Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) is on a hiring spree, with plans to fill 3,300 new positions in various departments, including sales, engineering, and data cloud. This recruitment drive follows the company’s earlier decision to lay off approximately 10% of its staff earlier this year.
Salesforce’s CEO, Marc Benioff, emphasized the company’s commitment to growth and achieving strong profit margins during its annual conference in San Francisco. Benioff expressed a particular interest in rehiring former employees, affectionately referred to as “boomerangs.”
The company has already welcomed back senior workers from other tech companies, such as Snowflake and Twilio, who had previously worked at Salesforce.
This initiative to attract former staff members represents a new success metric for Salesforce, with Benioff going the extra mile by hosting an “alumni event for people who are employed in other companies to say — it’s OK, come back.”
The current hiring effort is a significant step towards recovery, as it restores 40% of the headcount lost during the layoffs earlier this year. Salesforce had made the tough decision to reduce its workforce by around 10% due to a challenging business environment and customers taking a more cautious approach to purchasing decisions.
The layoffs were attributed to overhiring during the pandemic’s initial stages when tech companies experienced a surge in profits.
Salesforce’s strategy moving forward heavily relies on artificial intelligence (AI). Bloomberg reports that the new hires will be split across sales, engineering, and the company’s data cloud product.
“We have some very successful parts of our business right now, and we want a surge in those areas,” Chief Operating Officer Brian Millham said.
The company recently introduced Einstein GPT, a generative AI tool aimed at enhancing various aspects of its operations, including sales, marketing, and customer service. Salesforce is actively developing multiple other tools such as Sales GPT, Service GPT, Marketing GPT, Commerce GPT, Slack GPT, and Tableau GPT, as part of its AI-driven growth strategy.
Salesforce’s subsidiary, Slack, is also gearing up for significant hiring in the product development engineer team, focusing on generative AI roles.
Salesforce last traded at $214.98 on the NYSE.
Information for this story was found via Bloomberg, Fortune, X, and the sources and companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to the organizations discussed. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
