Salesforce lay-offs could affect thousands of Australian workers

Australian staff at a multinational software company are nervously awaiting news on whether they will keep their jobs.

Hundreds of Australian jobs are under threat as tech giant Salesforce announces it’s cutting 10 per cent of its global workforce.

The software company announced last week it would cut about 8000 employees, in the biggest round of lay-offs in its 24-year history.

Salesforce declined to comment on Wednesday about how many Australian employees would be affected by the cuts.

It is believed the company had 2776 Australian staff before 1000 people were cut from its global workforce in November, according to The Australian.

This time around, almost 300 people would lose their jobs if the cuts were made at around the global rate of 10 per cent.

The news comes as Salesforce is preparing to move its local staff from a Darling Point office to its brand new Salesforce Tower, a 55-storey skyscraper at 180 George St in Circular Quay.

Salesforce is believed to have almost 3000 employees in Australia, with it currently unclear how many have been affected by the lay-offs.

Salesforce chief executive Mark Benioff said he took responsibility for the cuts, claiming the firm had hired too many new employees during the pandemic.

“The environment remains challenging and our customers are taking a more measured approach to their purchasing decisions,” Mr Benioff wrote in a letter to employees, dated January 4.

“With this in mind, we’ve made the very difficult decision to reduce our workforce by about 10 per cent, mostly over the coming weeks.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about how we came to this moment. As our revenue accelerated through the pandemic, we hired too many people leading into this economic downturn we’re now facing, and I take responsibility for that.”

Salesforce co-chief executives Marc Benioff and Bret Taylor at a company convention in San Francisco in September. Picture: Salesforce / Jakub Mosur

Mr Benioff said non-US employees would receive a “similar level of support” to the San Francisco-based company’s US workers.

“Within the next hour, employees who are initially affected by this decision will receive an email letting them know,” he wrote.

“Our leadership will reach out directly to these employees, and provide clarity for their teams about changes within their organisations … affected employees will receive a minimum of nearly five months of pay, health insurance, career resources, and other benefits to help with their transition.

”Our local processes will align with employment laws in each country.”

It comes only three weeks before Salesforce’s co-chief executive Bret Taylor will depart the company, having announced his departure in November after just one year in the role.

“I’ve decided to return to my entrepreneurial roots,” Mr Taylor said in a statement at the time.