Calling it a “tough but necessary decision,” Zoom CEO Eric S. Yuan announced layoffs at Zoom Communications on Tuesday. It’s the latest media and tech company to do so amid economic uncertainties, particularly after its pandemic boom.
The layoffs effect 15% of its workforce, or 1,300 total employees, whom Yuan refers to in the blog post announcing the news as “Zoomies.”
“For those Zoomies waking up to this news or reading this after normal work hours, I am sorry you are finding out this way but we felt it was best to notify all impacted Zoomies as soon as possible,” Yuan said.
The layoffs come as a result of the video call company’s rapid growth “to support the quick rise of users on our platform and their evolving needs,” Yuan said in his post. “Within 24 months, Zoom grew 3x in size to manage this demand while enabling continued innovation.”
The CEO alluded to management’s “mistakes,” particularly noting, “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 the world still leans on Zoom as a tool, “the uncertainty of the global economy, and its effect on our customers, means we need to take a hard – yet important – look inward to reset ourselves so we can weather the economic environment, deliver for our customers and achieve Zoom’s long-term vision,” Yuan continued.
“Some teams will also be adjusting their structures to allow us to better invest in the opportunities ahead,” Yuan said.
In a show of “accountability not just in words but in my own actions,” Yuan also highlighted that he is reducing his salary by 98% for the coming fiscal year and he is foregoing his FY23 corporate bonus. That’s in addition to the executive team at large reducing their salaries by 20% while also forfeiting their bonuses.