Zenefits, which just earlier this week announced Jay Fulcher as its new CEO, is laying off 45% of its workforce, BuzzFeed reported earlier today. That means Zenefits will let go about 430 people — 250 from its San Francisco-based headquarters and 150 from its office in Tempe, Arizona, according to the internal memo obtained by BuzzFeed.
Zenefits has confirmed the layoffs to TechCrunch, saying that they have “been planned for some time and is the result of a lot of hard work over the past year to improve our products and service and make the operations of the company more efficient,” a Zenefits spokesperson told TechCrunch.
Between operating under now three different CEOs, getting fined $7 million for multiple license violations in California and being ordered to stop offering its insurance software in Washington State, the story of Zenefits over the last 12 months has been one of tumult. Oh, and this is the third round of layoffs since February 2016.
“As a result, we have a dramatically improved cost structure, the ability to deliver a market leading product roadmap that exceeds customer expectations, and enough cash to fund our operations for years to come,” the spokesperson said.
Ultimately, Zenefits said that there were a few “important factors” that went into the decision to make layoffs. For one, Zenefits is going to centralize its operations group in Arizona. It’s also going to try to grow its product and engineering teams in Vancouver and Bangalore, according to the spokesperson.
“Finally, our market (small and medium sized businesses) is very cost sensitive and requires the lowest cost, highest value solution possible,” the spokesperson said. “These changes are going to allow us to continue to build and deliver the industry’s best all in one HR platform and service.”