Zscaler descales 177 employees

Cybersecurity firm Zscaler is to lay off three per cent of its workforce, or about 177 employees.

Cloudy Zscaler doubled the size of its team to approximately 5,900 employees as it tried to expand during the good times.

Zscaler CFO Remo Canessa said it has undertakenĀ a “targeted optimisation initiative to address inefficiencies in certain job functions and projects,” leading to the three per cent workforce reduction,.

The disclosure came as the company reported results for the second quarter of its fiscal 2023, ended 31 January. Zscaler’s stock price fell 11.8 per cent in after-hours trading Thursday, to $118.32 per share.

Zscaler founder and CEO Jay Chaudhry said: “We took a fresh look at our organisation and found opportunities to streamline operations and to align people, roles and projects to our strategic priorities.”

“As a result of the review, we initiated our targeted cost optimisation plan to drive additional operational efficiency that best positions us to deliver profitable growth,” Chaudhry said.

Canessa added that the group will “continue to hire the best candidates in high-priority areas.”

For Zscaler’s fiscal Q2, revenue jumped 52 per cent year on year to $387.6 million, slightly above the Wall Street analyst consensus estimate. Non-GAAP net income was 37 cents per share, beating analyst estimates by eight cents per share.