Salesforce Layoffs Land at Newly Acquired Own Company

Salesforce reportedly is following up its acquisition of Own Company with layoffs at the data protection and management startup.

Bloomberg reported the Own Company layoffs. Salesforce acquired the startup for $1.9 billion in cash. Salesforce reportedly told Own Company workers that some roles will not be required “post harmonization.”

We couldn't reach Salesforce for comment on the Own Company layoffs.

Launched in 2015 as Ownbackup, Own Company provides a variety of data backup tools and services for its customer base. The startup has seen its valuation rise significantly in the last few years due to increased fears around cyberattacks and ransomware.

Own Company to Get More Customers with Salesforce

In a blog, Own Company confirmed the Salesforce acquisition has closed.

“Joining the Salesforce team marks a new chapter for Own, and we’re excited to continue our mission of helping customers protect, manage and activate their SaaS data,” it said. “Today, Own provides data recovery, archiving, seeding, security and analytics capabilities that help more than 7,000 customers ensure the availability, compliance and security of their mission-critical SaaS data. We also help organizations leverage their historical data to optimize decision-making and fuel AI models. By joining Salesforce, we’ll be able to bring these solutions to even more organizations.”

Related:Recent Tech Layoffs: 2024 Q1 Tracker

Salesforce announced the acquisition in September. It said Own Company’s capabilities will complement its existing offerings, such as Salesforce Backup, Shield and Data Mask. This will allow Salesforce to offer a more comprehensive data protection and loss prevention set of products.

This was the first big acquisition by Salesforce a year after it said it was shifting away from that growth model due to pressure from investors.
We last reported Salesforce layoffs in January, impacting 700 employees, or 1% of its workforce. However, the cloud software giant still had 1,000 job openings, suggesting the layoffs were part of workforce adjustments instead of a significant strategic shift.