GoDaddy to lay off 8% of its workforce, or about 530 employees amid global economic slowdown

It’s another tough day in the corporate world as GoDaddy announces layoffs affecting 530 employees, citing a decline in customer demand amidst the economic slowdown.

In an email addressed to GoDaddy staff today, CEO Aman Bhutani revealed the company’s plans to downsize its global workforce by approximately 8%, which translates to about 530 positions out of its 6,611-strong global team. Bhutani assured that affected employees would soon receive a meeting invitation from their respective leaders to discuss the specifics of their transition, adhering to local employment protocols.

Bhutani emphasized that impacted team members would be offered a transition package along with extended healthcare benefits. Moreover, employees based in the US who are laid off will receive an additional 12 weeks of paid administrative leave, ensuring continued coverage of core benefits during this period.

“Over the next couple of days, we will focus our time and attention on thanking and saying goodbye to those leaving GoDaddy. We will offer each of them a transition package, in line with local laws and customs. In the U.S., this will include 12 weeks of paid administrative leave with continued core benefits coverage. In addition, departing team members will be eligible for two additional weeks of severance per year worked (with a minimum of four weeks), extended healthcare benefits, as well as outplacement and immigration support to help with their transition.”

The recent layoff announcement adds to a string of job cuts across the tech sector. Just yesterday, Zoom revealed plans to lay off approximately 15% of its workforce, equating to roughly 1,300 employees. This decision came as the company’s stock plummeted from its peak of $559 to $85.

Preceding this, Dell announced its intention to lay off 6,650 workers. Earlier in January, Google disclosed plans to cut over 12,000 jobs, while Microsoft and Salesforce also joined the ranks, with plans to reduce their workforce by 10,000 and 7,000 employees, respectively.

With less than two months into 2023, more than 321 tech companies have laid off 97,996 tech workers, according to Layoffs.FYI, a site that has been tracking all tech layoffs using data compiled from public reports.

Below is the memo Bhutani sent to all the employees today.

Team,

Today, we are announcing a plan to reduce the size of our global team by about 8%. This will come as difficult news for many valued and respected GoDaddy team members.

To start, I want to express my gratitude to those who will be leaving. You played an important part in our journey and helped entrepreneurs around the world achieve their dreams and build successful microbusinesses. Every day, you made a difference for customers and your teammates. While our paths diverge today, I wish you well and hope our paths cross again.

Within the next hour, impacted team members will receive a meeting invite from their leadership to learn the details of their transition, aligned with local employment processes. These meetings will mostly happen today, with some taking place tomorrow morning locally. Most impacted roles are in the U.S., affecting multiple levels in the company and every division.

The planned impacts also include ongoing work to more deeply integrate three of our brands – Media Temple, Main Street Hub and 123 Reg – into GoDaddy.

Media Temple customers and team members are already aware of the transition to GoDaddy infrastructure as we work to sunset the brand, and team members will receive a meeting invite today to explain the path forward for them.

Main Street Hub customers and team members are aware of the continuing transition of Main Street Hub customers to GoDaddy products. As we continue the migration, we will share updates with team members by March 1, 2023.

123 Reg will continue as a customer-facing brand and take full advantage of what GoDaddy offers in terms of technology and capabilities. Some roles in 123 Reg may not be required longer-term and we will notify any impacted team members by March 1, 2023.

During the last year, we worked hard to deliver value for our customers and results for GoDaddy. Despite increasingly challenging macroeconomic conditions, we made progress on our 2022 strategic initiatives and continued our efforts to manage costs effectively. The discipline we embraced was important but, unfortunately, it was not sufficient to avoid the impacts of slower growth in a prolonged, uncertain macroeconomic environment.

Over the next couple of days, we will focus our time and attention on thanking and saying goodbye to those leaving GoDaddy. We will offer each of them a transition package, in line with local laws and customs. In the U.S., this will include 12 weeks of paid administrative leave with continued core benefits coverage. In addition, departing team members will be eligible for two additional weeks of severance per year worked (with a minimum of four weeks), extended healthcare benefits, as well as outplacement and immigration support to help with their transition.

In our Town Hall tomorrow, we will share more context on these changes. In the coming weeks, we will come together to talk about our 2023 strategic initiatives and our path forward to continue to empower entrepreneurs everywhere.

Aman