Dennis Woodside, CEO of Nasdaq-listed Freshworks, announced on Thursday that the company would be reducing its workforce by 13 per cent, resulting in approximately 660 job cuts. This decision is part of the SaaS firm's ongoing strategy to enhance operational efficiency and simplify processes across teams.
In a letter to the company's employees on November 7, Woodside wrote: "There’s simply no good time to make a decision like this that affects people’s lives, and it’s my responsibility to be transparent about how and why this decision was made... When I became the CEO five months ago, I was asked to assess our strategy and ensure we’re focused on the most critical drivers of our business.”
"To add more focus on our EX (employee experience), AI (artificial intelligence) and CX (customer experience) priorities, we are realigning our global workforce, putting us on a path to have a bigger impact for our customers. We're making these changes while our business is profitable and our AI-powered products are providing increasing customer value," he added.
Freshworks, which currently employs over 5,000 people, has undergone several rounds of layoffs and management restructuring since 2024.
In September 2022, the company appointed Dennis Woodside as its new President, overseeing global business operations and strategy. Before joining Freshworks, Woodside was the Chief Operating Officer at Dropbox, where he played a key role in growing the company's revenue from $250 million to $1.3 billion, culminating in a successful IPO in 2018 that raised over $1 billion.
In an interview with Moneycontrol last June, Woodside highlighted that one of his top priorities at Freshworks is to protect and nurture the company’s distinctive culture. He also outlined his focus on making strategic investments in both talent and product development to accelerate growth. "The first biggest investment we make as people. People is the number one investment for us…We're selectively investing in areas that can accelerate our product roadmap, and Device42 is a good example," Woodside said.