Pipedrive, the customer relationship management software company founded in Tallinn in 2010, is preparing the largest restructuring in its history, Estonian World reports. Citing the business daily Äripäev, the outlet says 219 positions are to go in Tallinn and 48 in Tartu, together 267 jobs or 70 per cent of the 380 people the company employs in Estonia. The office in Lisbon, with about 220 staff, and a smaller team in Prague are to close as well, and developers in Berlin are affected.
The plan was announced on 29 October. According to chief executive Paulo Cunha, the growth model that relied on visitors finding Pipedrive through online search no longer works as before: organic traffic has fallen, paid advertising has become more expensive and customers increasingly ask AI tools for software recommendations. Customers also expect the software to carry out routine sales work itself rather than only record it. Cunha said: This is not an exercise in using AI to reduce costs – nor replacing people with AI.
The company plans fewer management layers, smaller teams, fewer offices and more focus on product development, including its AI product Nova.
Estonian World notes that Pipedrive was profitable, reporting EUR 237 million in revenue and an operating profit of EUR 32.7 million last year according to Äripäev, and that its majority owner since 2020 has been the American investment firm Vista Equity Partners. A former chief technology officer suggested the cuts might prepare the company for a sale, but there has been no public confirmation of that. Cunha has said Pipedrive will follow the employment consultation rules of each country and offer departing staff career transition support.
The cuts come as Telia has announced 100 job cuts in Estonia and Swedbank is reducing its group workforce by nearly 500 people, Estonian World adds.
Source: Estonian World, . The text above is our own summary; the words in quotation marks are the source's.
What this means for an Estonian entrepreneur
For an Estonian company with offices or teams in several countries, a change in how customers find its product can force a reorganisation of the whole group: closing foreign units, reducing management layers and following each country's employment consultation rules. Planning the group structure early makes such a change faster and cheaper to carry out.
We plan and document the restructuring of an Estonian company group, including closing or moving foreign units. Estonian holding company formation and restructuring
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