Zoom is reducing its team by 15%; laying off about 1,300 employees

Besides Apple, Zoom has joined the list of other major tech companies that have been laying off staff recently. It is laying off about 15 percent of its workforce, or about 1,300 people.

According to a note from CEO Eric Yuan to employees, the company tripled in size within two years as a result of the success of Zoom during the global pandemic. As Yuan put it, “We didn’t take as much time as we should have to thoroughly analyze our teams or assess if we were growing sustainably, toward the highest priorities.”

While many people have returned to the office, he said, Zoom’s continued use shows that its usefulness has not diminished. However, in light of the current economic climate, Yuan has stated, “We need to take a hard — yet important — look inward to reset ourselves so that we can weather the economic environment, deliver for our customers, and achieve Zoom’s long-term vision.”

Yuan claimed responsibility for the layoffs. For the coming fiscal year, he will take a 98% pay cut, and the executive team as a whole will forego 20% of their base salaries. Employee bonuses for the fiscal year 2023 will be withheld from everyone (i.e., the 2022 calendar year).

Zoom employees who lose their jobs in the United States will get up to 16 weeks of pay and health benefits, as well as their earned bonus for the fiscal year 2023, stock options that will vest over the next six months, and help finding a new job. In other countries, where the law allows it, the company has promised laid-off workers benefits that are just as good.

Several other major tech companies have announced large-scale layoffs or expanded plans to reduce staff this year, including Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, PayPal, and IBM. As 2023 progresses, we’ve been keeping a sobering tally of the major tech layoffs that have occurred so far.