Salesforce cuts about 300 jobs in latest sign of tech austerity

NEW YORK – Salesforce has cut about 300 roles as part of a broader effort to streamline operations, underscoring that the tech industry remains focused on controlling costs.

The software giant made the cuts in July, according to a person familiar with the reductions who asked not to be identified because the information is not public.

In a statement, the company confirmed that it had pared some jobs, without specifying.

“Like any healthy business, we continuously assess whether we have the right structure in place to best serve our customers and fuel growth areas,” a spokesperson said. “In some cases, that leads to roles being eliminated.”

While a small sliver of the company’s total workforce, the cuts are just the latest example of the tech industry reining in costs following years of rapid hiring.

San Francisco-based Salesforce cut about 700 workers earlier in 2024 and pared roughly 10 per cent of its total workforce at the start of 2023. At the end of January, Salesforce had 72,682 employees.

Several large tech companies announced major reductions in July.

Intuit announced plans to eliminate 1,800 employees last week, blaming the reductions largely on underperforming employees and saying it would rehire roughly the same number of people.

Software makers UiPath and Open Text Corp also disclosed layoffs in July. In June, Business Insider reported that Microsoft had cut hundreds of workers in its Azure cloud division.

Salesforce has previously spoken about hiring in key areas to drive revenue growth, such as around its Data Cloud product, while keeping an eye on expenses.

“Are we getting the most from everybody in the business – if we’re not, we’re going to have to make reshaping decisions,” said chief operating officer Brian Millham during a June investor conference. BLOOMBERG