Talkdesk conducts third round of layoffs in less than 14 months

Talkdesk, a company once valued at $10 billion that sells software to help large corporations improve customer service, has laid off more employees — the third round of cuts in less than 14 months.

A Talkdesk spokesperson confirmed Tuesday via email that it had made “limited headcount reductions in a few areas.” She declined to share how many people were affected by the latest round of cuts.

The 12-year-old San Francisco-based company uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve customer service for midmarket and enterprise businesses. At the time of its last raise, it counted more than 1,800 companies as customers, including IBM, Acxiom, Trivago and Fujitsu.

The company has made several cuts in the past 14 months in an effort to cut costs on lower revenue projections, according to one source who spoke on condition of anonymity. Talkdesk reportedly laid off staff in February of this year and in August 2022, when it had about 2,100 employees. It’s unclear as to how many workers remain.

CEO Tiago Paiva said in an emailed statement that the limited cuts would not negatively affect the company.

“Investments and advancements we’ve made in AI position us at the forefront of CX innovation, enabling a leaner, more agile global organization,” Paiva said. “The limited headcount reductions we made in a few areas will not negatively impact our speed of innovation. We will continue to invest in and hire in strategic areas that allow us to innovate faster and more efficiently, at scale. As one example, we are evolving our location strategy. With our recent FedRAMP In Process designation, and success in healthcare and regulated industries, we are increasing R&D investments in the U.S. Our business remains strong, and we have a tremendous market opportunity ahead of us.”