Salesforce—Salesforce cut approximately 4,000 support roles in 2025, citing AI agents handling half of customer interactions
In September 2025, CEO Marc Benioff reduced Salesforce's support workforce from 9,000 to approximately 5,000 employees, stating he 'needed less heads.' Salesforce reported that AI agents now handle half of all customer interactions and have reduced support costs by 17% since early 2025. This came just three weeks after Benioff publicly insisted that Salesforce's AI would not lead to mass layoffs, drawing criticism for the contradiction.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Responsible Automation | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Worker Rights | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.643 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.57)
Evidence (1 signal)
Salesforce cut 4,000 support roles in 2025 as AI handles half of customer interactions
In September 2025, Benioff reduced Salesforce's support workforce from 9,000 to approximately 5,000 employees, stating he 'needed less heads.' AI agents reportedly handle half of all customer interactions and reduced support costs by 17%. This came three weeks after Benioff publicly stated Salesforce AI would not lead to mass layoffs.