GoDaddy sacks hundreds despite business growth

San Francisco: With the Covid-19 restrictions forcing many businesses to go digital, domain hosting and web hosting giant GoDaddy has naturally witnessed strong demand in its overall business. That, however, did not stop it from laying off hundreds of people in the US.

Most of the employees who have been asked to depart are working in the company’s social media sales team in Austin, Texas.

In a statement on June 24, the company said it saw soft customer demand for certain higher-priced, do-it-for-you services such as GoDaddy Social, and reduced effectiveness of outbound calling to customers.

GoDaddy’s decision to implement a restructuring, affecting approximately 814 employees, only demonstrates that the Covid-19 challenges are hardly sparing anyone – not even those who have seen growth in their overall business.

However, over 40 per cent of these 814 employees affected by the restructuring are being offered alternate roles in the company.

“Our facilities in Austin carry unique costs and complexities, so we will be closing both Austin locations,” GoDaddy CEO Aman Bhutani said in a letter to employees as he announced that 331 members of GoDaddy Social sales team in Austin will be departing the company.

Bhutani, however, stressed that the “core of the GoDaddy business continues to be strong and we will look to hire team members back as we continue to grow.”

The company’s management now expects second quarter revenue to exceed previously issued guidance of $790 million by approximately one per cent.