Zoom fires its president days after the company cut 1,300 jobs

Greg Tombs joined Zoom in June 2022.

Video conferencing platform Zoom has fired its president, Greg Toombs, according to a BBC report, which cited a regulatory filing by the company. Mr Tomb’s contract was abruptly terminated “without reason”. The outlet said that he would be entitled to severance benefits as per the company’s arrangement, payable upon “termination without cause”.

Mr Toombs, a businessman and a former Google employee, was to take up the position in June 2022. Since then, he has actively participated in earnings calls and managed sales for the company. According to a representative for Zoom, the tech company is not seeking a replacement.

He responded directly to Zoom CEO Eric Yuan, who founded the company in 2011 and quickly expanded during a pandemic-induced boom, according to the outlet. To cope with the declining demand, the company has recently started laying off employees.

The company, which became a household name during COVID-19, announced on February 7 that it was laying off about 15 percent of its workforce, or 1,300 employees. The company’s blog post also said Mr Yuan was taking a 98 per cent pay cut this year and giving up his executive bonus. The CEO said members of his executive leadership team are also forgoing bonuses and taking a 20 percent pay cut.

“Our path was forever changed during the pandemic when the world faced one of its most difficult challenges, and the way we continue to keep people connected as a company continues to grow,” Mr. Yuan said in the company’s blog. I am proud of what I have engaged as.”

According to him, Zoom hired more employees during the pandemic as people used the platform for remote work, court appearances, social gatherings, education purposes as COVID-19 risks prevented them from meeting in person.

He continued, “We worked tirelessly, but we also made mistakes. We didn’t take that long to fully analyze our teams or assess whether we were moving sustainably toward top priorities. Seeing people and businesses continue to rely on Zoom.”

However, Mr. Yuan said the company needs to think about whether it will be able to achieve its long-term goals. “But the uncertainty of the global economy, and its impact on our customers, means we need to take a hard look inward to reposition ourselves so we can weather the economic environment, for our customers deliver and achieve the long-term vision of Zoom.”