Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) is set to lay off approximately 700 employees, constituting around 1% of its workforce, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The cloud-based customer-relationship management software company had undertaken a more significant reduction of 10% (about 8,000 employees) one year ago in response to investor pressure to cut costs.
The current layoffs are part of Salesforce's ongoing efforts to focus spending on growth, with the company still having around 1,000 open positions across various departments. This move is seen as a routine adjustment of the workforce rather than a significant shift in strategy.
Salesforce's decision comes after facing challenges in the previous year, dealing with a post-pandemic sales slowdown that impacted its growth. Activist investors, including Elliott Management, sought to increase the company's profit margins more rapidly than originally planned.