Distribution giant Ingram Micro axes staff amid 'changing global and local market conditions'

Fellow distribution juggernaut TD SYNNEX offered a voluntary severance package to US employees this week, signalling the mass vendor layoffs may be trickling down to distributors

Distributor powerhouse Ingram Micro has swung the axe on its US workforce owing to challenging market conditions.

The company did not disclose how many employees were laid off or what departments were affected.

However according to layoff-tracking website thelayoff.com, some 200 to 300 employees were cut and most were in management positions.

"Ingram Micro did announce some changes to the team. These were made as a result of changing global and local market conditions, and we realise these changes are significant to those impacted," said an Ingram Micro spokesperson in a statement.

"We will continue to invest in developing our teams to adapt to market opportunities and provide the best experience to our channel partners."

A handful of Ingram employees affected by the latest layoff round took to LinkedIn to notify peers.

"As of today I am no longer with Ingram Micro due to changes in the organisation. Ingram is making changes for the benefit of the company and our partners," said one product manager.

A business development representative posted that they worked at Ingram for about four years.

"I am disappointed to announce that my position was one that was affected in the most recent layoffs," he said.

Ingram Micro, which has 27,000 employees and 1,500 vendor partners worldwide, generated $50.8bn in net sales in 2022 and operates in 61 countries, according to the company.

In 2021, Los Angeles-based private equity firm Platinum Equity completed its acquisition of Ingram Micro Inc. from HNA Technology Co. Ltd, a part of HNA Group, for a total enterprise value of $7.2bn.

Channel layoffs continue

Ingram is just the latest tech company to implement layoffs.

On Monday, distribution competitor TD SYNNEX sent an internal memo to employees offering a voluntary severance program "to reduce our costs due to current macroeconomic conditions, including challenging industry trends."

MSP executive Mark Essayian says layoffs are unfortunate, but he understands.

"No one likes to see it happen, I'm sure least of all Ingram," Essayian, president of Irvine, California-based MSP KME Systems, told CRN.

"I expect Kirk [Robinson, EVP and president of Ingram Micro North America] and Paul [Bay, Ingram Micro CEO] to run that organisation extremely well. I'm always impressed [in seeing] them running it through the windshield and not the rearview mirror at all times."

Roddy Bergeron, chief information security officer at Lafayette, Louisiana-based MSP Enterprise Data Concepts, echoed Essayian's sentiment in that he's not surprised by the layoffs as it's happening across many industries.

"This is a trend in the tech space right now as companies readjust to inflation and we see the post pandemic spending slow down," he told CRN.

His MSP has seen it reflected in its own clients' budgets, "and that results in us needing to drive home value to our clients in order to maintain their business."

"While it may seem like a US recession is less likely now, globally we are seeing economic uncertainty," he said. "It's definitely driving larger, international tech companies and suppliers to readjust their priorities. Unfortunately, this tends to mean that head count gets reduced because of those adjustments."