KEY POINTS
- CEO Paiva said Talkdesk will continue to hire in ‘strategic areas’
- Talkdesk also implemented ‘massive’ layoffs in February
- At least four other software companies have conducted layoffs this month
Software company Talkdesk has reportedly reduced its workforce again, marking its third round of layoffs since last year. The San Francisco-based software provider was once valued at $10 billion following a $230 million funding round.
Talkdesk made “limited headcount reductions in a few areas,” a Talkdesk spokesperson confirmed Tuesday, according to TechCrunch.
“Investment and advancements we’ve made in AI position us at the forefront of CX innovation, enabling a leaner, more agile global organization. The limited headcount reductions we made in a few areas will not negatively impact our speed of innovation,” CEO Tiago Paiva told the outlet.
Paiva added that the company will continue to invest and hire in “strategic areas” that will allow Talkdesk to innovate more efficiently and at a faster pace.
The exact number of affected employees is unknown. Talkdesk did not immediately respond to International Business Times‘ request for comment.
Talkdesk previously laid off up to 200 people in August 2022, multiple outlets reported. At the time, the company was reported to have around 2,100 employees. It reduced staff again in early January, when one affected employee told UC Today that as much as 20% of the workforce had been laid off. The number of remaining staff is unknown.
After the job cuts earlier this year, some former employees took to LinkedIn to share the news. “The #recession2023 took my entire team and sadly led to massive #layoffs,” a former demand generation manager wrote.
A former commercial solutions engineer said he was among the workers affected by the layoffs earlier this year. An enterprise solution engineering manager was also among those laid off in January.
Talkdesk was valued at more than $10 billion in August 2021 after it secured $230 million in funding from Whale Rock Capital Management, Amity Ventures, Viking Global Investors and TI Platform Management, among others.
“We’re grateful for the continued confidence in our strategy and more determined each day of our unique ability to help companies deliver memorable customer experiences, one engagement at a time,” Paiva said at the time.
Talkdesk joins several other software companies that conducted workforce reductions this month.
Lucid Software announced 7% in headcount cuts Monday. The company recently received authorization from the FedRAMP but said it had to undergo cost-cutting.
Airtable, which was once valued at $11 billion, announced 237 staff cuts earlier this month. Also, this month, Indian software as a service (SaaS) startup Chargebee cut 10% of its staff and Pegasystems reduced its workforce by 4% at the beginning of September.
In the greater tech environment, more than 236,900 employees have been laid off so far in 2023 as per the layoffs’ tracker layoffs.fyi.
