The Trial Balance is CFO’s weekly preview of stories, stats and events to help you prepare.
Part 1: August, die she must
In the context of recent global market dips and doubt around AI, this month’s batch of layoffs so far doesn’t indicate a promising job market for the remainder of the year.
Recent layoffs, especially by notably large organizations, come with interesting reasoning. As finance leaders navigate multiple external and economic factors to end the year, taking note of these organizations and their reasons may be worthwhile.
Dell: To capitalize on their AI investments and reduce its global workforce to less than 100,000, international computer manufacturer Dell laid off thousands of employees on its sales team. The exact number of their most recent round of layoffs is unspecified, but sales executives told their teams the company is “getting leaner,” according to a leaked internal memo. The company is likely still between 10,000 and 20,000 cuts away from meeting its workforce figure goal.
Cisco: After recently laying off 4,000 employees earlier this year, Reuters reported the global hardware and software developer Cisco’s plan to do another round of layoffs. The report speculates the number to be around 4,000, the same as last time. Official announcements of the cuts are expected on their August 14 earnings call.
Stellantis: Automaker Stellantis is set to cut up to 2,450 jobs in early October. The move comes as the automaker prepares to halt production of the RAM 1500 Classic later this year. With the plant’s workforce of around 3,900 in the balance, the layoffs are directly linked to this shift, as Stellantis plans to shift production to the Ram 1500 Tradesman.
LegalZoom: After its most recent earnings call, the online legal services provider announced plans to cut its global workforce by 15% and pause future hiring to save $25 million.
Eventbrite: Despite a bounce-back of corporate events post-pandemic, online ticket provider Eventbrite announced its second round of layoffs in 2024, cutting another 8% of its workforce. So far this year, the company has cut nearly a fifth of its staff.
— Adam Zaki
Part 2: This week
Here’s a list of important market events slated for the week ahead.
Tuesday, August 13
- NFIB optimism index, July
- Producer price index, July
- Core PPI, July
- PPI, YoY
- Core PPI, YoY
Wednesday, August 14
- Consumer price index, July
- Consumer price index, YoY
- Core CPI, July
- Core CPI, YoY
Thursday, August 15
- Initial jobless claims, week ending Aug. 10
- U.S. retail sales, July
- Import price index, July
- Industrial production, July
Friday, August 16
- Consumer sentiment, Aug. preliminary
- Home builder confidence index, July
Part 3: CFO Alliance debrief, Go Daddy CFO Q&A and CFO podcasts
This week we debrief findings of the CFO Alliance’s recent meeting with finance chiefs, including takes from founder Nick Araco Jr. We also share an opinion piece from Armanino’s Dean Quiambao, a Q&A with GoDaddy CFO Mark McCaffery and a review of the latest CFO podcast appearances.
