Marc Benioff tells Salesforce workers that new employees are ‘facing lower productivity’

Salesforce Co-CEO Marc Benioff told employees in a Slack message Friday that the company’s newest hires weren’t productive enough, and he asked for feedback on why that was.

“Aren’t we building tribal knowledge with new hires without an office culture?” he asked in a message reviewed by CNBC. He said he was “asking for a friend,” a phrase people often use on the Internet to humorously reveal their curiosity about a topic. The message included an emoticon showing a smiley face with a halo hanging over it, suggesting innocence.

Benioff’s company-wide message addresses what has become a hot-button issue in Silicon Valley. Since the arrival of Covid sent workers home almost three years ago, companies have been trying to reimagine a future workplace that allows for more employee flexibility than in the past. Some businesses have allowed employees to work from anywhere permanently.

Salesforce, San Francisco’s largest private employer, was among the first tech companies to tell its workforce they shouldn’t return. Last year, Salesforce acquired the communications app Slack, and Benioff said people can work very efficiently from their homes. Salesforce said it will let teams decide how long they’ll be in the office.

But Benioff can recognize some of the challenges that remote work presents. On Friday, he highlighted an issue he said affects employees who joined Salesforce this year and last year. Salesforce’s headcount grew 32% last year, and hundreds of jobs were cut last month.

A Salesforce spokesperson declined to comment on Benioff’s announcement, but sent a statement about company policy.

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

Benioff is grappling with slowing revenue growth as the economy weakens and a thinning of the upper ranks at Salesforce. Last month, the company said Brett Taylor would step down as co-CEO in January. He had just been promoted to share the top job with Benioff a year earlier. And days later, Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield announced his departure.

Here’s the full text of Benioff’s Slack post:

The announcement drew mixed comments.

Some reacted with emojis that read “THIS” next to an up arrow. Others chose emoticons that read “WFH” or “citation needed.” Dozens went with a standard emoji known as the thinking face.

Benioff chimed in with the answers again.

“Asking hard questions to employees (both customers and each other) for their answers is one of the most effective ways to get answers as a leader today,” he writes. “That’s why we bought Slack, because there’s no better way to ask questions and get answers quickly. We already have almost 500 answers to these questions today — amazing and incredibly helpful!”

He was unhappy that his message got to the press and ended up on Twitter.

“I hope you’ll agree, it’s also disappointing that our private conversations here were almost immediately given to the public media,” he wrote. “I wonder how to reinforce that Trust is the greatest value of our company?” How to demonstrate the power of Trust and Transparency without immediate public disclosure. It goes to the heart of who we are in sales.”

His answers were shared with CNBC.

WATCHING: Salesforce co-CEO Marc Benioff on Brett Taylor’s departure from the company