In een boodschap aan de Indeed medewerkers meldde CEO Chris Hyams waar de ontslagen zullen vallen:

We anticipate that we will be letting approximately 1,000 people go, representing ~8% of the company. [The reductions] are mostly concentrated in the US, and are more focused on R&D and some Go-to-Market teams.

De reden voor deze forse ontslagronde?:

Unlike last year, where our reduction was driven by cost savings, we are taking this action because we need to simplify our organization to make it easier and faster for us to make decisions, and help us to more effectively grow revenue and hires.

Ruim een jaar geleden (maart 2023) was er een vorige ontslagronde, 15% van het personeel werd toen ontslagen. Die volgens Hyams effectief is geweest:

Last year we were facing a global slowdown in hiring, which led to multiple consecutive quarters of revenue loss. We reduced our headcount, instituted multiple cost-saving measures, and instilled investment discipline across the company. These measures worked, and we are now operating with stable profitability.

Maar er is blijkbaar een structureel probleem binnen de organisatie (nog) niet voldoende geadresseerd:

However, while the global economy has improved in several areas over the past year, we are not yet set up for sustainable growth. Despite our efforts so far, our organization is still too complex, we still have significant duplication of effort and too many organizational layers that slow down decision-making. We have been working to simplify every aspect of our business, but without meaningful change, we can’t get where we need to go.

At a high level, we are significantly restructuring the R&D team to align with our marketplace strategy, and we are reducing layers of management. We are also restructuring and aligning some Go-to-Market teams, and will be eliminating most of the Sales and CS roles in Foster City, California. Across the business we are making additional changes to simplify decision-making and create clarity.

Bij elkaar vertrekken er maar liefst 3.200 medewerkers bij Indeed op basis van deze twee ontslagrondes. En dat op een personeelsbestand van zo’n 15K. Dat moet zo ongeveer iedere medewerker van Indeed raken, ongeacht of ze moeten vertrekken of niet. Hyams daarover:

For those who are staying, I know you will need time to absorb this news. Tomorrow we will have a global town hall where I will share more about the overall org structure. This will be followed by org-specific town halls led by SLT, with opportunities to get answers to your questions. On Wednesday, we will share the updated organization chart for everyone to see. 

Hyams sluit op Amerikaanse wijze af, met hyperbole:

Our mission is vital. Helping people get jobs is a profound privilege. Our work is driven by the deep understanding of just how important a job is in a person’s life. We all know what it means to lose that. For those of you who are leaving, this is incredibly hard. We are committed to bringing as much support to you as possible in the days and weeks ahead. You helped millions of people get jobs, and helped Indeed to be a better place. Thank you