Tech layoffs were big news in 2024, and that’s likely to remain the case as 2025 officially gets underway.
There weren’t many major tech companies that escaped redundancies last year — X, Tesla, Shopify, Microsoft, and Netflix all cut staff, some of them more than once.
We’re keeping track of all the latest notable layoffs in tech in 2025, so read on for a timeline of those companies that have been cutting staff this year and a look back at those that shed staff in 2024, 2023, and 2022.
On this page:
- Tech Companies That Have Made Layoffs in 2024
- Why Are We Seeing So Many Tech Layoffs?
- How Can My Business Avoid Redundancies?
Tech Company Layoffs 2025: Latest News and Updates
We’re only in the first month of 2025, but we’re already seeing layoffs in the tech industry, with one of the biggest of the bunch, Microsoft, kicking things off.
If the start of 2024 is an indicator, we can expect to see a lot more between now and April, as companies look to cut costs ahead of the financial year. As we’ve done in previous years, we’ll be reporting on the redundancies affecting the industry as they happen.
March 18
Siemens
The technology giant plans to let go of approximately 5,600 jobs around the world. According to the company, this forms part of a plan to “further increase its global competitiveness.”
March 13
HelloFresh
The meal-kit delivery company is closing one of its Texas locations and consolidating to another site. As part of this, it will also cut 273 roles at the first site. A company email cited “optimizing our operational footprint” as the main reason for the layoffs.
March 7
NASA
In accordance with DOGE’s wishes, NASA announces that it will shut down several of its offices, including its Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy and the DEI branch of its Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity.
Wayfair
Home goods retailer Wayfair announces significant layoffs, with 340 individuals to be affected. According to the company, the decision forms part of an effort to simplify operations and realign the Technology team.
March 6
HPE
Hewlett Packard Enterprise announces plans to cut 2,500 employees, around 5% of its total staff. This is in response to a massive 19% decline in shares in Q1 2025.
TikTok
Social media platform announces that it will make layoffs in April. Reportedly, around 300 jobs at its Dublin headquarters are at risk, representing about 10% of its workforce in Ireland. The platform has not responded to requests for comment.
March 3
Ola Electric
Electric vehicle maker signals intention to lay off more than 1,000 employees and contract workers, as it hopes to turn its fortunes around. Reportedly, losses will impact multiple departments. It is the second round of job losses in less than five months, with Ola laying off 500 employees back in November 2024.
February 27
The tech behemoth announces layoffs in HR and cloud operations roles, as part of a wider internal reorganization. US-based People Operations employees have been offered a voluntary exit program.
February 25
Expedia
Expedia Group confirms that it has made layoffs in a cost-cutting effort. It did not disclose how many employees were affected, but this latest round of layoffs comes a year after approximately 1,500 people were let go from the company.
February 21
Zendesk
Software as a Service (SaaS) company Zendesk confirms plans to let go of 51 jobs from its headquarters in San Francisco. This follows another round of job losses in 2023, in which approximately 8% of its workforce was affected.
February 13
Blue Origin
Jeff Bezos’s rocket company reveals plans to lay off 10% of its workforce, corresponding to more than 1,000 employees. This comes just a month after the company debuted its first orbital rocket, known as New Glenn.
February 5
Sonos
The audio company continues to endure a tumultuous period, with a further 200 employees let go. This follows a round of redundancies in August 2024, during which 100 individuals were affected.
Workday
Enterprise HR platform Workday lays off 1,750 staff, comprising 8.5% of its total headcount. CEO Carl Eschenbach tells employees in a memo that the company needs to rethink its approach in the current market, with AI thought to represent a market opportunity.
February 4
Okta
US-based identity and access management platform Okta lays off 180 employees. The news comes just one year after it laid off no fewer than 400 employees, with a further reduction of 300 coming just one month later.
