Zoom Cuts 2% of Workforce, Continues Hiring for Some Roles

Zoom Video Communications cut about 150 jobs, or less than 2% of its workforce, this week.

At the same time, the company will continue hiring for positions related to artificial intelligence (AI), sales and engineering, Bloomberg reported Thursday (Feb. 1), citing an unnamed source.

A spokesperson for the company told the media outlet that Zoom is rescaling roles and adding capabilities for the future, and that the company regularly evaluates its teams to ensure alignment with its strategy, per the report.

During the pandemic, Zoom’s videoconferencing software became essential for remote work and virtual meetings, leading to its rise in prominence. However, the company has faced challenges in maintaining high revenue growth, according to the report.

To address this, Zoom has expanded its offerings beyond video meetings, adding contact center software and persistent chat similar to Salesforce’s Slack, the report said.

On Monday (Jan. 29), Zoom unveiled an app designed exclusively for Apple’s soon-to-be-released mixed reality headset, Vision Pro. The new app aims to transform the way individuals connect with colleagues and clients by offering a more immersive and realistic meeting environment, the company said.

Despite these efforts, the newer offerings have not yet significantly accelerated the company’s growth, per the Bloomberg report.

A year ago, in February 2023, Zoom announced its intention to reduce its headcount by 15%, bringing the total number of employees to just over 7,000 from approximately 8,500, according to the report.

The company’s latest reduction in workforce is part of a broader trend in the tech industry, where companies have become quicker to dismiss workers and shift priorities, the report said. Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Salesforce are among the companies that have also shed employees in the first weeks of the new year.

This news comes on the same day that Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that the technology sector had the second-highest number of layoffs in January, behind only the financial sector.

Technology companies cut 15,806 jobs in January, the most since May, the global outplacement and business and executive coaching firm said Thursday.

Across all industries, “restructuring” was the most-cited reason for job cuts in January, Challenger, Gray & Christmas said.