Zoom Video Communications, Inc. is cutting around 150 jobs, representing over 2% of its workforce. According to an unnamed source familiar with the company's internal strategy, it intends to hire in artificial intelligence, sales, and engineering areas in 2024.
The company regularly evaluates its teams' alignment with strategy, citing, "As part of this effort, we are rescoping roles to add capabilities and continue to hire in critical areas for the future," according to a Zoom spokesperson.
Tech Companies' Series of Layoffs
According to layoffs.fyi on Thursday, over 100 tech companies have laid off approximately 30,000 employees at the beginning of the year, marking the busiest month for job cuts since March when Microsoft reduced 1,900 positions in its gaming division. Google announced the elimination of numerous roles across the company, and Amazon laid off employees in its Prime Video, MGM Studios, Twitch, and Audible divisions. Cloud software vendor Okta also revealed that it is downsizing on Thursday, planning to lay off 400 employees, constituting around 7% of its workforce.
READ ALSO: Layoffs in 2024: Here's the List of Companies That Announced Job Cuts to "Do More with Less"
A Famous Video-Conferencing Platform During Pandemic
People relied on the video-conferencing platform to connect with colleagues, friends, and family during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Zoom's stocks declined by 10% this year and nearly 90% from October 2020's peak as the pandemic eases and workers gradually return to in-person setups.
Zoom's Strategy to Keep Up with Lagging Demand
As mentioned in the report, Zoom has broadened its services beyond video meetings by incorporating contact center software and persistent chat, similar to Salesforce's Slack, to address this challenge.
On Monday, Zoom introduced an app designed for Apple's upcoming mixed reality headset, Vision Pro, to revolutionize how people engage with colleagues and clients, providing a more immersive and lifelike meeting experience.
Despite these efforts, the newer offerings have not noticeably boosted the company's growth, as reported by Bloomberg. In February 2023, Zoom declared its plan to cut its workforce by 15%, reducing the total number of employees from around 8,500 to just over 7,000 to navigate the "uncertainty of the global economy," as stated by CEO Eric Yuan, which affected every part of Zoom's organization.
Zoom's layoffs are part of a more significant tech industry trend, where companies are changing priorities and becoming more prompt in letting go of employees, like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Salesforce, who downsized their workforce in the early weeks of the new year.
The recent Zoom layoff news also came on the same day that Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported the technology sector being the second-highest number of layoffs in January, with 15,806 jobs reduced since May, following only the financial sector as reported by the global outplacement and coaching firm on Thursday. And across all industries, "restructuring" was the most frequently mentioned reason for job cuts, says Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
