Salesforce Plans Layoffs at Acquisition Own in Strategy Shift

(Bloomberg) — Salesforce Inc. is planning to cut workers at Own, the data management startup it acquired for about $2 billion.

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Some roles will not be required “post harmonization,” Salesforce told workers of Own in a presentation this week. The end date will be Jan. 31 for employees in those positions. Some other jobs will be “transitional” and needed for three to 12 months to support the integration on a fixed short-term basis, the company said in the presentation.

Salesforce, the top maker of customer relations software, announced the deal in September. Own said Monday on LinkedIn that the acquisition had closed. A Salesforce spokesperson declined Tuesday to comment on the workforce reductions.

The immediately planned job cuts underscore Salesforce’s tighter approach to acquisitions after years of rapid expansion. Big mergers like Slack in 2021 or Tableau in 2019 added thousands of workers to overall headcount, fueling expenses and technical complexity.

Salesforce’s penchant for growth through deals came under fire from activist investors starting in late 2022, leading the company to make changes such as disbanding its mergers and acquisitions committee and cutting 10% of its workforce early last year. San Francisco-based Salesforce has said it would take a more prudent approach to future purchases.

Own, which focuses on securing data across software applications, is Salesforce’s biggest acquisition since Slack. The $1.9 billion merger includes about 1,000 workers at Own, according to a person familiar with the firm who asked not to be named discussing internal numbers.

Most analysts see Own bolstering Salesforce’s Data Cloud offering, which helps customers organize and analyze information across apps. Separately, Salesforce said earlier this month that it would be hiring more than 1,000 people to help sell its new generative AI agent product.

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