Salesforce
The CRM giant confirms that it is letting go of over 1,000 roles. At the same time, the company is actively pursuing plans to recruit and train workers to sell new AI products. Affected individuals also have the opportunity to apply to other roles within the company.
January 27
Ubisoft
Ubisoft confirms the closure of its Leamington development studio, as well as a series of “targeted restructurings” at offices across Europe. Reportedly, it will impact 185 employees in total. The news follows company studio closures in San Francisco and Osaka in December 2024, as it continues to endure a challenging period.
January 21
Stripe
Payments giant Stripe plans to cut 300 employees from its global workforce, largely from product, engineering, and operations roles, according to a leaked memo. At the same time, the company plans to grow its overall headcount by about 17% over the course of the year, hoping to reach 10,000.
January 14
Microsoft
No, you’re not seeing double – just a week after announcing that under performers will be laid off from the company, Microsoft revealed that a second wave of layoffs will affect those working in its gaming, security, and sales divisions.
Meta
Things aren’t getting better at Meta, at least not for staff. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that his company would be making layoffs, with 5% of the company expected to be cut. In what Zuckerberg dubbed an ‘intense year’, low performers will be targeted first.
January 10
Wayfair
Online home goods company Wayfair cutting up to 730 jobs – about 3% of its global workforce – as it plans to exit the German market. Approximately half of affected employees will be presented with the option to stay and relocate to London, Boston, or another location.
January 08
Microsoft
Microsoft started the year with layoffs targeting staff who are under performing, as the company stated it was focusing on ‘high performing talent’. Numbers are unknown, but it is estimated that the total of staff affected represents less than 1% of the company. A Microsoft spokesperson said: “We are always working on helping people learn and grow. When people are not performing, we take the appropriate action.”
January 06
SolarEdge Technologies
The renewable energy company announces that it will lay off 400 workers globally, its fourth round of cuts since January 2024. It expects to save between $9-11 million from the layoffs, as it continues to struggle in the face of an industry-wide downturn in fortunes.
Tech Company Layoffs in 2024
December 23
Lilium
Lilium ceases operations and lays off its approximately 1000 members of staff after failing to obtain financing. The electric aircraft startup raised more than $1 billion before going public, but is closing down after operating for nearly 11 years.
December 12
Calendly
Online business platform Calendly lays off 70 employees, roughly 13% of its workforce, as part of a reorganization. Affected teams include engineering, customer experience, marketing, and billing.
Yahoo
Yahoo lays off 25% of its cybersecurity team over the course of 2024. In addition to this, an email from new CTO Valeri Liborski reveals in early December that changes across the wider technology unit are to be expected.
December 11
OfferUp
OfferUp cuts 22% of its workforce in an effort to remain profitable as it expands into new product lines. “While we still have plenty of cash on our balance sheet, it’s important in these times to remain profitable,” says CEO Todd Dunlap.
December 10
Bluevine
The fintech company lays off 100 employees in its second round of layoffs in six months. 30 of the employees are based in Israel, and the total reduction accounts for about 18% of the company’s total workforce.
December 6
EasyKnock
The controversial proptech company, which offered sale-leaseback deals to homeowners, abruptly ceases its operations. This comes off the back of several lawsuits and an FTC consumer alert against the company.
Carousell
Singapore-based ecommerce platform Carousell announces that it will cut 76 roles, comprising about 7% of its total workforce. The news forms part of a company-wide restructure.
December 5
Stash
Fintech unicorn Stash reportedly lays off around 40% of its 220 employees. The news comes shortly after the return of its original cofounders, Brandon Krieg and Ed Robinson, and the departure of CEO Liza Landsman.
December 2nd
Lightspeed Commerce
Canadian commerce platform, Lightspeed Commerce, confirms that it will lay off about 200 members of staff. This follows another round of layoffs in April, in which about 280 employees were let go.
November 25th
The social networking site lays off 202 employees, representing 1% of its global workforce. Largely, affected employees worked in engineering or customer support roles.
