Benevity cuts 14 per cent of workforce citing ‘macroeconomic conditions’

One of Calgary’s tech “unicorns” is following companies like Meta, Amazon and Microsoft and have laid off a portion of their workforce.

On Wednesday, Benevity CEO Kelly Schmitt confirmed the corporate giving software company was laying off 14 per cent of their employees.

“In the face of surging demand over the past many years, we significantly increased the size of our team and grew our operating costs quickly,” she said in a statement. “In the last nine months, as macroeconomic conditions changed – including increases in inflation, interest rates and the cost of capital – demand in some segments slowed and the reality is that today we are overbuilt for current market conditions.”

Schmitt said it was a “difficult decision” to lay off 137 people.

“Taking the steps now to become a more profitable business will better position us to fulfill our mission and support our clients and nonprofits to have a positive impact on the world.”

Benevity became a tech “unicorn” – the term for tech companies with valuations over $1 billion – when Europe-based private equity firm Hg purchased a controlling share in December 2020.

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Earlier this month, Calgary-based Quantum Integrity Software (QI Software) – maker of the Dead Matter video game – announced it laid off some of its employees.

“While this was an extremely difficult decision, it was necessary. To be brutally honest, it came down to keeping our budget in good terms,” the company tweeted on Jan. 3.

QI Software’s LinkedIn profile suggests it has 15 employees.

Earlier Wednesday, Microsoft said it would eliminate 10,000 jobs and take a US$1.2 billion charge to earnings. And Reuters confirmed a memo from Amazon saying 18,000 employees in Canada, the United States and Costa Rica were going to be laid off.

Those layoffs are the latest in the U.S. technology sector, with companies cutting their bloated workforce and slashing costs to reverse pandemic-era excesses and prepare for a worsening global economy.

–with files from Reuters