Splunk Layoffs Displacing Roughly 500 Workers Pre-Cisco Acquisition

Splunk layoffs will impact around 500 of the company's employees ahead of its acquisition by Cisco. Most of the cuts will take place in California.

CEO Gary Steele detailed the Splunk layoffs in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing and letter to employees. He specifically said the layoffs aren't due to the acquisition. They will take place between mid-December and early January.

Cisco’s $28 billion Splunk acquisition should close by the third quarter of 2024. Cisco said Splunk’s security capabilities complement its existing portfolio, and together will provide “leading security coverage from devices to applications, to clouds.”

Splunk's Gary Steele

"The changes we are announcing are not a result of our agreement with Cisco; they are the continuation of the important initiatives we’ve undertaken across Splunk for more than a year to align our resources and operating structure to deliver ongoing and incremental value for our customers," Steele said.

Splunk Layoffs Amid 'Unpredictable' Macro Environment

Splunk is based in San Francisco. The Splunk layoffs will impact 7% of the company's workforce, which totaled about 8,000 in January.

"As we work to finish fiscal year 2024 and look ahead, we are taking this proactive and strategic step that further aligns our workforce to better enable Splunkers to meet the needs of our customers and partners, while remaining sustainable and cost effective," Steele said. "We’ve made significant progress since the beginning of fiscal year 2023, delivering on our strategy to help organizations worldwide become more resilient, while also improving our operating model to drive long-term durable growth together with increasing profitability. That said, the overall market has retracted and we expect the macro environment will continue to be unpredictable for the foreseeable future. As we look ahead, it is important that we continue to evolve our organizational design to empower Splunkers worldwide to deliver results efficiently and more sustainably, all the while improving our ability to navigate ongoing market uncertainty."

The Splunk layoffs will impact Splunk employees globally, he said.

"As CEO, one of my commitments to all of you is to be as open and transparent as I can about what we’re doing and why," Steele said. "While difficult because of the impacts on our friends and colleagues, [the] changes are an important step in our journey. As we transform in the months and years to come, we will continue to build on everything that has made Splunk an industry leader, a trusted strategic partner and a great place to work with a unique and valued culture."