GoDaddy restructuring impacts 814 employees

GoDaddy said today that the company faces challenges in U.S. outbound sales, specifically, soft customer demand for certain higher-priced, do-it-for-you services such as GoDaddy Social, and reduced effectiveness of outbound calling to customers.

Given these challenges and continued uncertainty resulting from COVID-19, the company implemented a restructuring to address the sustainability of its U.S. outbound sales and operations. The restructuring impacts approximately 814 employees, who are either departing, relocating, or transitioning to other roles. In connection with the restructuring, the Company estimates it will incur approximately $15 million of pre-tax restructuring charges for the payment of severance and related benefit costs and has determined that certain lease assets with a book value of approximately $58 million are impaired.

Nevertheless GoDaddy Inc. said that it continues to grow in the face of global economic challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The company said it has seen strong demand in its business, led by Domains and its Websites + Marketing offering, and management now expects second quarter revenue to exceed previously issued guidance of $790 million by approximately 1%.

Management does not expect the changes to have a material incremental impact to revenue, beyond the headwinds in impacted areas of the business that have been previously disclosed. In light of the strong demand in its business the company expects to reinvest cost savings from the changes to drive further growth.