Indeed
I am heartbroken to share that I have made the difficult decision to reduce our headcount through layoffs. This is a decision I truly hoped I’d never have to make. Leading a company whose mission is to help people get jobs, every single day I think about how important a job is in a person’s life. Losing a job is extraordinarily hard, financially and emotionally. For those who will be leaving, we are working to bring as much support as possible to each of you.
Who is Impacted?
We anticipate we will be letting approximately 2,200 people go. This is roughly 15% of our team. The cuts come from nearly every team, function, level and region at Indeed and Indeed Flex. The specific decisions on who and where to cut were extremely difficult, but they were made with great care. We focused on preparing the organization for the future, aligning with our strategy and priorities, and reducing duplication of effort and inefficiency. We worked closely with the HR, Legal, and DEIB+ teams to ensure objectivity and equity in these decisions. 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 know that waiting to find out what this means for you is very stressful. We will share information directly with everyone as quickly as we are allowed by local regulations. Within the hour, everyone outside of the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands and Japan will receive an email informing you of your status. If your position has been eliminated, the subject will be “Your Position Has Been Impacted.” If your position has not been eliminated, the subject will be “Your Position Has Not Been Impacted.” In the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands and Japan, unfortunately, local regulations will mean a longer wait. We will communicate with all of you today to outline the specifics in your region.
What if I Am Impacted?
If you are leaving Indeed, you will receive a calendar invite for a 1:1 meeting with an Indeed leader today or tomorrow. Your last day of active employment is today. Your regular pay will continue through March 31, 2023. Your access to Indeed business systems will be disconnected today, but you will have access to internal email, Slack and Workday through 12:00 midnight CT on March 26, 2023, so that you may say goodbye to friends and colleagues and remove any personal materials from your laptop. After that, we will remotely wipe your laptop, and you will be able to keep it for your personal use. **All impacted employees will receive January through March bonus at target, or at quota performance, whichever is greater.
The severance package will have some additions based on role and location, but under the severance agreement employees will receive:
- 16 weeks of base salary, or two weeks for every year of service, whichever is greater
- Four months of COBRA (US only)
- Accrued PTO (where applicable)
- A cash payout equivalent to your RSUs scheduled to vest on May 1. For employees whose initial grant date was August 1, 2022 or later, you will receive a partial payout for RSUs that would vest on May 1 with the standard one year vesting cliff waived. The payout will be calculated at the closing stock price on Feb 1. If the closing price on May 1 is higher, you will receive an additional payment for the difference.*
- Access to ongoing career placement services for six months
- Access to ongoing mental health services for twelve months
More details will be provided to impacted employees later today.
How Did We Get Here?
I’ve been listening to your questions and reading your comments in Q&As, and I know this possibility has been on everyone’s mind. But I also know the news today is a shock.
As we shared at the last Quarterly Update meeting, it is clear the job market will continue to cool after the recent post-COVID boom. It is becoming increasingly likely that HR Tech revenue will decline in FY2023 and potentially again in FY2024. Last quarter, US total job openings were down 3.5% year over year, while sponsored job volumes were down 33%. In the US, we are expecting job openings will likely decrease to pre-pandemic levels of about 7.5 million, or even lower over the next two to three years.
With future job openings at or below pre-pandemic levels, our organization is simply too big for what lies ahead. We need clarity, focus, and urgency to ensure that all of our energy is directed towards investing in our future. We have held out longer than many other companies, but the revenue trends are undeniable. So I have decided to act now.
I take sole accountability for where we are today. I am deeply and profoundly sorry.
I will be taking a 25% cut in base pay. Additionally, more than 75% of my total compensation is directly tied to Indeed revenue growth, and is at risk given current trends. We will be instituting additional cost saving measures moving forward, which I will outline tomorrow.
At Indeed we value transparency. I know some of you may feel disappointed that I did not share sooner that we were considering layoffs. Until we knew who would be impacted, I believe any announcement would have increased anxiety for everyone. I am sorry.
What Happens Next?
People who work here love Indeed. You pour your hearts and souls into your work. Some of you have been here for more than a decade. It is heartbreaking to see so many incredible people go, through no fault of your own. For those who are leaving, I want to thank each and every one of you for your contributions. You made Indeed a great place to work. You helped millions of people change their lives. We are better because of you.
For those who are staying, I know this will deeply affect all of you. We are incredibly fortunate to have an organization of people who care for each other and will support each other in the days and weeks ahead.
We will need time to process this. But we have so much to do to fulfill our mission of helping people get jobs. We will continue to accelerate our strategy of getting closer to the hire, we will deliver more value to employers through pay for performance, and we will make it even simpler and faster for everyone to get hired. While we’re facing challenging times ahead, I am confident that we will manage through it, and we will come out stronger on the other side.
Chris