Indeed announces layoffs for 8% of staff, just over a year after its last layoffs

Editor's note: The above video shows KXAN News' top morning headlines from Monday, May 13, 2024.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Indeed, an employment company co-headquartered in Austin, is letting go of roughly 8% of its staff, according to a letter shared with employees Monday from CEO Chris Hyams.

The layoffs affect many groups and regions, but they are not across the board, the letter noted. They are mostly concentrated in the U.S. and are more focused on "R&D and some Go-to-Market teams," Hyams said in the letter.

Around this time last year, Indeed laid off about 15% of its staff, citing a decrease of job openings following a recent post-COVID boom.

Hyams said unlike last year, when cost savings drove the cuts, the reasoning behind the current sweep of layoffs is "because we need to simplify our organization to make it easier and faster for us to make decisions, and help us to more effectively grow revenue and hires," according to the letter.

Hyams noted in the letter that Indeed "worked closely with the HR, Legal, and DEIB+ teams to ensure objectivity and equity in the decision-making process. The final selections have had no measurably disproportionate impact on women and under-represented genders or the under-represented minority population in the US."

I am responsible for how we got here, and the entire SLT is responsible for making the difficult decisions necessary to help set us up for the future. We know these decisions will have a significant impact on people’s lives. I’d like to share some context for why I believe it’s necessary.

Last year we were facing a global slowdown in hiring, which led to multiple consecutive quarters of revenue loss. We reduced our headcount, instituted multiple cost-saving measures, and instilled investment discipline across the company. These measures worked, and we are now operating with stable profitability.

However, while the global economy has improved in several areas over the past year, we are not yet set up for sustainable growth. Despite our efforts so far, our organization is still too complex, we still have significant duplication of effort and too many organizational layers that slow down decision-making. We have been working to simplify every aspect of our business, but without meaningful change, we can’t get where we need to go.

Indeed CEO Chris Hyams

The letter also said that those impacted should receive notice on Monday, including information about separation packages, which the letter noted have been increased for "most employees" over the past year.

The full letter can be read online on Indeed's press room page on its website.