By: James Briggs
Salesforce.com Inc. is requiring dozens of Indianapolis employees to either adapt to new roles or exit the company as part of a reorganization.
Salesforce is combining the functions of two roles: developers and quality assurance employees, who test software. The restructuring affects 90 employees.
The San Francisco-based company on Friday informed workers in quality assurance that they have 60 days to demonstrate the coding skills necessary for the new hybrid roles. Employees who don’t qualify for the new positions will be given an opportunity to explore other roles within the company. Workers who decide to leave, or who aren’t accepted for a new job, will receive severance packages.
The reorganization comes as Salesforce has been staffing up to meet previously announced plans to hire more than 800 people Downtown by 2021 and invest $40 million over 10 years as part of its expansion. The company is occupying 250,000 square feet of the tallest building in Indianapolis, which recently was renamed Salesforce Tower
The company stressed that job cuts will not alter its growth plans in Indianapolis. Salesforce did not immediately provide updated figures for its Indianapolis workforce.
“We’ve recently realigned our Marketing Cloud organization to meet the evolving needs of our customers,” Salesforce said in a statement issued to IndyStar. “We optimized existing positions to fit the new model and have provided our employees with resources and a transition plan as they move into new roles.”
Salesforce is emphasizing that every employee caught in limbo will have a chance to transition into a new job. That will be easier for some than others.
Software developers have the skills to test products for defects. But dedicated testers do not necessarily have the education or background in coding that is necessary to take on a hybrid role.
Salesforce entered the Indianapolis market in 2013 when it took over ExactTarget in a $2.5 billion acquisition. Salesforce in May 2016 announced a massive expansion in and in May 2017 celebrated its move into the former Chase Tower on Monument Circle.
Salesforce last month opened the 47th floor