Salesforce laid off employees across its Agentforce, MuleSoft, and Marketing Cloud teams, according to Business Insider, which first reported the cuts. According to a California WARN notice, 86 positions were eliminated across sales, general administration, and technology and product functions. Workers in Washington state and internationally were also among those let go, Business Insider reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The cuts did not affect the core Agentforce teams. Aug. 7 is the listed end date for payroll coverage for those affected. Salesforce did not respond to requests for comment.
Earlier this year, the company cut fewer than 1,000 positions in a separate January reduction. An SEC filing placed Salesforce’s total headcount above 80,000 as of late January.
Salesforce’s standard severance policy bases payments on employee level, years of service, and age, according to internal documents. Directors and senior directors receive 13 weeks of base pay, while senior managers and below get nine weeks. Employees who are 60 or older receive an extra four weeks, no matter their level. Each year of service adds three weeks, and partial years count as full. The maximum severance is 26 weeks, or 30 weeks for those aged 60 and above. COBRA health coverage lasts six months, or up to a year for those who qualify by age.
The layoffs come as Salesforce faces concerns that AI tools and agents could erode demand for traditional business software, including its core customer relationship-management products. Salesforce stock is down more than 30% this year.
In positioning itself against that risk, Salesforce has bet heavily on Agentforce as its primary AI offering. At its most recent earnings, Salesforce disclosed that Agentforce had crossed the $1 billion mark in annualized revenue, posting a 205% gain compared with the same period a year ago, according to a prior report. Combined Agentforce and Data 360 annual recurring revenue reached nearly $3.4 billion, up more than 200% year over year.
During the May earnings call, Benioff told investors that engineering staffing levels had held steady at around 15,000 for approximately two years. He attributed the stagnant hiring pace to productivity tools: “The reason it’s been mostly flat is because we have been using AI to create more efficiency for our engineers,” per Inc.
Salesforce posted record first-quarter revenue of $11.1 billion, up 13% year over year, in its most recent earnings report.
