Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff sparked fury among his workforce after cracking jokes about federal immigration agents surveilling international staff during a company gathering in Las Vegas.
The remarks landed at an especially raw moment. Salesforce has already slashed hundreds of positions in recent months, and employees now fear the company could cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in ways that threaten colleagues on visas.
Internal messages obtained by Business Insider show workers described themselves as angry and disheartened after Benioff made at least two ICE-related comments while opening his keynote address this week. Staff members demanded that Benioff publicly reject the agency and commit to barring immigration authorities from using Salesforce products, according to Wired.
Salesforce offered no immediate response to a request for comment.
The controversy follows a broader pattern of cutbacks at the software giant. Last fall, the company laid off 262 employees in San Francisco, where it operates as the city’s largest private employer. Roughly 76,000 people work for Salesforce around the world.
As internal pressure mounts, the question becomes whether Benioff will address the backlash directly or risk further erosion of trust inside a company already rattled by job losses.
