AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT CEF SOLUTIONS

Fort Lee, New Jersey-based CEF Solutions, a business process outsourcing, staffing, and consulting firm, has announced a reduction in force.

The reduction will impact 108 employees located in Greenville, South Carolina, who will be permanently eliminated by August 31, 2025.

Considering that the outsourcing industry is volatile, the layoffs are likely related to a business closure, contract loss, or other customer-driven event.

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life, nor promises of a bright future. We see good people being laid off through no fault of their own. Just because something terrible hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, at any time, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. While many employees can read the writing on the wall, why do most assume it’s targeted at someone else? Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT UPWORK

Santa Clara, California-based Upwork Global, a connection platform for freelancers marketing their services, has announced a 15% reduction in force.

The personnel realignment will impact 137 employees.

According to President & CEO Hayden Brown ...

This morning we shared the difficult news that we are reducing the size of our workforce. I know there is a lot to absorb.

How we got here

The landscape has changed significantly over the last few years and with that, many opportunities have opened up for Upwork, as the world at large became familiar with remote work and started to question old and outdated paradigms for where, how, and with whom work happens. Our business has doubled in three years and we just reached $20 billion of lifetime freelancer earnings on our platform. This was made possible by hard work from all of you, and you can be proud of this. Our mission to create economic opportunities so people have better lives has never felt more urgent or more necessary in a time of constant volatility and change, where talent and businesses alike are seeking out solutions that meet a new set of needs and values.

At the same time, in the past few quarters macroeconomic uncertainty has altered the outlook for many businesses, including some of our customers. We entered this year with an expectation for how our business would fare in this climate, and in the first quarter of 2023, we saw greater-than-expected headwinds, primarily as a result of Enterprise and larger customers further reducing budgets and deferring hiring plans. It became clear that while our business is strong and growing, our full-year revenue would be meaningfully lower than what we had expected.

The actions we are taking

Working as a high-performing and efficient team has always been important to us, and as this year has unfolded, we have been proactive in adapting our plans across hiring, vendor spend and brand media budget—which we are reducing by 94% for the second half of this year—in response to the realities our business is facing. We considered all the tools available to us in adjusting our cost base given the near-term economic uncertainty, and resizing our team for this period of time was a critical step we needed to take. As a result, we are reducing our workforce by approximately 15% of full-time employees, or 137 roles. We are also eliminating a number of hybrid workforce (independent team member) positions.

As with all decisions related to our people, this was one that we undertook with great care. These decisions are primarily a reflection of the environment in which we are operating, and not a reflection of the contributions of our departing teammates. I also want to be clear that these are my decisions, and I hold myself accountable for the path that led us to today. I am aware of the very real impact this will have on our team members, specifically on those of you who will be leaving us, and this weighs heavily on me.

The majority of these reductions are on our Enterprise team. This is not a reflection of our conviction in our Enterprise strategy over the long term. The Enterprise opportunity remains significant.

Beyond Enterprise, we are also eliminating a number of roles in order to streamline operations and drive efficiency in other areas of the business. To be clear, this was not a blanket cost-cutting exercise. Every decision was assessed through the lens of our growth goals, team structures, and business priorities.

What’s next

Knowing these changes are the necessary actions for Upwork today does not make this any less difficult. Empathy and compassion are core to who we are as an organization. This is the day to bring those attributes to the forefront. Please support each other and our departing colleagues in particular.

Hayden

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. We see good people being laid off through no fault of their own. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT RACKSPACE HOSTING (07/22/2021)

JULY 22, 2021 — MAJOR RESTRUCTURING WITH A 10% REDUCTION IN FORCE

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company plans a multi-million dollar restructuring that will result in a major reduction in force, projected to be at least 10% of the workforce over the next twelve months (2021-22). It is anticipated that the majority of the impacted workers will be from the company’s headquarters in Windcrest. Texas.

Approximately 85% of the functions will be transferred to the company’s offshore service centers.

According to CEO Kevin Jones, “The initiatives announced today will enable Rackspace Technology to take full advantage of current market trends, drive significant earnings leverage as revenue continues to grow, and compete even more effectively with other cloud service providers. In addition, we are more closely aligning our Rackers with next-generation service offerings that offer more compelling growth potential both for them and the company.”

“On July 21, 2021, the Company committed to an internal restructuring plan, which will drive a change in the types of and location of certain positions and is expected to result in the termination of approximately 10% of the Company’s workforce. The Company anticipates that approximately 85% of these roles will be backfilled in the Company’s offshore service centers. As part of the plan, the Company also is expanding its internal training program to further develop expertise in cloud services. The rebalance in workforce is a component of a broader strategic review of the Company’s operations that is intended to more effectively align the Company’s resources with its business priorities in high growth areas. Substantially all of the employees impacted by the reduction in force were notified of the reduction on July 22, 2021 and will exit the Company over the next 12 months.”

JULY 22, 2019 — Original post…

San Antonio-based Rackspace Hosting, a cloud development, hosting, and management company owned by private equity firm Apollo Global Management, continues its restructuring/repositioning by transferring 125 quality assurance and support employees to Pune, India-based Tech Mahindra, a business process outsourcer and consultancy, as part of a strategic partnership that appears to be able to compete with Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure. Since being acquired and taken private by Apollo in 2016 for approximately $4.3 billion, there have been three layoffs of approximately 600 employees. It was rumored that Apollo was looking to take the company public in once again in 2018 to spread the risk and reduce their capital investment.

One cannot help but wonder if these employees will be replaced with Indian counterparts in the coming year?

According to a company spokesperson, “Our partnership with Tech Mahindra is a powerful combination. Their understanding of innovative and customer-centric IT experiences is uniquely complementary to how Rackspace provides a Fanatical Experience. We believe that this will help generate industry-leading technology services and platforms. With 121,000+ associates, working across 90 countries and helping 938 global customers, including Fortune 500 companies, this partnership will allow us to drive far more business impact for our customers.”

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?