Company cuts 150 jobs, 2% of workforce


Zoom CEO Eric Yuan speaks at the Dropbox Work In Progress Conference in San Francisco on Sept. 25, 2019.

Matt Winkelmeyer | Getty Images for Dropbox

Zoom is cutting about 150 jobs, CNBC confirmed on Thursday, the latest tech company to slash headcount this year as investors continue to push for efficiency.

The company confirmed the cuts amount to less than 2% of the company’s workforce.

“We regularly evaluate our teams to ensure alignment with our strategy,” a Zoom spokesperson told CNBC in a statement. “As part of this effort, we are rescoping roles to add capabilities and continue to hire in critical areas for the future.”

Zoom said the layoffs are not companywide, and added that it will continue to hire for roles in artificial intelligence, sales, product and across operations in 2024.

The cuts at Zoom were first reported by Bloomberg.

As of Thursday, more than 100 tech companies have laid off about 30,000 employees to start the year, according to layoffs.fyi. January was the busiest month for job cuts in the industry since March.

Last month, Microsoft cut 1,900 positions in its gaming division; Google said it’s eliminating hundreds of roles across the company; and Amazon laid off employees across its Prime Video, MGM Studios, Twitch and Audible divisions.

In addition to Zoom, cloud software vendor Okta announced a downsizing on Thursday, telling employees that it’s laying off 400 staffers, or about 7% of its workforce.

Zoom exploded in popularity at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic as workers turned to the video-conferencing platform to stay in touch with colleagues, friends and family. But as the pandemic subsided and many workers returned to in-person roles, Zoom’s stock has stumbled.

Zoom shares are down about 10% this year and have dropped almost 90% from their record high in October 2020.

Last February, Zoom cut around 1,300 workers, or about 15% of its workforce, as the company braced for the “uncertainty of the global economy,” CEO Eric Yuan said at the time. The cuts in 2023 hit every organization across Zoom.

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