Zoom Video Communications, the company behind the widely-used video conferencing platform, announced plans to lay off approximately 15 per cent of its workforce on Tuesday.

In a blog post, CEO Eric Yuan disclosed that he will be taking a 98 per cent reduction in salary and forgoing his executive bonus this year. Members of the executive leadership team will also receive a 20 per cent reduction in salary and forfeit their bonuses.

Despite continued reliance on Zoom as the world adjusts to post-pandemic life, the company is facing reduced spending from customers, as stated by Yuan. This has led to the difficult decision to lay off around 1,300 employees.

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Owing to the challenges posed by the pandemic, Yuan expressed pride in the company’s ability to keep people connected and noted that the company’s employee count tripled during the pandemic due to the platform’s widespread use for remote work, court hearings, and social events.

“We are seeing that people and businesses continue to rely on Zoom,” Yuan said.

“But the uncertainty of the global economy, and its effect on our customers, means we need to take a hard look inward to reset ourselves so we can weather the economic environment, deliver for our customers and achieve Zoom’s long-term vision.” Zoom will continue to invest in strategic areas, the chief executive noted.

Zoom has joined the trend of US tech companies reducing their workforce amid global economic challenges and a shift towards cost-saving measures.

American computer company, Dell, announced plans to lay off around 5 per cent of its global workforce, or approximately 6,650 employees. These job cuts follow similar moves made by tech industry giants such as Microsoft, Facebook, Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Amazon, and Twitter as the industry prepares for economic uncertainty.

The cuts come after a period of significant hiring during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, when companies were attempting to meet the increased demand for online work, education, and entertainment. According to the job loss tracking site, Layoffs.fyi, over 95,000 tech employees have lost their jobs since the start of the year.