Salesforce isn’t planning another ‘major’ round of layoffs and is hiring for critical roles, it says

Salesforce delivered strong results for its second-quarter of fiscal year 2024, surpassing guidance with a significant improvement in profit margins.

A number of customers were displeased by the decision – an increase in prices, and more recently, a significant reorganization that involved the termination of 10% of the staff. In January, Benioff made public the company’s plans to reduce costs, which greatly contributed to the improved profit margin this year.

Benioff blamed the hiring frenzy during the boom years of the 2020-2021 pandemic on the fact that the laid-off workers he rehired were not as productive as the new employees who suggested that they weren’t working remotely.

As part of its efforts to improve, Benioff expressed gratitude and eloquently spoke about all the previous Salesforce staff members who came back to work at the company during this week’s conference call.

Benioff expressed, “I am immensely grateful to all of them. It has been truly remarkable to receive them again.” Many of these outcomes are connected not only to our remarkable staff that we have had in position, but also to numerous individuals who have truly felt the urge to return and assist us.

Ariel Kelman, the former chief marketing officer at Oracle who quietly left his top marketing job last year to join Salesforce after working for several years at other companies, recently returned to Salesforce as one of the three executives specifically called back by Benioff.

In November of last year, there was a major exodus of key leaders from Salesforce, including Mark Nelson, the CEO of Tableau, Stewart Butterfield, the founder of Slack, and Bret Taylor, the co-CEO of Benioff’s. Since then, the executive bench has been restacked by the CEO, signaling a shift to Wall Street. June saw the quiet departure of Ebony Beckwith, the longtime executive who led the philanthropic foundation of the company, and Brent Hyder, the former Chief People Officer.

In regard to the company’s primary business divisions, Benioff additionally bragged about the “lengthy queue” of previous staff members eagerly anticipating their return to Salesforce. He expressed his warm reception towards them, particularly within our sales, engineering, and technology departments.

Regarding Benioff’s remarks, when asked for clarification, a representative from Salesforce wrote to Insider via email, stating, “We are increasing our recruitment efforts for crucial positions.”

In the fiscal year 2023, the organization stated that it utilized a significant portion of its expenses for sales and marketing, which totaled over $13 billion — more than double the sum allocated for research and development, its second-largest operational expenditure — for compensations. These compensations constitute the majority of the workforce at Salesforce. When the company made layoffs in November due to performance-related factors, sales representatives were among the first to be affected.

At least one analyst appeared perplexed by the discussion of embracing returning employees — let alone expressing gratitude for their assistance in the company’s revival.

The CEO did not provide a clear response, Benioff inquired if Salesforce was done with downsizing, UBS analyst Karl Keirstad mentioned Benioff’s positive remarks about employees returning to the company and estimated that Salesforce has already reduced 11% of its staff this year.

He said, “We hope that we leave us behind and get it done quickly.” “I don’t know if we can call this a bottom exactly, but I know we’re not planning any other major restructuring efforts in the company like what we saw earlier this year.”

The CEO of the company, Benioff, reported earlier this year that there may be a 10% reduction in internal chatter. However, he did not imply that there would be any layoffs in the future. It is currently not clear if one big works in the company will be affected by this reduction.

The communication originating from the upper echelons is contradictory, therefore, if ex and current Salesforce staff are experiencing a sense of confusion and uncertainty — instructed to depart and subsequently instructed to return — it is happening simultaneously.