Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff Pledges ‘No Significant Layoffs’ Amid Coronavirus Crisis

In a tweet, the Salesforce founder, chairman and CEO pledges no “significant layoffs” for the next 90 days. That includes hourly employees, who will continue to receive wages while staying at home

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said Wednesday the cloud software giant will not conduct any significant layoffs for the next 90 days as the coronavirus pandemic threatens devastating job losses and economic disruptions.

That decree doesn’t only apply to salaried employees—hourly workers around the world will also continue to receive pay, even as the Salesforce facilities they staff are closed to impose social distancing measures.

Benioff hopes his pledge will serve as an example to his employees.

“We encourage our Ohana to pay their own personal hourly workers like housekeepers & dog walkers,” he tweeted, using the Hawaiian word for ‘family’ that is a central element of Salesforce’s workplace culture.

Salesforce is pledging to its workforce Ohana not to conduct any significant lay offs over the next 90 days. We will continue to pay our hourly workers while our offices are closed. We encourage our Ohana to pay their own personal hourly workers like housekeepers & dog walkers.

— Marc Benioff (@Benioff) March 25, 2020

[Related: 6 Ways The Tech Industry Is Confronting The Coronavirus Pandemic]

Salesforce has already donated $1 million to UCSF’s COVID-19 Respond Fund and $500 thousand to the CDC Foundation’s Emergency Response Fund, while matching employee donations to other aid organizations, Benioff previously announced.

Like most major tech vendors, the crisis has taken its toll on Salesforce’s market valuation.

Salesforce stock was trading at an all-time high above $193 per share on Feb. 20, just before the full economic impact of what would become a global pandemic was appreciated by investors. It plummeted to about $124 by mid-March but has since recovered to above $147 a share.