Own, the data-management startup acquired by Salesforce recently in a $2 billion deal, will witness job cuts soon. While some roles will be eliminated by 31 January after ‘harmonisation’, many others will be eliminated in three months to a year, depending on their requirement in the transition period for the integration process.
The headcount at Salesforce had spiked over the past few years due to many mergers. Not surprisingly, its expenses had gone up too. In fact, a couple of years ago, activist investors had begun expressing concern over the customer-relations software manufacturer’s spree of deals. In response, Salesforce had opted to dissolve its mergers and acquisitions team and had trimmed its workforce by 10 per cent in 2023.
After Slack, Own is reported to be Salesforce’s biggest acquisition. The merger is said to have included about 1,000 Own employees.
Meanwhile, Salesforce expressed plans to hire over 1,000 in the sales team for its generative AI agent product.
In July this year, Salesforce had trimmed its workforce by up to 300 employees as part of a broader effort to streamline operations, optimise its structure and drive growth. These cuts came at a time when the cloud-based software solutions company had witnessed significant growth in Africa, particularly in South Africa and Morocco, where AI investments had yielded substantial returns. The company’s expansion in Africa was bolstered by strategic partnerships with firms such as Amazon’s cloud marketplace, extending its reach through collaborations with MTN, Vodacom and Standard Bank.
