Sophos has confirmed reports that it’s laying off employees. The company joins several other major cybersecurity companies that have announced cutting staff over the past year.
The first reports of layoffs at Sophos came from India. The company confirmed to TechCrunch that 10% of its global employee base is impacted. While an exact number has not been shared, the news website learned that roughly 450 people — potentially from all roles — have lost their job.
Sophos, which private equity firm Thoma Bravo acquired in 2020 for $3.9 billion, blamed the layoffs on the global economic slowdown. The company says it wants to focus more on cybersecurity services, including managed detection and response.
“Sophos is taking these steps for two main reasons: first, to ensure that we achieve the optimal balance of growth and profitability to support Sophos’ long-term success, which is particularly important in the midst of a challenging and uncertain macro environment; and second, to allocate our investments across the company to support our strategic imperative to be a market leader in delivering cybersecurity as a service,” a Sophos spokesperson told TechCrunch.
Several major cybersecurity companies announced layoffs over the past year, including Lacework, OneTrust, and Cybereason.
Microsoft announced this week plans to eliminate 10,000 jobs, but it’s unclear if its security businesses units are impacted.
While major cybersecurity companies are announcing layoffs, many of those who have been terminated will likely not have any difficulties securing a job at a different company.
According to a recent study from nonprofit (ISC)², the global cybersecurity workforce is at an all-time high, with an estimated 4.7 million professionals.
However, (ISC)² estimates that an additional 3.4 million cybersecurity workers are needed, with 70% of the 11,000 professionals who took part in a survey conducted by the nonprofit saying that their organization does not have enough cybersecurity employees.
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Related: Cybersecurity Workforce Study Needs to be Taken with a Pinch of Salt
Eduard Kovacs (@EduardKovacs) is a contributing editor at SecurityWeek. He worked as a high school IT teacher for two years before starting a career in journalism as Softpedia’s security news reporter. Eduard holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial informatics and a master’s degree in computer techniques applied in electrical engineering.
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