In the latest news headlines today, Zoom announced plans to retrench 1,300 employees because of economic uncertainty. It is the latest in the tech industry to cut 15% of the workforce after booming significantly during the pandemic.
Provides a better online environment for conferences
In the afternoon trade, the Zoom stock rose by 7%. In a blog post, Eric Yuan, CEO of Zoom, said the company needs to adjust to the uncertainty in the global economy and its impact on its clients. Yuan went on to say that Zoom worked tirelessly to improve the online meeting experience for its users and customers.
Despite putting in its best efforts to reach customers with better online space, Zoom also made some mistakes. It did not make efforts to analyze the efficiency of its workforce. The company also failed to assess if it is moving in the right direction to meet its highest priorities.
Offers 16 weeks’ pay for laid-off employees
Eric Yuan further claimed the company will pay 16 weeks’ pay to its employees, who are being laid off. The retrenchment move will affect every unit of Zoom. In addition to foregoing the corporate bonus, the CEO will reduce his salary by 98% this fiscal year. Other executives in the company will also take a cut in their salaries to improve sustainability.
In a blog post, Eric Yuan said he takes responsibility for the actions and mistakes of the company as its founder and CEO. Zoom’s layoff announcement follows that of Dell, which announced on Monday that it would lay off 6,500 employees. Other tech companies that have announced layoff plans include Google, which has announced plans to lay off more than 12,000 employees; Salesforce, which has decided to lay off 7,000 employees; and Microsoft, which will reduce its workforce by 10,000. In the latest BNN News, eBay also announced the layoff of 500 employees in its regulatory filing on Tuesday.
Reported a significant increase in revenues during the pandemic
Zoom offered its platform, allowing employees to conduct business conferences during the pandemic. It also allowed video chats with friends and relatives from the comfort of homes during the lockdowns. As more companies turned to remote working during the mid-2020s, Zoom reported a significant jump in revenues.
According to Eric Yuan, Zoom ramped up its workforce to support booming demand in the early days of the pandemic because more business customers turned to its platform for online conferences without lag. Continuing to improve its innovation, the company grew three times in just two years.
Following last week’s decision to charge for API access, Twitter risks losing customers.
Following last week’s announcement to charge for accessing its API, Twitter risks losing its valuable customers. The decision alienates its customers like Dan Morse, who did not derive any profits from using the account on Twitter. Dan Morse has followers numbering over 179,000. According to Morse, several people urged him to charge his account to raise some funds. However, he is sympathetic to the idea and has decided to make his bot available for free. In response to the feedback from its customers, Musk tweeted that Twitter will offer a write-only and light API for bots that engage in offering engaging and free content.