November 20th
Headspace
Mental health startup Headspace cuts 13% of its workforce in an effort to “reset” the company. As part of the move, the company’s network of therapists transition to part-time and contract roles.
November 12th
23andMe
Genetic testing company cuts 40% of its workforce, comprising over 200 employees. The company is also set to discontinue its therapeutics business and clinical trials, as part of a widespread restructuring that it hopes will save $35 million every year.
November 11th
Enphase Energy
Solar technology and electric vehicle charger company, Enphase Energy, lays off 500 employees, accounting for 17% of its global workforce. The news comes amid a significant downturn in the fortunes of solar and battery companies, with Enphase Energy’s valuation dropping by 80% from its 2022 high.
November 7th
FreshWorks
Software as a Service (SaaS) business Freshworks reduces its headcount by 13%, affecting 660 employees around the world. The announcement forms part of a restructure, due to be completed by the end of the year.
November 6th
JustEat
Food delivery company JustEat announces that it will make 300 staff redundant across the global business, equating to 2% of its total workforce. The departures affect people in customer service, products, technology, human resources, sales, marketing, and logistics.
November 5th
Mozilla Foundation
The nonprofit arm of web browser maker, Mozilla, lets go of 30% of its employees, in the face of a “relentless onslaught of change.” The company plans to reorganize teams to “increase agility and impact as we accelerate our work to ensure a more open and equitable technical future for us all.”
November 1st
Bowery Farming
Agriculture-tech, or AgTech, company Bowery Farming is shutting down, it has been announced. Once valued at $2.3 billion, with backing from General Catalyst, GV, Temasek, and Fidelity Management, the startup is closing down, with all employees laid off immediately.
October 30th
Tidal
Jack Dorsey’s music streaming challenger, Tidal, is reducing its headcount in a bid to operate “like a startup again.” Dorsey hasn’t disclosed how many will be affected, but with the product management and product marketing functions set to be axed entirely, speculation is mounting that it could be in the hundreds.
October 30th
Dropbox
In response to a “transitional period,” Dropbox is laying off 20% of its workforce, CEO Drew Houston has announced. 528 employees are affected, as the company aims to create a “flatter, more efficient” team.
October 29th
Consensys
Software giant Consensys, which makes decentralized apps for the Ethereum blockchain, is letting go of 20% of its global workforce, totaling 163 out of 828 employees. Going forward, the company will focus on supporting the likes of MetaMask and Linea.
October 25th
Kyte
Rental car disruptor Kyte is pulling out of several US markets, including Atlanta, Chicago, Boston, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Los Angeles, as well as reducing its headcount by roughly 50%. The company will now exclusively operate in New York City, San Francisco, and Jersey City.
October 16th
Meta
Meta is laying off employees across WhatsApp, Instagram, and Reality Labs, as part of a restructure of specific teams. This round of layoffs follows a series of cuts earlier this year, in which employees of the Reality Lab division were impacted.
October 11th
Boeing
Boeing plans to cut 10% of its workforce – approximately 17,000 employees – as its torrid spell shows no signs of letting up. With a weeks-long machinist strike still ongoing, the company has further delayed the rollout of its long-awaited 777X wide-body plane – putting it six years behind schedule.
October 11th
Stellantis
Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, and Ram, lets go of 1,100 employees in Michigan. The company has also announced that “indefinite layoffs” will be implemented as it continues to struggle with declining revenue.
October 11th
TikTok
ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, lets hundreds of TikTok employees go, with the social media platform increasingly investing in AI. The cuts mainly affect people based in Malaysia, with no US-based employees impacted.
October 8th
Kaspersky
Russian company Kaspersky, one of the biggest players in the cybersecurity space, is shutting its UK office and laying off staff – just three months after it started winding down operations in the US following a federal government ban.
