Thread regarding Gartner Inc. layoffs

@OP

"Gartner faces long-term risks from AI competition, with the current valuation lacking a favorable margin of safety;"

"I project permanent deceleration in IT's growth, with a forward P/E rerated to 22 and a target price of $217.37,"

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4826978-gartner-the-future-of-research-under-the-risk-of-ai

@1r8

Why do we pay for HR and culture advisory to a company that is #205 in the Forbes ranking?

https://www.forbes.com/lists/employers-culture/

Gartner’s SWOT analysis: IT services giant faces execution risks amid stock buybacks

https://www.investing.com/news/swot-analysis/gartners-swot-analysis-it-services-giant-faces-execution-risks-amid-stock-buybacks-93CH-4242715

"The share buyback initiative also reflects Gartner’s approach to capital allocation, prioritizing returns to shareholders while potentially limiting investments in other areas of the business. This strategy has garnered attention from investors and analysts alike, with some viewing it as a positive indicator of the company’s robust balance sheet and others questioning whether it might limit Gartner’s ability to pursue other growth opportunities."

Industry Trends and Market Dynamics

"The IT services sector, in which Gartner operates, is subject to rapid changes and evolving client needs. A recent CIO survey conducted for the first half of 2025 indicated declining expectations for the year, with growth forecasts adjusted downward by 50 basis points compared to previous estimates. This follows a sustained growth rate of 3.1% in 2024.
Of particular concern for Gartner is a negative turn in near-term (NTM) seat and offering additions, with a net decrease of 37% compared to a prior net decrease of 14%. This trend suggests potential challenges in expanding Gartner’s client base and service offerings in the short term, which could impact revenue growth.

The broader IT spending outlook also plays a crucial role in Gartner’s prospects. As companies reassess their technology investments in light of economic uncertainties, Gartner’s advisory services may face both opportunities and challenges. The company’s ability to navigate these shifting market dynamics will be critical to its success in the coming years."

@273

They say 2,200 on the website.

If we use that number, the ratio of analysts to total employees is approximately 1 to 9.5, so for every analyst, there are roughly 9-10 other employees in the company across various functions. 2,200 / 21,044 = 10.45%

IDC (63%), Forrester (35%), and Ovum (55%), analysts vs sales ratio. Yes, they are smaller, but Gartner has overwhelmingly the highest amount of sales, they are a selling machine.

Interesting.

@26y

Not sure you made your point too clear or maybe I didn't get you, but here's the reality.

Gartner had about 21,044 employees as of Dec 31, 2024 (the number of employees grew from 7,834 in 2015 to 21,044 in 2024)
10,920 employees were in sales
1,200 analysts and researchers

This means:

10,920 sales employees / 1,200 analysts ≈ 9.1 sales employees per analyst

It takes almost 10 sales people to sell the work of one analyst

That is a lot, it also tells volumes about the business model and how hard it actually is to keep revenue coming in (and it is not quite true to say that the Gartner brand sells itself). In 2015, when Gartner had 7,834 employees, about 1,731 were research analysts and consultants.

These are all public figures (annual reports) and they may be not quite accurate, but we need to rely on what's disclosed and available.

However, based on what's available they decreased the number of analysts by 531.

The key question remains, how is it that a company dedicated to research and advisory has to put almost 10 sales people per analyst to sell their stuff? Too sales intensive (takes too much effort to sell), right?

What would happen if they were to do anything AI? They need to reduce their costs because their operations have gone up over the past years, but how? By continuing to layoff (many silent so there is no precise data) more analysts and have a company entirely made up of sales people because otherwise what they have been putting out in terms of products and analysis requires tons of sales effort?

Gartner is putting people on a plan in some areas of the business. Some top performers who have been successful for years are now being placed on a plan, as battling to sell is much tougher across the industry. One thought - does this build a case with an impossible improvement plan, then they can let you go without severance? Maybe. It could enhance the discussion and strategy for the 2QTR financial report and stock buyback, making it more viable for shareholders.

@wc

The level of hypocrisy is incredible. This is what they came up with as advise for CFOs:

https://www.cfodive.com/news/5-cfo-tips-avoiding-layoff-mistakes-gartner-talent-human-resources-HR/760059/

Help your firm exhaust non-personnel cost-cutting options
Forget across-the-board staff reductions
Give budget-holders tools and data to make layoff decisions
Stick with cost-cutting: And set up tracking systems to ensure the company does
Communicate to retain critical talent

The so called "advice" from their HR analysts is kindergarten level.

Its a sneaky and dirty move. If Gartner can get people to "voluntarily" quit--and pressure them to do so--then they don't have to fire them or lay them off, so they avoid bad press or hitting the threshold where they are required to report to the state that they let a bunch of people go. Other companies do this too, but they don't also going around telling companies not to lay off people. Gartner is a full of hypocrites. They used to be a great company. But in the past five years have been going downhill steadily. And the publicly is catching on as the stock price is showing.

@OP

From Reddit comments, further insights and varying numbers:

"I am a current employee at Gartner and yes the news is true but i think the 1000 number is over estimation, i believe around 70 to 100 employees were laid off till now, dont know from where OP got this 1k number.

People received mails of meetings with HR, during meetings they were offered the option to choose termination or self resignation. In case of resignation they were offered 2 months salary + severance (15 days pay per year spent in Gartner) + Gratuity (if applicable) + leaves encashment + Benefits continuation ( Health insurance, Cult membership, Visit Health membership) + outplacement support. In case of termination only FNF is applicable."

"The Research CoE teams within GBS and GTS are impacted. The reason provided is that there is a re-organisation happening. They did not cite AI or their bad performance."

"Working at Gartner, and I just found this out! 🤯"

"I left 2 years ago. Since then, they have been laying off employees silently. No doubt it’s not in the news."

"Yea he said some people did get laid off but the process started 2 weeks ago so everyone knew about it already and it’s not research research per say, the research supplement teams and higher ups who weren’t adding up to anything got out, his words not mine. He started sometime ago only so I got scared seeing this post tbh, anyway iss all good!"