Sophos is cutting staff following Secureworks deal

• Sophos has laid off 6% of its workers to align the two businesses
• An evolving cybersecurity landscape has also affected the industry
• Both are privately owned, marking a major shift

Just over a week after it officially completed its acquisition of Secureworks in a deal worth $859 million, Sophos has laid off around 6% of the workers it has across the two companies.

The post-merger layoffs are a result of Secureworks no longer being a public company, with some further jobs also cut to prevent certain overlaps between the two entities.

Given that Sophos is estimated to have had around 4,500-5,000 workers (per The Register), the 6% headcount reduction could equate to around 300 positions, however that doesn't take into account its Secureworks workers, so the precise number of laid off employees will likely be lower.

Sophos lays of 6% of workers

“In addition to aligning our business goals, changes in the cyberattack landscape are driving an urgent shift in security needs," a company spokesperson noted, adding that the changing landscape is not to blame for these particular layoffs.

“With persistent increases in both targeted and opportunistic cyberattacks, organizations of any type and size are now battling both everyday cybercrime, such as identity theft, data theft and ransomware, and state sponsored attacks, which used to be more focused on specific enterprise or public sector targets.”

It’s not the first time the company has laid off workers – widespread pandemic-induced tech layoffs in 2023 saw Sophos say goodbye to 10%, or 450, or its workers in the first month (via layoffs.fyi).

The Register reports that, in this year’s layoffs, workers lost their jobs from both Sophos and Secureworks, and that they were handled “as well as is possible.” No details have been shared regarding redundancy packages.

Secureworks’ most recent full-quarter revenue stood at $288.8 million, up 4% year-over-year, with CEO Wendy Thomas revealing a 30% rise in ransomware groups compared with the year before.

A company spokesperson noted on the security landscape front: "We’re also increasing investments in essential competencies with the addition of Secureworks’ and other new leaders and experts who have joined us in key departments over the last year."

Now that it’s private, we’ll have no concrete idea as to the company’s performance, much like that of Sophos, which was snapped up by private equity firm Thoma Bravo in 2020 for $3.9 billion. Cybersecurity giant McAfee was also acquired by Thoma Bravo in 2021 for $14 billion – the private equity firm’s cybersecurity portfolio is now worth $54 billion.

You might also like

• We’ve listed the best endpoint protection software and the best antivirus software
• $19 billion Vodafone and Three merger approved by UK competition watchdog
• Downloaded something dodgy? Consider the best malware removal