Zoom’s Head of Global Education expresses ‘shock’ at being laid off

Zoom Video Communications said in blog post it will lay off about 1,300 jobs

Zoom’s Head of Global Education has been included in mass layoffs that will affect about 15 percent of its workforce. Christy Flis wrote of her “utter disbelief and shock” at losing her job in a LinkedIn post, saying that she spent several years building Zoom’s education business.

“It is with utter disbelief and shock that I was included in today's Zoom's layoffs,” wrote Flis, who would have completed eight years working at Zoom this month.

“After my continual year over year success in building our education business, building rapport and critical capabilities that allowed our education business and overall business to scale, leading an incredible team for Women at Zoom… setting the groundwork for our International business, and for all of the work cross-functionally internally and externally, for current growth in revenue, and for being a loyal and all-time carrier of our culture of care. It does not make any sense...and yet here we are,” she wrote.

Flis, who also served as Head of Women at Zoom, said she was in tears while writing the post. She added that she was actively looking for new opportunities even as she hoped it would be a “temporary shift” and not a permanent end to her time at Zoom.

“Hoping this is not goodbye but only a temporary shift. And know I would come back in a heartbeat as things change to make that a possibility - the Zoom platform and engineering stands beyond,” wrote Flis.

Zoom Video Communications said on Tuesday it would cut 15% of its workforce, or about 1,300 jobs, and trim base pay for its executive leadership as pandemic-fueled demand for the company's video conferencing services slows.

In a company-wide email, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan said he was accountable for the mistakes that led to the layoffs and would reduce his salary by 98% for the coming fiscal year, as well as forego his corporate bonus.

(With inputs from Reuters)