Freshworks, a Nasdaq-listed software-as-a-service (SaaS) firm, laid off about 90 employees, or 2 percent of its total workforce as a result of tight macroeconomic pressures in the software industry. The company cited 'performance and staffing redundancies' for lay off across various teams, including sales, marketing, and engineering.
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The company has a workforce of around 5,200 employees globally.
Girish Mathrubootham, the founder and Chief Executive Officer, explained in an email to the employees that this is not a company-wide layoff but rather a structural change, as first reported by YourStory.
"In all the changes we undertook we have deployed and retained the majority of our teammates, however a few around 2% of 5,200 people or approximately 90 employees for whom we do not have a readily available open position," Mathrubootham said in an email.
He further added that the company is doing everything that can be done to help the employees that have been impacted by providing them healthcare coverage and outplacement services.
Also read: Freshworks posts 37 percent revenue growth in September quarter, trims losses
Freshworks joins the list of global and Indian SaaS firms that have recently announced layoffs.
The global recession is starting to put pressure on the SaaS ecosystem in India and around the world, and companies are starting to apply cost-cutting measures like layoffs.
Chargebee, a San Francisco and Chennai-based software firm, laid off about 10 percent of its workforce, or about 142 people, due to tight macroeconomic pressures and to reduce the startup's accumulated operational debt, said co-founder Krish Subramanian in a LinkedIn post.
Due to severe macroeconomic conditions and to pay down the startup's mounting operational debt, Chargebee, a San Francisco and Chennai-based software firm, laid off roughly 142 employees, or about 10 percent of its staff. Company's co-founder Krish Subramanian, mentioned this in a LinkedIn post.
Further Salesforce announced in November that in order to reduce costs, it would let go of about 2,000 people. Additionally, 300 people were laid off by Zendesk last month.
Also read: HealthifyMe becomes the latest startup to announce layoffs, will slash 142 jobs
For the third quarter that concluded in September 2022, Freshworks reported consolidated sales of $128.8 million, an increase of around 37 percent compared to the previous year.
Mathrubootham stated on the company's earnings call that the company is being cautious due to the economy's sluggish growth.
“While we have reported a strong quarter, we are not immune to this slower economy. While new businesses picked up, expansion slowed down even as we reduced our growth forecasts and headcount needs,” he said.
Also read: Layoffs — how they affected H-1B visa holders and what options they have