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Salesforce will lay off 10% of staff as part of restructuring

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Re: Salesforce will lay off 10% of staff as part of restructuring

#71

Last time they did this, it was _right_ after the window that they had grandstanded and asked other companies to pledge no pandemic layoffs. Benioff did a whole media tour talking about how Salesforce would do no pandemic layoffs to set some kind of example, and said that they didn't expect other companies to follow their example, but asked them to just pledge no layoffs for 90 days, even though Salesforce was going…

Co-heads is always a subtext for executive disfunction. I don't think I've ever heard of it working out long term at any level from division co-head to co-CEO.

It's also fascinating the opposite direction is also allowed to persist - the guy who is CEO of 4 companies at once.

As a lowly high income IC, I am prohibited from almost any outside business activity and in some cases forced to divest when joining a new firm. Somehow the guy running the company who has actual ability to make conflicted decisions is allowed to moonlight? Fabulous.

Re: Salesforce will lay off 10% of staff as part of restructuring

#72
post #17
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

well sounds like we can expect them next year. What I don’t understand is why they don’t stretch it out over the whole year - less than 1% a month could be relatively easily “hidden” even if people kinda know what is going on. Average churn might be lower than that, even. Which makes me think it’s performative and they WANT the shareholders to see it.

> less than 1% a month could be relatively easily “hidden” If your a public company it’s not hidden. Analysts are watching everything. A one time even might hit your stock and then it starts to recover soon after, but an ongoing event would raise suspicions of a deeper problem.

Also, you make these announcements to appease analysts, not to be hidden from them.

Re: Salesforce will lay off 10% of staff as part of restructuring

#73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quote what value?

Revenue multiple per employee.

Wouldn't that have the same problem? You'd need to break either down by cost of living area to solve it.

Re: Salesforce will lay off 10% of staff as part of restructuring

#74
post #36
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Am I the only one who thinks $424k/employee is quite a lot? May be a too european perspective?

No, the best startups run healthily at -$424k/employee, so any positive number is really great. (sarcasm)

revenue is not profit.

Re: Salesforce will lay off 10% of staff as part of restructuring

#75

Whenever I look at client’s Salesforce setups, I always wonder in the back of my mind what they will do if Salesforce has a significant down-turn? The lock-in to the platform appears to be very fierce. Are there viable routes to exit Salesforce if anyone ever needed to? (Note: I’m not saying Salesforce is doomed or anything, just the layoffs got me thinking in that direction theorically).

Almost all enterprise software platforms are exited, not upgraded/evolved. It's already the current state.

Re: Salesforce will lay off 10% of staff as part of restructuring

#76

There are over two jobs open for every layoff. People haven’t realized how crazy the labor market is about to get with a collapsing workforce population over the next many decades.

There are, but the people aren't necessarily where the jobs are. I've got positions in Huntsville, AL that aren't remote-capable, and we cannot get people to even apply.

Can you share some of the job listings?

Re: Salesforce will lay off 10% of staff as part of restructuring

#77
post #59

Know what's odd to me? It seems like every company that did layoffs over the past 3 months overhired by 8% - 12% somehow. Why was it such a narrow range?

10% is about the number you can layoff without causing a route.

The Romans knew what they were doing :)

Re: Salesforce will lay off 10% of staff as part of restructuring

#78

There are over two jobs open for every layoff. People haven’t realized how crazy the labor market is about to get with a collapsing workforce population over the next many decades.

When this collapse in workforce population occurs perhaps firms will learn that they can survive and even thrive with much less "fluff staff" who mostly sit idle or contribute very little to the overall success of any given project. I continuously see a decent amount of what I consider staffing excess in a large fraction of the companies I've worked with. (My personal philosophy here is that companies/projects/etc ar…

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Re: Salesforce will lay off 10% of staff as part of restructuring

#79
post #51
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah that’s bad management. The trick is understanding when part of the company is genuinely not contributing, and since things are complicated, what other parts are entangled and need to be adjusted as part of the plan. Just randomly laying off x% is like randomly removing x% of code to improve performance. It’s going to produce more pain than gain.

I’m pretty sure upper management just dictated cost savings amounts per org and delegated it down. Middle management met and figured out what salaries fit cost savings and saved themselves above all.

Super dumb way to run a company but I’m sure there are plenty like that.
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