Covid-19: Sudden adjustment in Silicon Valley (update)

The unemployment rate in the United States may exceed 30 million, one of the highest unemployment rates in the world Hit hardCOVID-19 epidemic. The first area affected by the pandemic was California, where most of the new technology giants were installed.for In order to resist the crisis, companies such as VMware, Nutanix and Airbnb have just announced stringent measures to reduce operating costs. In an interview with CRN, VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger confirmed that he has implemented “many changes in cost management.” In an internal memo, the Palo Alto, California-based virtualization company stated that it would freeze the salaries of all employees and temporarily cut the salaries of senior executives, including the CEO. , Due to uncertainty about the coronavirus pandemic. The company quoted CRN as saying: “We can be sure that many changes in cost management have affected VMware employees.”

“This is part of a well-thought-out plan that aims to deal with the current uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic and the overall economic outlook, while ensuring that the company has the skills and talents to accelerate growth. As the economy stabilizes,” she said . According to internal instructions published by The Business Insider, there is also a plan to transition from a semi-annual bonus plan for approximately 31,000 employees to an annual plan. Another technology company that was affected by the recession, Nutanix has decided to take more than 1,460 US employees on leave without paying them, or 25% of its global workforce due to “uncertain business conditions” caused by the coronavirus pandemic. This will result in two weekly holidays without vacations, taking turns at least from May 4 to July 26, affecting at least 1,465 employees, followed by another cycle from August 3 to October 31.

Consider Nutanix’s prudent measures

In a statement issued by CRN, as the company deals with uncertain business conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, hyper-convergence experts will implement “what they consider to be prudent proactive and proactive spending reduction measures”. “These measures include providing two one-week leave periods for many of our employees in the next six months. The American Group stated that our services will remain fully available and vacations have already been arranged, so our customers are in this period There is almost no change from the normal route. “We are taking this precautionary measure to ensure that our business remains healthy in the long term. He explained that when experiencing the Covid-19 pandemic, our philosophy was to “maximize” while causing the greatest harm to all our employees.

Reduce cohesion, achieve automation and FireEye anywhere

Cloud-based data protection provider Cohesity also announced layoffs. According to a report in the Silicon Valley Business Daily, the company has confirmed that the proportion of layoffs is small. “In response to this period of economic and turbulent uncertainty, Cohesity has taken measures to reduce its operating costs. Unfortunately, as part of this work, a moderate percentage of employees have been on leave or no longer in the company. This is not a company. She sighed: “We thank every employee for their contribution and regret that the pandemic has caused this difficult time. “

In the end, according to the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), since March 11, more than 300 start-up companies have cut more than 30,000 jobs.among them Of these, Automation Anywhere and FireEye announced layoffs last week. Another company affected by the economic recession: Wave Computing is a young startup company specializing in AI with 200 employees and a value of $600 million. It has been required to accept Chapter 11 protection of the US Bankruptcy Law.

Airbnb is in danger

In another place Ie tourism, Airbnb On Tuesday, May 5, it was announced that approximately 25% of the 7,500 employees worldwide, or nearly 1,900, would have left. « Brian Chesky, the co-founder of the accommodation booking platform, lamented in a press release published on the group’s website that we are collectively going through the most painful crisis of our lives. The American company has been hit hard by the containment measures and is expected to have less than half of its turnover this year compared to 2019. It represents facing two realities, namely that they do not know when the trip will resume, and when they do, they will have the ability to adapt to different situations. Brian Chesky will also reduce the group’s investment in various projects. For him, repositioning the business strategy is necessary, because customers will need more secure and cheaper options closer to home., He believed.

ServiceNow and SalesForce will not lay off staff

however, As epidemics threaten global growth, some IT companies are leading the way in terms of social responsibility. This is the case of ServiceNow, Although the coronavirus pandemic continues to affect American companies and the American economy, the United States has pledged not to lay off 11,000 workers this year. On Wednesday, May 6, the Santa Clara-based cloud solution publisher also said that in addition to not laying off staff, it also plans to hire 1,000 more employees before the end of the year. . ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott said in a statement announcing the company’s policy: “We want our employees to focus on supporting customers without worrying about their work.” He said: “We guarantee that in 2020 No layoffs will be made this year and will continue to recruit globally.”

The company, Verizon, Accenture and Lincoln Financial Group announced the establishment of a partnership to launch the People + Work Connect program the second day, ServiceNow promised not to lay off staff, the plan is to contact people who have been laid off or take leave. Forced recruitment. In this case, ServiceNow provided 800 offers. In order to maintain the position, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff recently pledged not to cut the company’s positions for at least 90 days and continue to pay its various suppliers and subcontractors during this period. .