Zoom Video Communications Inc.
ZM 9.85%
is laying off 1,300 employees, or 15% of its staff, becoming the latest technology company to trim its workforce as it adjusts to more normalized trends after a pandemic-fueled growth spurt.
Chief Executive
Eric Yuan
said Tuesday he was also reducing his salary and forgoing his bonus, joining other corporate leaders across finance and tech to take pay cuts this year. He made just over $300,000 in salary for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2022, and about $13,000 as part of a non-equity bonus plan.
Shares of the San Jose, Calif.-based company closed at $84.66, a nearly 10% gain in Tuesday trading. Over the past 12 months, the stock has fallen more than 40%.
Once a pandemic darling, Zoom grew rapidly during the Covid-19 pandemic, when companies and consumers turned to its videoconferencing software to connect with one another. That growth has cooled in recent quarters as companies have called employees back to offices and people returned to in-person activities.
Mr. Yuan said the company tripled in size in two years. As of Jan. 31, 2022, the company had nearly 6,800 employees, up from about 2,500 employees at the same time in 2020, according to regulatory filings.
“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,” Mr. Yuan said in a message to employees. “I am accountable for these mistakes.”
Mr. Yuan said he is reducing his salary for the coming fiscal year by 98% and forgoing his fiscal 2023 corporate bonus. Members of his executive leadership team will also forfeit their bonuses and reduce their base salaries by 20% for the coming fiscal year.
The company is slated to report its fiscal fourth quarter results on Feb. 27.
Zoom joins a wave of technology companies, including
Dell Technologies Inc.,
International Business Machines Corp. and others, that have moved to trim their staffs amid rising interest rates and a leveling off of pandemic-related growth. Business-software companies have also said customers are paring back spending as they look to reel in costs.
Various companies have laid off thousands of employees in a round that was led by large technology companies, including
Microsoft Corp.
and
Amazon.com Inc.
Large companies from other sectors have made similar moves, with
FedEx Corp.
,
3M Co.
and Dow Inc. all announcing layoffs in recent weeks.
Write to Will Feuer at [email protected]
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Appeared in the February 8, 2023, print edition as ‘Zoom to Lay Off 15% of Staff While CEO Slashes His Salary.’
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