.”
A ‘humbling’ quarter
CNBC reported that staff who are unable to find a new Salesforce role will be offered severance and pay benefits for six months. The company is also planning to list 300 new positions within the next week, according to those familiar with the plans.
The news comes just a day after the company closed “one of the best quarters in Salesforce’s history”. Revenues for the San Francisco-based software firm totalled $5.15bn, with subscription and support revenues amounting to $4.84bn, and professional services revenue amounting to $0.31bn.
This was largely driven by the demand for remote-working tools in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It’s humbling to have had one of the best quarters in Salesforce’s history against the backdrop of multiple crises seriously affecting our communities around the world,” Benioff said of the company’s performance. “Salesforce was founded on our belief in stakeholder capitalism and our core values of trust, customer success, innovation and equality.”
In 2021, Salesforce is expecting revenues in the third quarter of between $5.24bn and $5.25bn, which would be a 16pc increase on the same quarter last year.
