Salesforce’s perception of WFH is muddled by a supposed Slack statement from Benioff

According to a report from CNBC on Friday, Marc Benioff complained about the lack of productivity among newer employees on the company’s Slack channel. He questioned whether working from home since COVID, a lack of training, and a lack of the sharing of tribal knowledge that used to be a part of the office culture were to blame.

According to the article, he said the following in part: “New hires (made in the pandemic years of 2021 and 2022) are particularly experiencing considerably decreased productivity. Does this match the practices of our office? With new hires, are we not creating tribal knowledge in the absence of an office culture?

It’s a strange attitude for a man whose company spent $27 billion for Slack two years ago because it makes it simple for people to communicate no matter where they are.

Even has a name for the business: Digital HQ. It indicates that you can work virtually from anywhere. It’s a catchphrase that they employ almost as frequently as Customer 360, a phrase that every executive appears compelled by contract to repeat numerous times in every interaction with clients or the media.

Salesforce PR provided the following clarification :

“We have a hybrid work environment that empowers leaders and teams to work together with purpose. They can decide when and where they come together to collaborate, innovate, and drive customer success.”

This adds to the broader turbulence we’ve been seeing from the company over the past few weeks and appears to at least partially disagree with Benioff’s inquiries in Slack from last week. Bret Taylor, the co-CEO, left the firm after rumors of animosity between him and Benioff, and the company refused to issue a prediction for the upcoming fiscal year.

The company’s last remaining CEO, who serves as its public face, has now raised the possibility that a model fundamental to its economic strategy may be failing his own organization. At best, the message is unclear.

It’s important to remember that SaaS firms have had a difficult year, and Salesforce is no exception, with a year-over-year stock price decline of just under 50%.