October 2nd
Flexport
Supply chain solutions provider Flexport reduces its headcount by 2% as part of a company restructure. The news follows a big round of layoffs in January this year, in which 20% of staff were impacted – despite securing the backing of Shopify to the tune of $260 million in the same month.
September 16th
Cisco
Tech giant Cisco lets around 5,600 employees go in its second big round of layoffs in 2024. While the company announced its decision in August, employees were not made aware of exactly who was affected until September 16th. Reportedly, the company did not disclose a reason for this month-long delay.
September 12th
Microsoft
Microsoft’s gaming business lays off 650 staff, according to a memo obtained by IGN. The news comes just eight months after the company laid off 1900 employees, having acquired Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in October last year. The decision represents “part of aligning our post-acquisition team structure and managing our business,” says the memo.
September 6th
Goop
Health startup Goop plans to lay off 18% of its workforce and restructure around fashion, beauty, and food. Reportedly, its food vertical, Goop Kitchen, raises $15 million from Uber Co-founder and CloudKitchens CEO Travis Kalanick.
August 29th
Character.AI
The Information reports that Chatbot startup Character.AI has laid off 5% of its staff, with people in marketing and recruitment mostly affected. “We are refocusing the company to ensure all roles align with our direction to build personalized AI products,” says a company representative.
August 28th
Apple
As part of a divisional “shift of priorities,” Apple cuts about 100 jobs across its digital services group. Reportedly, most of the employees who were laid off worked within the team that looks after the Apple Books app and Apple Bookstore.
August 19th
GoPro
GoPro announces plan to reduce its workforce by 15%, in an effort to save up to $7 million. Comprising around 139 jobs, the layoffs are set to start in Q3 and conclude by the end of the year.
August 15th
Formlabs
As reported by TechCrunch, Formlabs has confirmed that it has laid off around 40 employees over the past two years. In a statement issued to TechCrunch, the company claimed ‘we occasionally must make the difficult decision to part ways with a small number of colleagues.’
August 14th
Sonos
Audio equipment manufacturer Sonos has let go of 100 employees, the company confirmed on Wednesday. The news comes amid technical problems with the Sonos mobile app – projected to cost around $30 million to fix.
August 1st
Intel
Intel announces job cuts of 15,000 employees, representing 15% of the company workforce. The move is blamed on dwindling profits and increased operating costs. Read more about the Intel layoffs.
June 9th
Dyson
UK-based company Dyson, best know for its range of vacuum cleaners, announces that it is cutting 1,000 roles, around a third of the company. In a statement, the company claimed that the move would allow it to be “prepared for the future” in an “increasingly fierce and competitive global markets”.
March 20th
Bell
Job losses: Around 400
Telecom giant Bell informs hundreds of staff that they are to be made redundant in group video calls. The delivery method has been heavily criticised by Unifor National President Lana Payne, who described the actions as ‘cruel’
March 11th
Inscribe.ai
Job losses: Around 25
AI detection tool Inscribe.ai announces that it is cutting 40% of its workforce, equating to around 25 employees. The losses were blamed on changes in the financial services industry, and the move by the company to a new product, coming later in the year.
February 29th
EA
Job losses: 670
Another blow to the struggling gaming industry, as EA announces that it is cutting 5% of its staff, almost a year after it canned 6%, in March 2023.
In a statement, CEO Andrew Wilson told staff that the aim was to find new roles and projects for those affected where possible, and that the process was likely to be completed by early next quarter.
February 27th
Bumble
Job losses: 350
As part of its FY ’23 results, Bumble has released a statement saying it is taking “significant and decisive action” in the form of a global transformation plan that will shrink its workforce by a huge 37%.
That amounts to around 350 Bumble job losses in practice, which could cost the company as much as $25 million in severance pay and related compensation.
Sony
Job losses: 900
Sony announces 900, around 8% reduction in workforce for its Playstation Studios. In a statement, the company said that the cuts would effect employees in the Americas, EMEA, Japan and APAC regions.
