Salesforce Layoffs: 4000 Jobs Cut as CEO Marc Benioff Bets on AI Agents

Salesforce has laid off 4,000 employees in its customer support division, a move CEO Marc Benioff attributes to the increasing efficiency of artificial intelligence (AI). The cloud-based software giant has reduced its support staff from 9,000 to 5,000, a decline of almost 45%. 

This round of layoffs makes up roughly 5% of the company’s total workforce, which stood at more than 76,000 employees in January 2025. Salesforce’s decision comes as AI agents now handle several customer service tasks, a dramatic shift from just a year ago when AI involvement was nonexistent. 

A Metrigy AI for Business Success 2024-25 global research, found that more than half (55.7%) of companies have significantly reduced human staff hiring thanks to AI. In this blog, let’s breakdown Salesforce Layoffs, CEO Marc Benioff’s U-Turn on AI-driven job cuts, and more.

The Role of AI in Salesforce Layoffs

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has been vocal about the transformative power of AI within the company, describing the last eight months as some of the most exciting in his career, according to an ET report. He explained that the implementation of "agentic AI" has not only streamlined customer support but also enabled Salesforce to tackle a massive backlog of over 100 million uncalled sales leads that had accumulated over 26 years.

Salesforce utilizes an "omnichannel supervisor" system that facilitates collaboration between human and AI agents, allowing for a seamless handoff when a situation requires human intervention. Salesforce layoffs suggest a rapid shift in strategy, highlighting the accelerating pace of AI adoption and its impact on the workforce. 

Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff’s U-Turn on AI

The recent layoffs stand in stark contrast to earlier statements from Marc Benioff.  Just two months prior, the Salesforce CEO had downplayed the idea that AI would lead to mass unemployment, emphasizing that AI would augment rather than replace workers. He had argued that the accuracy limitations of AI, which he pegged at around 90%, necessitated a "human in the loop." 

However, the recent 4,000 job cuts suggest a rapid acceleration in the capabilities and implementation of AI, forcing a change in the company's stance on AI layoffs. While the company is cutting jobs in some areas, it is also hiring sales staff to help customers adopt AI technology.

A Closer Look at the Tech Layoffs in 2025

The Salesforce layoffs are part of a broader trend of tech layoffs in 2025, with many companies restructuring their workforces in response to the rise of AI. The tech industry is undergoing a fundamental reshaping, with a clear pivot from labor-intensive operations to capital-heavy AI infrastructure.

Here's a look at other major tech companies that have also seen layoffs, with AI and automation often cited as contributing factors:

Source: Company Statements, News Reports

AI-Powered World: Job Destruction or Just a Reshuffle?

The story of AI in the workplace is not just about jobs disappearing. It is about how work itself is changing. Yes, roles heavy on routine and repetition are being automated, but new ones are springing up in areas that need fresh skills. 

The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 puts numbers to this shift: AI could displace 92 million jobs by 2030, but also create around 170 million. That’s not mass destruction, that’s a major reshuffle. Many of these new roles sit in fields like data science, machine learning, and AI research.

The real challenge is adaptation. The same report warns that nearly 40% of today’s skills will be outdated within the next five years. Reskilling and upskilling are no longer optional, they are urgent.

As AI takes over the routine, human strengths such as critical thinking, complex problem-solving, and technological literacy will become even more valuable. The future of work is not humans against machines but humans working with machines, turning disruption into opportunity.

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