The business behind the Zoom video conferencing software, which gained a household brand during the pandemic, announced layoffs on Tuesday.
Eric Yuan, the chief executive officer of Zoom Video Communications, stated in a blog post about the layoffs that he will also take a 98 percent pay cut and forego his executive bonus.
This year, he noted, members of his executive leadership team are accepting a 20 percent pay cut and forfeiting bonuses.
Despite the fact that people and organizations continue to rely on Zoom “as the world adjusts to life post-pandemic,” the Silicon Valley company is seeing consumers reduce spending, Yuan wrote in the blog post.
According to Yuan, Zoom has made the “difficult but necessary” choice to let off approximately 1,300 employees, or approximately 15 percent of its workforce.
“Our trajectory was irrevocably altered during the pandemic, when the world faced one of its greatest challenges, and I am proud of how our company mobilized to keep people connected,” said Yuan.
According to Yuan, Zoom tripled its workforce during the pandemic as people used the platform for remote work, judicial hearings, social activities, and more when Covid-19 concerns prevented them from meeting in person.
“People and companies continue to rely on Zoom,” added Yuan.
Additionally, US tech firm Dell will lay off approximately 6,650 employees worldwide.
“However, due to the unpredictability of the global economy and its impact on our customers, we must take a hard look inward in order to reset ourselves so that we can weather the economic environment, serve our customers, and achieve Zoom’s long-term vision.”
Zoom joined a growing number of U.S. technology companies laying off employees after years of lavish spending gave way to austerity due to global economic conditions.
The American computer company Dell announced on Monday that it will lay off around 6,650 employees, or five percent of its global workforce.
As the sector braces for an economic slump, Microsoft, Facebook owner Meta, Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, and Twitter have taken similar measures.
Additionally, Spotify surpasses 200 million paying customers and posts a loss for 2022.
They also follow a massive hiring frenzy during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, when businesses hurried to fulfill demand as more people went online for work, school, and pleasure.
According to the specialized website Layoffs.fyi, little more than 95,000 tech workers have lost their jobs worldwide since the beginning of January.
»Zoom reduces personnel by 15%, or around 1300 positions«