Nasdaq-listed Freshworks sheds 90 jobs

Freshworks has laid off 90 employees or nearly 2% of its total global headcount, a spokesperson for the India-based SaaS firm told Tech in Asia.

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Freshworks stressed that it did not implement a company-wide layoff. “We shifted some existing roles in product, marketing, and sales to support more critical initiatives and reduced the need for a small number of others – less than 2% of our global workforce,” the spokesperson said.

The news was first reported by YourStory.

To help affected employees, Freshworks is offering severance packages and outplacement opportunities.

The company, which had 5,500 staff across its markets prior to the job cuts, was the first Indian software firm to go public on US-based Nasdaq. Freshworks had raised US$1 billion in the 2021 listing.

Originally known as Freshdesk, it was established in 2010 by former Zoho executives Girish Mathrubootham and Shan Krishnasamy. The company offers marketing and sales as well as support and IT solutions in over 13 countries globally.

In 2020, SaaS titan Zoho filed a lawsuit against Freshworks for allegedly stealing trade secrets and building a business out of them. The case was settled in December 2021.

See also: Tracking layoffs across Asia’s startup ecosystem (Updated)