Among those affected are studio Naughty Dog, maker of the popular Last of Us and Uncharted Playstation games, and London Studio, which is to be closed completely.
February 26th
Expedia
Job losses: 1,500
Expedia reveals that it is cutting 1,500 roles at the company, amounting to around 9% of the company.
The losses follow on from two rounds of redundancies in 2023, for the company.
February 15th
Cisco
Job losses: 4,250
Cisco announces thousands of lay offs as the company struggles with wavering demand for its products.
CEO Charles Robbins stated that Cisco had been the victim of weak demand from its telecom and cable customers, and that it was planning to switch to high growth areas to recover costs.
February 13th
Mozilla
Job losses: 60
Mozilla, the company behind popular web browser Firefox, announces that it is cutting 60 roles at the company, and scaling back its product focus.
February 6th
Amazon
Job losses: hundreds
Amazon announces plans to cut jobs in its medical division, with employees at Amazon Pharmacy and One Medical affected.
In a statement, Amazon said it was “realigning some resources to help accelerate our efforts to deliver the best experience for our patients, customers, and members”
February 5th
Snap
Job losses: 500
Snap joins the trend of tech companies shedding staff at the start of the year, announcing that it’s cutting 10% of its 5,000-strong workforce.
In a statement to the BBC, the company claimed that the move would reduce hierarchy, and promote in-person collaboration.
January 31st
PayPal
Job losses: 2,500
PayPal announced large job cuts across the company, with around 9% of its staff to be laid off. The cuts come almost a year to the day that it let go of 2,000 workers.
In a statement on its website, PayPal informed staff that those affected will be told by the end of the week.
January 24th
Microsoft
Job losses: 1,900
Microsoft announces plans to lay off around 1,900 staff, across its gaming division, after it completed on its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
In a memo to staff, Microsoft Gaming CEO, Phil Spencer, said “We have made the painful decision to reduce the size of our gaming workforce by approximately 1,900 roles out of the 22,000 people on our team. The Gaming Leadership Team and I are committed to navigating this process as thoughtfully as possible.”
January 23rd
eBay
Job losses: 1,000
eBay announces that it is taking cost cutting measures, with 1,000 full time staff, around 9% of the company, being let go.
In a memo posted on its corporate blog, President and CEO Jamie Iannone asked that affected staff work from home on the 24th of January, so that lay off calls could be conducted online, ensuring “space and privacy for these conversations.”
January 10th
Amazon (Twitch/Prime)
Job losses: Hundreds of employees
Amazon announced a slew of lay offs across two of its divisions, with 500 employees at Twitch, amounting to 35% of its staff, and hundreds more at Amazon Prime, all losing their jobs.
Senior Vice President of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, Mike Hopkins, blamed the redundancies on reducing and discontinuing investments in some areas of the business.
Tech Companies That Made Layoffs in 2023
December 4th
Spotify
Job losses: Around 1,500 employees
Spotify announces it is cutting 17% of employees, around 1,500 people. CEO Daniel Ek pinned the blame on slow economic growth, in a memo to staff, and stated “More people need to be focused on delivering for our key stakeholders – creators and consumers. In two words, we have to become relentlessly resourceful.”
November 13th
Amazon
Job losses: Around 180 employees
Amazon announces that it is making cuts to its Amazon Prime gaming division. The lay offs, which affect around 180 employees, take place six months after a restructuring of the department, which saw 100 job losses.
November 1st
Splunk
Job losses: Around 500 employees
Cybersecurity firm Splunk is set to let lose 7% of its workforce, around 500 employees. The company is currently being acquired by Cisco, but CEO Gary Steele stated in a letter to staff that these redundancies were not a requirement of the deal.
October 18th
Nokia
Job losses: Around 14,000 employees
Telecommunications company Nokia is cutting around 16% of its workforce, after sales have slumped in the US. The company states it is taking the cost cutting measures to “address the challenging market environment.”
