Zoom Video Communications tripled its ranks of workers when its online conference platform boomed in popularity during the pandemic but the Silicon Valley-based tech firm is cutting staff to endure the current economic downturn
AFP

KEY POINTS

  • Video-conferencing platform Zoom announced that it will cut about 150 jobs or nearly 2% of its workforce
  • Identity management company Okta said Thursday that it would be reducing its workforce by 7%
  • Other tech companies like Block, PayPal and Proofpoint are also taking measures to reduce their headcount

Mass layoffs in the tech industry continue as companies like Okta, Zoom, Block and PayPal reveal plans to slash their employee headcount.

About 100 tech companies, including Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, Salesforce and TikTok, kicked off 2024 by collectively letting go of thousands of employees within the first four weeks of the year.

U.S.-based employers announced 82,307 cuts in January, a 136% increase from the 34,817 cuts announced the previous month, according to a Thursday report from global outplacement and business and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

The trend of mass layoffs continues as video-conferencing platform Zoom said Thursday that the company would be cutting about 150 jobs or nearly 2% of its workforce.

"We regularly evaluate our teams to ensure alignment with our strategy," a Zoom spokesperson told CNBC. "As part of this effort, we are rescoping roles to add capabilities and continue to hire in critical areas for the future."

Block, a payment firm headed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, took steps Tuesday to cap its workforce at 12,000 employees, a goal that the company announced in November, according to Bloomberg.

Identity management company Okta said Thursday that it would be reducing its workforce by 7%.

The announcement follows a similar move last year when Okta let go of 5% of its workforce. The latest cuts are said to affect various roles and business units across the company, though specific details remain undisclosed.

Okta CEO Todd McKinnon told employees in a memo that the company will be letting go around 400 employees and said the "reality is that costs are still too high."

Payments firm PayPal Holdings Inc. is also expected to reduce its workforce by about 9% after Chief Executive Officer Alex Chriss sent a letter to staff Tuesday about the decision to "right-size" the company, Bloomberg reported.

Cybersecurity giant Proofpoint also confirmed to TechCrunch this week that the company would be laying off about 6% of its global workforce or 280 employees.

"This decision was not taken lightly, and it is deeply rooted in our forward-looking company strategy of aligning our investments and hiring to our strategic priorities, expanding our operational footprint by leveraging a global talent pool, and streamlining our organization with fewer management layers," the company said in a statement provided to the outlet by Proofpoint spokesperson Jennifer Duffourg.

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