Business software maker Salesforce recently announced major job cuts impacting 10% of its workforce – or about 7,000 employees. But even as thousands of laid-off employees from the company and other tech giants turned to social media in search of new opportunities, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff took a 10-day “digital detox” trip.
Benioff told The New York Times that he jetted off to French Polynesia for a 10-day trip in wake of the mass layoffs.
“We are so addicted to our devices (at least I am) it’s very freeing to leave them all behind for a while!” the Salesforce CEO told the publication over a text message.
A digital detox is a trend in which someone foregoes the use of digital devices, like phones or computers, for a period of time — often with the intent to feel more present and less dependent on social media. The idea behind undergoing a digital detox is generally to reconnect with nature, take a break from social media and de-stress from hectic everyday life.
Salesforce workers knew at the beginning of the new year to expect cuts to thousands of jobs. On January 4, Benioff announced that Salesforce was planning to cut around 10% of its 84,000 workforce over the following weeks.
In his email to employees announcing the layoffs, Benioff said he took responsibility for the decisions that led to the job cuts. “The environment remains challenging, and our customers are taking a more measured approach to their purchasing decisions,” he wrote. “As our revenue accelerated through the pandemic, we hired too many people leading into this economic downturn we’re now facing, and I take responsibility for that.”
Salesforce continued its planned layoffs in February, with one person telling Insider it was a “bloodbath” for sales and marketing employees. It’s unclear how many people have been laid off to date, but one person told Insider 4,000 people were missing from the company Slack after January 31, but could include contractors who were removed after the fiscal year ended.
The cuts at Salesforce are happening as many tech companies, ranging from Google to Meta to Microsoft, have culled their employee base by thousands — with potentially more cuts on the horizon as executives look to cut costs after the pandemic business boom.
