Splunk makes software used by information-technology and security operations to crunch data.
Photo:
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg News
Splunk Inc.
SPLK 1.22%
said it is laying off about 325 employees, or 4% of its staff, becoming the latest tech company to cut jobs.
The company, which makes software used by information-technology and security operations to crunch data, on Wednesday also said it would scale back the use of external agencies and consultants as it seeks to cut costs.
In October, The Wall Street Journal reported that activist investor Starboard Value LP had a stake in the company and planned to push the software maker to take action to boost its stock price.
The layoffs will be concentrated in North America, said Chief Executive
Gary Steele,
who took over less than a year ago. The company expects to book about $28 million in charges due to the plan.
Tech Layoffs Across the Industry: Amazon, Salesforce and More Cut Staff
The technology industry has cut thousands of jobs to start the year as companies such as Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc.,
Microsoft Corp.
and more face the prospect of a slowing economy. On Tuesday,
PayPal Holdings Inc.
said that it would cut about 2,000 employees, or about 7% of its global workforce.
Mr. Steele said that proactive steps taken by Splunk over the past several months minimized the scale of the layoffs. He said the company is looking to optimize its cost structure and balance growth with profitability.
“One of our cost-reduction efforts has been to decrease Splunk’s reliance on external resources, such as agencies or consultants, to get work done,“ he said in a message to employees. “Moving forward we will be more judicious about what work we outsource and what we will stop doing.“
Mr. Steele said Splunk will continue to invest in areas such as customer engagement and innovation. He said the company will be recruiting in the year ahead, “consistent with our focus on accessing global talent in lower-cost areas.”
Write to Will Feuer at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
For all the latest Technology News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
