From mass job layoffs to the completion of acquisitions, here are some extracts from our most popular news stories over the last seven days.
Salesforce Starts 2023 With Mass Layoffs
Salesforce will cut 10 percent of its workforce in the coming weeks, highlighting how even the most prominent tech providers have not proven immune to the challenging economic climate.
The move will impact 8,000 employees, with those based in the U.S. set to receive a minimum of almost five months of pay, health insurance, and other benefits.
Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, also indicated that those outside the US will secure a similar package while taking personal responsibility for the layoffs.
In a note to employees, he stated:
As our revenue accelerated through the pandemic, we hired too many people leading into this economic downturn we’re now facing, and I take responsibility for that.
“Our leadership will reach out directly to these employees, and provide clarity for their teams about changes within their organizations.”
These changes will come as part of a large-scale restructure, which Salesforce expects to cost between $1.4-2.1BN, per a recent regulatory filing.
A restructuring of this magnitude also implies that the move came as part of a strategy change. Indeed, some suggest the vendor will refocus on its core CRM business, given the economic outlook.
TELUS International Completes WillowTree Acquisition
TELUS International has completed its acquisition of WillowTree.
Following the purchase, the digital experience solutions provider will add key front-end design and build competencies to its current offering.
Now, the two organizations will join to drive TELUS’ digital transformation and support profitable growth for both companies.
Darren Entwistle, Chair of the Board of TELUS International and President and CEO of TELUS, commented: “Today marks another exciting step in TELUS International’s journey as we welcome the skilled and talented WillowTree team into our TELUS family.
“Indeed, in joining our team, WillowTree has further diversified TELUS International’s expansive client base, adding new marquee customers and amplifying cross-selling competencies globally.
Furthermore, our combined teams have a tremendous opportunity to accelerate TELUS’ digital transformation and support key product development across our business, most notably, within health and agriculture and consumer goods.
“Leveraging the collective technological and human innovation of our TELUS International and WillowTree teams, in combination with our social purpose-driven, client-centric culture and brand, we will further elevate the experiences of our customers around the world.”
According to TELUS International, the company has grown to have over 70,000 employees, a global AI Community of more than one million trained annotators, and 69 delivery centers and digital design studios in 30 countries.
As part of the acquisition, WillowTree will be rebranded as WillowTree, a TELUS International Company.
Alchemer Acquires Mobile Feedback Platform Apptentive
Alchemer has announced its acquisition of Apptentive, a provider of mobile feedback technology.
Apptentive’s mobile customer experience solution helps companies to measure changes in customer sentiment throughout the purchasing journey.
The acquisition aims to provide Alchemer customers with new ways to collect insights from customers on mobile devices.
At the same time, customers of Apptentive may access several survey and workflow tools designed to work with many CX platforms, including Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Salesforce.
How Will the Move Add Value to Alchemer’s Portfolio?
Apptentive was built to assist companies in better understanding their customers and the journeys they take when interacting with brands.
Its solutions allow organizations to use intelligently timed surveys, prompts, and messages to gather and utilize valuable feedback.
Apptentive is already responsible for managing millions of customer interactions daily on countless devices worldwide.
Indeed, its technology has helped brands to collect twice the actionable feedback and achieve 70 percent higher customer retention levels than the average mobile app.
As such, its technology and team will assist Alchemer in ensuring every customer and employee has a voice, and every business can collect the optimal data about their communities.
