Automation Anywhere layoffs 2023: why 10% of staff laid off?
Automation Anywhere is a business developing robotic process automation (RPA) software. It reduced its workforce by 10% in 2020, firing roughly 260 of its 2,600 employees.
The RPA software market has been receiving a lot of hype and claims. This is to automate manual business procedures and technological activities. The business gets a reality check from the cuts. Several RPA software providers strongly emphasize help desk automation and ITSM.
About five months after raising $290 million at a value of $6.8 billion, Automation Anywhere announced layoffs. Salesforce Ventures was the lead investor in that investment round, with Goldman Sachs and SoftBank Investment Advisers contributing extra capital. There is no news about any recent layoffs.
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About the company
The American worldwide software company Automation Anywhere created robotic process automation (RPA) software. The business is based in San Jose, California, and was founded in 2003.
The company’s goal of democratizing Automation is steadfast and singular. They want to improve the world by freeing individuals from mundane, repetitive jobs and giving them more time to think and be creative.
They are a frontrunner in the Gartner Magic Quadrant. The business has 2.8 million bots installed at customers in 90 countries and a network of over 2100 partners. The most prominent companies and governments in almost every sector have business operations. Their AI-powered digital workforce platform optimizes these. This comprises:
- 80% of the top telecom businesses,
- 85% of the top technology corporations,
- 90% of the leading healthcare institutions and
- 85% of the central banks and financial institutions.
Neeti Mehta Shukla is a co-founder of Automation Anywhere. She was presented with the Women’s Entrepreneurship Day Organization’s Technology Pioneer Award at the UN in 2022.
10% of the staff at Automation Anywhere has been laid off
Automation Anywhere Inc. is a financially secure robotic process automation business. It has lost hundreds of employees as a result of COVID-19. This was due to the steep decline in demand for its traditional products.
The business said it was adjusting to the increased demand for cloud services brought on by the coronavirus-caused increase in remote work. According to Axios, up to 10% of Automation Anywhere’s employees may be affected by job layoffs.
The company Automation Anywhere offers software for automating repetitive and common computer processes. Machine learning is used by its platform. This is used to tackle repetitive tasks often handled by human employees. To automatically develop a specific workflow, the software watches how employees perform a particular operation. It includes filling out a form in a back-office accounting system. The business offers both the essential feature set and extra options like analytics that make its technology more user-friendly.
The business offers cloud-based goods. But according to reports, most of its clients have the software installed on their servers at their locations. But because of a sudden shift to remote work, many clients are eager to switch to exclusively cloud-based products.
According to Dayna Fried, senior communications director at Automation Anywhere, the company is reorganizing. This is done in response to the declining demand for its traditional goods.
“Our customers are seeking new skill sets in vital growth industries like cloud and hybrid cloud. So we are spending resources in these directions,” she added. Many of them are turning to our cloud and hybrid cloud choices. This is to control the variability in their businesses and react to upcoming crises more quickly. It is also done to foresee them altogether.
Yet the layoffs are unexpected, given Automation Anywhere’s earlier remarks. It was claimed that the business was profiting from the coronavirus pandemic.
In an interview with Business Insider, Chief Executive Officer Mihir Shukla stated that interest in the company’s products had grown “significantly” since the outbreak began.
The analyst Charles King of Pund-IT Inc. told the press that many businesses will still try to reduce or even stop making some infrastructure investments during a recession. This is particularly true for those that are geared toward potential prospects.
One of business IT’s trendiest areas, RPA, is where Automation Anywhere has an excellent reputation, according to King. But before that technology gains widespread acceptance and significant usage, there is still a long way to go. The business has already cut costs and will continue to do so. Given the extent of the COVID-19 outbreak and the resulting economic uncertainties, it’s the best route for Automation Anywhere.
The company’s growth track has been drastically altered by COVID-19, though. Shukla stated (in 2021), “While we continue to expect to have double-digit growth this year, it will be less than the growth we had last year.”
Even if there is a significant need for technology, healthcare, and the public sector, other industries have been badly affected. This will affect the company. “We predict a return to greater growth in the midterm, though the exact date is uncertain. We have adjusted our operating strategy to account for this, which calls for a decrease in our employees,” the post stated.
Conclusion
Robotics solution suppliers expect another wave of widespread adoption. This is due to concern about a recession and the ensuing layoffs after COVID-led shutdowns forced companies to turn to robotic process automation or RPA. Due to its speed and size, Mihir Shukla, the chief executive officer of Automation Anywhere Inc., thinks it will be crucial for companies of all kinds.
Shukla, in an interview, recently discussed the widespread use of Automation by businesses, the disruptive nature of ChatGPT, and other topics in an ie, rapidly expanding. More than 70% of our new customers are using the cloud automation product we have created. We are thrilled about the company we are establishing. We will wait for the right time to launch our public offering,” she said.
When questioned about the plans for hiring and investing in India, she responded, “We are expanding our teams in India for R&D and to assist enterprises. India is home to more than 50% of our workforce, which speaks for itself. The team developed some of the most innovative things we’ve launched recently.”
