Salesforce Joins Seattle Layoffs Wave With 59 Job Cuts

Seattle's tech industry is experiencing another rough week as Salesforce joins the growing list of companies cutting jobs. The company has laid off 59 employees from its Fremont and downtown Bellevue offices, according to a state regulatory filing on Wednesday.

The layoffs are effective immediately, with termination scheduled for October 5, two months after the notification date on Wednesday. This is not a surprise, as tech companies traditionally pay severance through these two months before layoffs take effect.

Salesforce acquired data visualization firm Tableau in 2019 for $15.7 billion and significantly expanded its presence in Seattle. However, since 2023, the company has been scaling back its operations in the area. It gave up an office building in Kirkland Urban office campus last year and put the former Tableau headquarters near Gas Works Park on the market.

Despite this, Salesforce has signaled that it doesn't plan to abandon the Seattle area and recently renewed its lease in the Data 1 building in Fremont earlier this year. The company's leadership shuffle, which saw longtime executive Ryan Aytay leave in February, may have contributed to the layoffs.