Months after laying off 950 employees, Atlanta data privacy and security company OneTrust LLC is looking to grow its staff again.
As of Nov. 14, the company’s website listed 53 job openings across departments, including customer experience, finance, human resources, sales and engineering. It had 14 open positions in Atlanta, plus 11 in Madrid; three in Newark, New Jersey; three in London; three in Munich; two in Austin, Texas; two in Paris; and one in San Francisco.
In June, the company announced it was reducing a quarter of its workforce, citing a shift in the market toward a “more balanced approach between growth and profitability”. The company had over 3,000 employees globally with 1,000 based in Atlanta before this year’s layoffs, according to previous Atlanta Business Chronicle reporting.
OneTrust did not respond to several emails and phone calls from the Chronicle.
Possible reasons for hiring
The job openings could come as a result of unexpected business growth following recent acquisitions, said Steven Ostrowski, senior director of corporate communications at the Computing Technology Industry Association. The startup could also be hiring workers in growing business units, while making cuts to legacy or slower growing units.
The hiring could also be in response to the “Great Resignation,” the ongoing trend during the Covid-19 pandemic where employees leave work in favor of more flexible opportunities, said David Cummings, CEO of Atlanta Ventures, in an email. OneTrust could be backfilling roles where workers have voluntarily left, he said.
It might also be a sign of general growth. Cybersecurity and data companies that serve enterprise customers aren’t as affected by macroeconomic conditions, Ostrowski said, because large companies don’t tend to cut spending on those areas.
A changing market
OneTrust is one of multiple fast-growing Atlanta companies that recently let go of workers due to market conditions.
Tech investors have focused more on profitability rather than growth, which has lowered company valuations as much as 70%. Companies don’t tend to seek outside capital if their valuations decrease from when they previously raised money. To raise a valuation, a business can cut costs with staff reductions.
Digital experience startup FullStory laid off around 12% of its staff in September, a year after surpassing a $1 billion valuation. In May, marketing software firm Terminus made layoffs a year after raising $90 million. Restaurant technology startup Sunday and tech stack management startup Sonar Software also made layoffs this year.
Nationally, news of more mass tech layoffs continued Monday, with The New York Times reporting Amazon.com Inc. plans to cut approximately 10,000 people in corporate and technology roles. That would follow the thousands of jobs slashed over the last few months from Twitter Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., Lyft Inc., Stripe Inc. and Snap Inc.
About the OneTrust
Founded in 2016, OneTrust helps businesses protect client data, comply with privacy guidelines, evaluate risks and manage internal and external ethics and compliance. It is dual headquartered in London, with 10 other offices around the world.
Last year, the company had a valuation of $5 billion, raised $210 million in capital and made two acquisitions. It was the No. 4 fastest-growing company in Atlanta, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Pacesetter Awards.
OneTrust’s investors include Silicon Valley's TCV, global technology firm Coatue Management LLC and New York’s Insight Partners. It leads the privacy software market with 29.7% market share, according to International Data Corporation.
