Secureworks Layoffs Hit 9% of Workforce with Shift to Smaller Team

Secureworks has confirmed layoffs impacting 9% of its workforce — more  than 200 employees. The company is shifting to a “smaller, more focused team.”

Secureworks detailed the layoffs in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing. Also, company CEO Wendy Thomas sent a letter to employees detailing the changes.

Secureworks joins the more than 20 companies doing business in the channel that have cut workers since the start of the year.

In addition to the layoffs, Paul Parrish, Secureworks’ CFO, and Barry Hensley, chief threat intel officer, are retiring. Furthermore, the company named chief product officer Steve Fulton president of customer success.

‘Turning Point’ in Secureworks’ Business Transformation

Secureworks’ Wendy Thomas

“This year marks a turning point in Secureworks’ business transformation,” Thomas said. “On Friday, we reached the end-of-life of Counter Threat Platform (CTP) for most of our customers, and we begin fiscal 2024 with our core business on [cloud-native enterprise security platform] Taegis together with strategic consulting to create better security outcomes for our customers. Since we began this journey over five years ago, we’ve evolved how we work and organize our teams to ensure our customers’ success globally. Now, we are making additional changes to position our business for long-term success.”

With the end-of-life of CTP outside of Japan and its increasing success with Taegis, Secureworks is evolving with its partners and customers in support of their security needs, she said.

“This demands an agile footing, and a smaller, more focused team,” Thomas said. “We are forging a structure that emphasizes simplicity and agility, requiring fewer roles and different skill sets. This is also happening in a time when some world economies are in a period of uncertainty. And our path to profitability will be achieved in part by reducing our spending.”

Different Organization Required

The businesses Secureworks exited required a different organization, Thomas said.

“And we assessed the team structure, roles and capabilities best aligned to support our go-forward business,” she said. “The roles we’re reducing reflect the outcome of that review.”

The final working day for departing employees will vary by role and country, said Thomas. But the last day for many will be Feb. 10.

Secureworks’ Steve Fulton

In his new role, Fulton will lead an organization comprised of software development, threat detection, product management, user design, IT, global project management, and the company’s recently combined customer success and experience teams.

“The intent is to form even closer ties with our customers and partners, to better secure our customers while growing our business with them,” Thomas said.

For the third quarter of its fiscal 2023, Secureworks reported overall revenue of $110.9 million, down from $133.7 million for the year-ago quarter. It reported a $28.1 million net loss for the quarter compared to a $13 million loss for the year-ago quarter.