Salesforce executed a second wave of workforce reductions this year, cutting hundreds of employees across its sales organization. The San Francisco based cloud software company had already eliminated roughly 90 contract recruiting positions in October.
Company leadership declined to specify how many of the affected workers came from its headquarters city. Meanwhile, a hiring freeze remains in effect through January 2023.
A Salesforce spokesperson framed the decision as part of standard performance management. “Our sales performance process drives accountability,” the representative said in a statement. “Unfortunately, that can lead to some leaving the business, and we support them through their transition.”
The company stands as San Francisco’s largest private employer, with approximately 10,000 local workers. Globally, its headcount reached 73,542 as of August 2022.
During the annual Dreamforce conference, co-CEO Marc Benioff referenced “some level of normalization” following pandemic era surges in customer demand and company growth. He acknowledged that Salesforce carried excess capacity. “Everything is still larger, but there is definitely some overage that has to be dealt with,” Benioff told reporters at the event.
The layoffs arrive amid broader contraction across the tech sector. Meta, Facebook’s parent company, announced plans to terminate 11,000 employees today, marking the industry’s largest single round of cuts so far.
Salesforce joins a growing list of technology firms recalibrating after aggressive pandemic expansion. As revenue growth decelerates, more companies appear poised to follow suit.
