Salesforce CEO took 10-day ‘digital detox’ trip after laying off thousands of employees

Marc Benioff is the co-founder and CEO of Salesforce (Image: Reuters)

Business software maker Salesforce recently announced major job cuts impacting 10% of its workforce – or about 7,000 employees. But even as thousands of laid-off employees from the company and other tech giants turned to social media in search of new opportunities, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff took a 10-day “digital detox” trip.

Benioff told The New York Times that he jetted off to French Polynesia for a 10-day trip in wake of the mass layoffs.

“We are so addicted to our devices (at least I am) it’s very freeing to leave them all behind for a while!” the Salesforce CEO told the publication over a text message.

A digital detox is the term used for a period of time in which a person refrains from using electronic devices like smartphones. The idea behind undergoing a digital detox is generally to reconnect with nature, take a break from social media and de-stress from hectic everyday life.

The layoffs announced at Salesforce are by far the largest in the 23-year history of a San Francisco company founded by former Oracle executive Marc Benioff. Benioff pioneered the method of leasing software services to internet-connected devices – a concept now known as “cloud computing”.

In his email to employees announcing the layoffs, Benioff said he took responsibility for the decisions that led to the job cuts. “The environment remains challenging and our customers are taking a more measured approach to their purchasing decisions,” he wrote. “As our revenue accelerated through the pandemic, we hired too many people leading into this economic downturn we’re now facing, and I take responsibility for that.”

(With inputs from Reuters)