ServiceNow's CEO pledged no layoffs. Then he cut 3,000 jobs by not replacing anyone.

ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott told investors in 2023: no job cuts.

On April 22, he told them something different.

"As you have attrition in the company, you don't have to backfill it."

At 27,000 staff with 12-15% annual attrition, that policy kills 3,300 to 4,000 roles per year. No announcement. No 8-K. No WARN filing.

The 63-person San Diego WARN notice this week is just the slice the law forced into the open. Half the cuts hit directors, senior managers, staff engineers, and senior consultants — the people who hold institutional knowledge about customer configurations.

Meanwhile ServiceNow reported Q1 subscription revenue of $3.67 billion. Posted net income. Closed the $7.75 billion Armis acquisition.

The company is selling AI-driven efficiency to Wall Street while its most experienced practitioners are pushed into the job market. Recruiters are already rethinking how much seasoned Now-platform talent is actually left.

This is the new enterprise playbook. No mass layoffs. No press releases. Just quiet attrition that never gets backfilled, dressed as "restructuring."

Audit your workforce plan today. If your headcount strategy relies on "natural attrition plus AI productivity," you're running the same playbook — and your employees already know it.