Salsify, the product experience management platform based in Boston’s Financial District, has laid off 60 employees, about 13 percent of its staff, as the novel coronavirus slows economic activity across the startup world.
In a statement emailed to BostInno, a spokesperson said headcount had been reduced to Q4 2019 levels to accommodate "much slower 2020 growth than initially planned." Salsify's headcount now stands at 400.
The sales and marketing departments were most severely impacted, as those departments are designed to support rapid growth that is no longer anticipated.
"This is entirely due to the new economic circumstances ushered in by COVID-19," the spokesperson said. "Salsify planned for high growth in 2020 and was fully executing on that plan up until the COVID-19 outbreak. We're now expecting a recession that will cause much slower growth for the company than we had hired to support."
Salsify is providing severance packages to those who were let go and has extended health insurance coverage beyond the severance periods.
In tandem with the layoffs, the startup's entire executive team took pay cuts. CEO Jason Purcell has cut his annual salary to $1, the spokesperson said.
Salsify joins a cadre of other local startups that have made layoffs as a direct result of the economic uncertainty caused by the coronavirus. Over the last few weeks, DataRobot, Catalant Technologies, Bevi, Alchemista, Zipcar, Lola.com and Wanderu have all significantly reduced their workforces.
As of October, Salsify had raised nearly $100 million, having most recently closed a $43 million Series D round in August 2018. The startup had also recently moved into a new office on Federal Street and opened new locations in Portugal and Austin, Texas.
"Salsify remains a fundamentally healthy business with an optimistic outlook," the spokesperson said. "This decision was made to ensure that we are set up to fulfill that outlook while navigating through what could be a long period of economic uncertainty."
