VMware has confirmed to CRN that a “limited number” of employees are being laid off this week as part of the virtualization star’s annual “workforce rebalancing.”
“This is a part of regular workforce rebalancing that ensures resources across VMware’s global businesses and geographies are aligned with strategic objectives and customer needs,” said VMware in a statement to CRN. “We have an active employee support program to ensure, where possible, impacted employees will be redeployed to open roles within VMware.”
VMware declined to disclose the specific number or percentage of VMware employees being impacted.
Sources told CRN the layoffs included several hundred employees on a global basis. VMware employs roughly 24,000 people although the company has gone on an acquisition tear over the past 12 months.
[Related: VMware’s vRealize $236 Patent Infringement Loss: 5 Things To Know]
VMware told CRN that even with the layoffs this week, the company’s head count continues to grow.
“There are significantly more openings than the number of positions impacted this month. There are currently over 1,250 openings listed on VMware.com’s career page,” said VMware. “We continue to recruit in areas of strategic importance for the company.”
Many VMware employees who were let go this week took to social media.
A new chapter of my life starts. I actually doesn't feel that bad - there are so many great opportunities out there, and so many great people to collaborate with. #VMware #RIF
— Frank Wegner (@ftwegner) January 29, 2020
Unfortunately I was laid off from VMware as part of the reorg that happened yesterday. If anyone knows of any open roles around Solutions Engineering or Tech Marketing I would appreciate the help in the job search! #vmware #vexpert #vsan
— Tony Reeves (@importcarguy) January 29, 2020
The layoffs comes on the heels of VMware’s recent acquisition of Pivotal Software for $2.7 billion and Nyansa for an undisclosed amount.
Over the past 12 months, VMware has acquired a total of 10 companies, making it one of its busiest M&A spans.
VMware has spent billions on acquisitions that include Aetherpal to boost VMware’s Workspace ONE; application and AI-focused BitFusion and Uhana; application security startup Intrinsic; and application deployment specialist Bitnami. One pair of important acquisitions on the networking front include Veriflow, which applies continuous verification to networks to prevent outages and vulnerabilities, and multi-cloud application delivery startup Avi Networks.
VMware also made a giant splash in the cybersecurity market last year with the $2.6 billion blockbuster acquisition of endpoint security leader Carbon Black.
In terms of the recent layoffs, VMware told CRN that it is “rebalancing some areas” of business to drive growth.
“We are rebalancing some areas of our business to align to our top growth priorities, which resulted in some positions being eliminated. This is not uncommon in the fast-changing technology industry,” said VMware. “For employees that were impacted, we are making every effort to find them new positions either at VMware or externally. We are committed to working together with impacted employees to ease the transition. This includes providing placement services and dedicated recruiters.”
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