Zoom slashes approximately 150 Jobs, nearly 2% of its total workforce

Zoom, the leading video conferencing platform, is laying off approximately 150 employees, marking less than 2% of their total workforce, according to a company spokesperson. The move is part of a broader effort to realign the company with their strategy and focus in areas like artificial intelligence, sales, product, and operations in 2024.

The downsizing comes in the wake of many tech companies making cuts, with over 30,000 employees laid off across the sector since the beginning of the year, as businesses face demand for greater efficiency from investors.

The retrenchment at Zoom follows a similar trend in large corporations such as Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, all of which have eliminated positions across their companies in recent months.

Alongside Zoom, cloud software provider Okta also announced a reduction in its workforce, informing employees about the layoff of around 400 staff members, constituting approximately 7% of its total employees.

Zoom’s popularity surged during the Covid-19 pandemic as global work patterns shifted toward remote work. However, the platform’s prominence has dwindled as the pandemic has eased and in-person work settings have returned. Consequently, Zoom’s shares have fallen approximately 10% this year and nearly 90% from their record high in October 2020.

Notably, Zoom made major cuts in February of the previous year, laying off around 1,300 employees or 15% of its workforce, signaling the company’s attempt to prepare for global economic uncertainty.