Edited by: Namit Singh Sengar
Last updated: February 09, 2023, 5:38 PM IST
Zoom had ramped up hiring during the pandemic to meet rising demand, but is now joining US companies in reining costs in preparing for a potential recession.
Departing employees will receive 16 weeks of salary, health insurance and annual bonus for the year, CEO Yuan said.
Zoom Video Communications announced Tuesday that it would cut 15% of its workforce, or about 1,300 jobs, and cut base pay for its executive leadership as pandemic-fuelled demand for the company’s videoconferencing services slows.
A day after the company’s decision, Christy Flis, head of global education and head of women at Zoom, expressed disbelief that she’s on the sacked list of people.
Flis said in a LinkedIn post: “It is with great disbelief and shock that I was included in today’s layoffs at Zoom – as I just approached 8 years in 10 days… I can’t even believe I did this or that write this is really happening… in addition to the fact that so many of our exceptional Zoomies are also a part of this…”
“Following my continued year-over-year success in building our education business, building rapport and critical capabilities that enabled our education business and overall business to scale, I led an incredible team of women at Zoom, our first employee resource group, who is currently planning for WHM and IWD, building and leading our U.S./Canada education vertical and higher education to great success, laying the groundwork for our international business, and for all the work both internally and externally being executed, for the current revenue growth, and for being a loyal and all-time bearer of our culture of caring, it makes no sense… and yet here we are.”
“My heart goes out to my fellow community. My gratitude goes out to all my clients, partners, friends and colleagues here who have helped create absolute magic in a world that prefers to believe in a scarcity and fear based mindset. Keep the abundance mindset alive and well… even in the midst of news like this,” she wrote.
Announcing the layoffs, CEO Eric Yuan had said he will accept a 98% salary cut for the upcoming fiscal year, waiving his fiscal 2023 corporate bonus.
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“We worked tirelessly… but we also made mistakes. We didn’t take as much time as needed to thoroughly analyze our teams or assess whether we were growing sustainably, towards the highest priorities,” said the top boss.
Analysts predict that Zoom’s revenue will grow just 6.7% in fiscal 2022 after more than quadrupling revenue and a ninefold increase in profit growth in 2021. Earnings are estimated to be down 38% in 2022, Reuters reported.
Zoom had ramped up hiring during the pandemic to meet rising demand, but is now joining US companies in reining costs in preparing for a potential recession.
The video conferencing software maker also said its executive leadership team will cut their base salary by 20% over the same period.
Departing employees will receive 16 weeks of salary, health insurance and annual bonus for the year, Yuan added.
A slew of US companies, from Goldman Sachs Group Inc to Alphabet Inc, have laid off thousands this year to cushion a slump in demand caused by high inflation and rising interest rates.
(With input from Reuters)
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