Nasdaq-listed software-as-a-service (SaaS) company Freshworks Inc has laid off 90 employees globally, or around 2% workforce, making it the latest company to have reduced its headcount amid a meltdown in tech stocks.
The company laid off employees from the product, marketing and sales verticals as it made organizational changes as part of its latest restructuring process, a company spokesperson said.
"To fuel our business growth, we made organizational changes to create better alignment across the company. We shifted some existing roles in product, marketing and sales to support more critical initiatives and reduced the need for a small number of others – less than 2% of our workforce. Freshworks did not do a company-wide layoff," the spokesperson added.
Freshworks' stock slipped 3.43% on Nasdaq Thursday, to close at $14.63 apiece. The stock is down 68.71% since its listing last year.
In India, the overall number of impacted employees stands at around 60, which is close to 1% of its 5500-strong global workforce.
Freshworks was founded in 2010 by Girsh Mathrubootham and Shan Krishnasamy. It was initially known as Freshdesk before a rebranding exercise in 2017. The company has offices located across India, US, the UK, Australia and Germany.
With the tech rout continuing to haunt US markets, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has shed more than 31% this year, eroding the wealth of investors of several large tech corporations.
With investor sentiment dropping to one of the lowest points in history, tech firms are now cutting costs to ensure a longer runway. Firings are happening across companies as firms aim to save cash.
In 2022, global tech giants such as Meta (Facebook), Twitter, and Amazon as well as Indian SaaS companies such as Chargebee, Clear, and FarEye, among others, have reduced their headcount.
Last month, Tiger Global-Chargebee laid off around 10% of its workforce or 142 employees. The move was taken to tackle the ongoing macroeconomic challenges as well as reduce the debt it has accumulated in the last few years, Chargebee cofounder Krish Subramanian had said.
Also, logistics SaaS startup Fareye laid off around 250 of its employees in June 2022. The company had to make some hard decisions to reduce its team across operations and services, said Kushal Nahata, chief executive officer and co-founder, FarEye.
However, some companies in the SaaS space are trying to cut other costs in a bid to save the jobs of their employees. For instance, Freshworks' rival Zoho plans to lower its marketing costs to mitigate the impact of the unfavourable macroeconomic situation, instead of letting go of its employees.
“We’re optimistic for the next few years but at the same time realistic due to the ongoing market conditions,” Zoho co-founder and chief executive officer Sridhar Vembu said in an interaction with VCCircle last month.
