Bay Area tech companies are laying off hundreds more workers, including more than 250 in San Francisco.
Salesforce, Flexport, eBay and Okta are each laying off workers in The City, according to notices they filed recently with the state Employment Development Department. Additionally, San Francisco-based DocuSign on Tuesday announced it plans to cut about 6% of its staff companywide, around 400 employees.
DocuSign is cutting staff despite also announcing that it expects to post fourth-quarter results that are in line with or better than its forecasts. The electronic-signature service provider has a “strong opportunity” ahead of it and is making progress on its effort to launch new products it expects to boost its sales, company CEO Allan Thygesen said in an open letter to employees.
But that effort will take several years to pay off, and the company needs to watch its bottom line and cut costs in the interim, he said.
Cutting staff was “a painful decision, and it is not one I, the leadership team or the board make lightly,” Thygesen said in the post.
Noting that the cuts are the second round of layoffs DocuSign’s announced since he became CEO in October 2022, he said, “I am deeply sorry that we have to do this again.”
DocuSign announced in February 2023 it was cutting 10% of its staff. Those layoffs came after it announced a 9% cut in September 2022.
Meanwhile, the EDD disclosed Tuesday that the following companies have warned about layoffs in San Francisco:
Salesforce: 55 workers based at its headquarters at 415 Mission St., effective April 23.
Okta: 83 employees at its corporate base at 100 First St., 6th floor, effective April 4.
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Flexport: 99 people based at its headquarters at 760 Market St., 8th floor, effective Feb. 2.
eBay: 20 workers based at 300 Mission St., 19th floor, effective Jan. 24.
Okta announced Thursday that it planned to cut 7% of its global staff, or about 400 employees. The identity authentication company is cutting staff to slash costs, CEO Todd McKinnon said in a letter to employees an Okta representative shared with The Examiner.
“In order to grow profitably, we need to run the business with greater efficiency. While we’ve taken steps in the right direction, the reality is that costs are still too high,” McKinnon said. “This action is a proactive measure to help set the company up for long-term success.”
EBay, meanwhile, announced in January that it planned to lay off about 9% of its full-time employees worldwide, or about 1,000 people, as well as cut back on its contractors. In addition to laying off people in The City, the online auction operator is cutting 261 employees at its San Jose headquarters.
The company is making the cuts to position itself for “long-term, sustainable growth,” CEO Jamie Iannone said in an open letter to employees last month.
“These changes are difficult, but I’m confident that by working together we will become stronger than ever,” Iannone said.
Salesforce representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The cuts are only the latest in The City and the Bay Area after tech companies laid off thousands of workers in the region last year.
