Calgary-based tech star Benevity says it will lay off 14% of its staff - Action News
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Calgary-based tech star Benevity says it will lay off 14% of its staff

Tech-star Benevity, based in Calgary, says it is laying off 137 staff members as it cites a lack of demand for its services relative to its team size.

Cuts affect 137 people, company cites current market conditions for move

An office is pictured next to a bridge and a lake.
Benevity's headquarters in Calgary. On Wednesday, the company announced it was reducing its staff by 14 per cent. (Benevity)

The Calgary-based tech firmBenevity says it is laying off 137 staff members as it cites a lack of demand for its services relative to its team size.

In a statement posted to its website,Benevity CEO Kelly Schmitt wrote that demand for its services had grown consistently for more than a decade.

"In response to that demand, we significantly increased the size of our team. But over the last nine months, macroeconomic conditions have changed dramatically, and the demand we expected to see has slowed significantly," Schmitt wrote.

"Although we continue to experience healthy year-over-year growth, the hard reality is that as a company, we are overbuilt for current market conditions."

The layoffs represent 14 per cent of the company's workforce.

People in a room gather for a team meeting.
Staff at the Calgary-based tech firm Benevity gather for a team meeting in this undated supplied photo taken prior to Wednesday's announced layoffs. (Benevity)

In 2020, Benevity became a so-called tech "unicorn"after reaching a $1.1-billion US deal with British private equity firm Hg Capital LLP.

Anup Srivastava, a Canada research chair and a full professor at the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary, said more layoffs along these lines are likely given global trends.

"Manysuch companies have been affected. So I will not blame a Calgary context for this, since they're addressing a global market and they attracted global investors," Srivastava said."It's a global phenomenon."

Though it is headquartered in Calgary, Benevityalso has offices in Toronto, Victoria, and elsewhere around the globe. All parts of the organization were impacted by the layoffs, not just those in the Calgary office.

Benevitydeclined a request for an interview on Wednesday.In its release, the company promised "generous severance, consideration for bonus, extension of health benefits, career transition support and ownership of company laptops" to those recently laid off.

The company provides software that managescharitable donationsand grants.