Crisis hits Zoom as well, company to cut 1,300 employees

Large-scale downsizing is planned in the famous Zoom messenger service. The CEO of the company, Eric Yuan, informed in his blog that the company plans to cut 1,300 employees—about 15% of the total staff.

Zoom gained a lot of popularity especially during the coronavirus pandemic. During the lockdowns, many people switched to remote work and started communicating through this messenger service. As a result, from the beginning of 2020 to the end of 2022, the company's staff has tripled.

As Yuan noted, in terms of priorities, the company's management did not analyze the team composition and growth prospects well enough. Today, although demand for Zoom remains strong, according to Yuan, the company has faced difficulties arising from economic uncertainties; this has become the reason for the upcoming downsizing.

As per Yuan, the layoffs will affect every department of the company. But the employees whose functions are duplicated will be cut first, whereas the specialists whose positions are priority for the company will not be cut.

In addition to job cuts, Zoom plans to cut salaries, too. Yuan himself has said that he will cut his salary by 98% in the coming fiscal year and give up his corporate bonus. The salaries of the company's top managers will be reduced by 20%; they will also not receive corporate bonuses.

Laid-off Zoom employees in the US can expect to receive 16 weeks' pay, an annual bonus, 6-month stock options, and other job search assistance—including one-on-one training and workshops.

Zoom is one of many tech companies to announce layoffs in recent months. Google recently announced the layoff of 12,000 employees. Managers with annual salaries ranging from $500,000 to $1 million were also cut.

Microsoft also announced plans to cut up to 11,000 jobs. Amazon plans to cut more than 18,000 jobs, and HP will cut 4,000 to 6,000 jobs over the next three years. There have also been layoffs at Meta, Oracle, Twitter, and a number of other companies. More than two-thirds of the employees at Twitter were laid off.

International Business Machines (IBM) and Lam Research companies also announced plans to reduce employees; together they plan to lay off a total of 5,200 people.