US cyber firm Proofpoint to lay off Israeli employees as part of global job cuts
The cybersecurity company, which has 300 employees in Israel after making four acquisitions in the country, is planning to slash 6% of its global workforce
Sharon Wrobel is a tech reporter for The Times of Israel.
US cybersecurity firm Proofpoint Inc. is expected to lay off employees in Israel as it embarks on a round of job cuts to reduce 6 percent of its global workforce.
Proofpoint said it plans to slash about 280 positions globally and “some of the positions under consultation are in Israel,” without providing details about the precise number of employees who will be let go in the country.
“We are being sensitive to the current situation in the country [and] will offer extended departure terms for Israeli employees who will be impacted,” Proofpoint said in an emailed statement. “This decision was not taken lightly, and it is deeply rooted in our forward-looking company strategy of aligning our investments and hiring to our strategic priorities, expanding our operational footprint by leveraging a global talent pool, and streamlining our organization with fewer management layers.”
“We do not anticipate any disruption for our customers as a result of these changes,” the US firm added.
Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, Proofpoint has developed software to help firms protect their assets by protecting their employees at their entry points from advanced email attacks and identity-based threats. Founded by Eric Hahn in 2002, the firm’s technology is used by 75% of Fortune 100 companies. It employs 4,500 employees, out of which 300 are based in Israel, serving over 8,000 enterprises worldwide.
In 2021, Proofpoint was acquired by Thoma Bravo, a private equity software investing firm, in a deal valued at $12.3 billion.
Over the past decade, Proofpoint has made four acquisitions in Israel. In December 2022, the US firm bought Israeli cybersecurity firm Illusive Networks, a developer of deception technology used to detect targeted hacker attacks, after buying Israeli-founded ObserveIT, a maker of software that identifies insider cybersecurity threats, in 2019. It acquired FireLayers, focused on cloud security, in 2016, and MetaNetworks, which secures access networks.
