Zoom announces job cuts, CEO and executives to take hefty salary reduction

Zoom Video Communications Inc. announced this week that it would terminate 1,300 workers, or about 15% of its workforce. With this move, the company became the latest US-based tech company to lay off hundreds of people due to the waning demand for digital devices and services.

Zoom said on Tuesday, Feb. 7, that aside from job cuts, its CEO and some other executives will also be taking a hit as their salaries are set to be reduced as well. The pay cut for the members of the executive leadership will be substantial as their base pay is set to be reduced by 20%, and this will take effect in the coming fiscal year. Their bonuses for the fiscal year 2023 were also scrapped.

In any case, the upcoming layoff was revealed by the company’s chief executive officer, Eric Yuan, through a memo. He said that this would affect all the business units of the organization. For what is happening right now, Yuan admitted that partly, it was due to mistakes he committed related to how quickly Zoom has grown at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Whether you have been at Zoom since the beginning or joined us more recently, you have played an important role in our evolution, and that makes today’s announcement particularly difficult,” the ZOOM chief wrote in a blog post announcing the job cuts. “We have made the tough but necessary decision to reduce our team by approximately 15% and say goodbye to around 1,300 hardworking, talented colleagues.”

He added, “I know this is a difficult message to hear, and certainly not one I ever wanted to deliver. As the CEO and founder of Zoom, I am accountable for these mistakes and the actions we take today, and I want to show accountability not just in words but in my own actions. To that end, I am reducing my salary for the coming fiscal year by 98% and foregoing my FY23 corporate bonus.”

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