Five9 to cut 7% of workforce with focus on improving profitability

Five9 announced a reduction in force plan as part of the company’s “broader efforts to drive balanced, profitable growth, further supporting our positive, long-term outlook and focus on increasing shareholder value.” The plan is expected to reduce the company’s global full-time employees by approximately 7%. The company estimates the aggregate costs associated with the plan to be $12M to $15M. Five9 expects to incur these expenses primarily in the third and fourth quarters of 2024. The actions associated with the plan are expected to be substantially complete by the end of 2024. In addition, the projected cost savings associated with the plan were incorporated into the Q3 and 2024 guidance the company issued on August 8. The $12M to $15M aggregate costs associated with the plan were not included in the Q3 and 2024 GAAP earnings guidance issued on August 8. In an email to employees, Five9 CEO Mike Burkland said, “As you know, we recently announced in our earnings call that we reduced our revenue guidance for 2024 and will focus on improving profitability through managing expenses. Sadly, we have made the very difficult decision to say painful goodbyes to some of our team members, which affects approximately 7% of our global full-time employees…As we thoughtfully made these decisions with care, we were guided by our Five9 values of being respectful, honest, and transparent. As such, we will offer severance to all employees displaced by these changes, as well as job transition assistance.”