October 16th
Job losses: 668 employees
In its second wave of job losses this year, Microsoft-owned LinkedIn has seen nearly 700 roles cut from the company, representing 3% of the company. Microsoft referenced a slowdown in hiring and ad spend as contributors to job losses.
October 16th
Stack Overflow
Job losses: around 150 employees
Coder resource Stack Overflow announced that it was laying off 28% of its workforce, with CEO Prashanth Chandrasekar stating that it is committed to product innovation, and on the path to profitability. While the company is creating its own AI tool, it faces strong competition from existing platforms such as ChatGPT, which have been scraping the site for content. Such is the threat, that in April the company announced it was exploring charging AI scraping tools for using its content.
October 16th
Bandcamp
Job losses: around 60 employees
Music streaming service Bandcamp, which was purchased from Epic Games by Songtradr in 2023, has seen job losses of half its workforce – around 60 employees. While some workers were offered new contracts with the new parent company, others were told that they need to part ways, and would receive severance.
October 13th
Qualcomm
Job losses: 1,258 employees
Qualcomm cites cost cutting as the reason it’s letting go of 2.5% of its workforce. Multiple roles, including engineers and those within HR and legal, will be at risk of the scale-back starting on December 13th.
September 13th
Job losses: hundreds of staff
Google announces that due to slowing its hiring process, it will be making significant cuts to its recruiting teams. Job losses are expected to be in the hundreds. The company had already made 12,000 job cuts earlier in the year.
August 31st
Malwarebytes
Job losses: 100 staff
Initially reported by TechCrunch, using an anonymous Malwarebytes employee as a source, the company has apparently laid off 100 positions. This has been confirmed by CEO Marcin Kleczynski, stating that the cuts were part of a plan to separate the business into two units.
August 24th
T-Mobile
Job losses: around 5,000 staff
T-Mobile announces that it will be cutting 5,000 roles at the firm, around 7% of its total workforce, in the next five weeks. CEO Mike Sievert told staff that the measures were necessary to reduce spend, with those positions affected being ‘mostly duplicative; of other roles.
August 14th
SecureWorks
Job losses: around 300 staff
Cybersecurity firm SecureWorks announced that it was cutting 300 roles, representing around 15% of the company workforce. In an email to the company, SecureWorks CEO Wendy Thomas stated that the move was intended to ‘simplify and scale’ the business.
August 2nd
Salesforce
Job losses: around 50 staff
Salesforce announced an addition to the 10% of its workforce (around 8,000) that it had already planned to lay off by 2024. Around 50 roles in sales and customer service, based in Ireland, have been slashed.
July 26th
CD Projekt Red
Job losses: 100 staff
Gaming developer CD Projekt Red, makers of the Witcher series and Cyberpunk, announces it is cutting 100 roles, approximately 9% of its total workforce. In a statement on the company’s blog, CEO Adam Kiciński stated that the layoffs were due to overstaffing.
July 24th
Virgin Media O2
Job losses: 20,000 staff
UK telecoms firm Virgin Media announces cuts of 20,000 roles, amounting to 12% of the company’s total workforce. The positions will be closed by the end of the year. The company stated that it was “simplifying” its operating model. It follows huge job losses made earlier in the year by its competitor, British Telecom.
July 10th
Microsoft
Job losses: around 276 staff
Microsoft has announces that it is laying off 276 staff, this is in addition to the 10,000 job cuts it announced earlier in the year. The job losses affect 210 workers based in Washington, as well as 66 remote workers.
Evernote
Job losses: majority of US staff
Evernote laid off 129 employees back in February, and has now announced that it is to cut the vast majority of its staff base in the US, and move operations to Europe. The company was purchased by Bending Spoons, an Italian-based company, last November.
July 4th
ClickUp
Job losses: around 90 staff
Project management software solution ClickUp has laid off around 10% of its 900-strong workforce, reportedly in the name of efficiency.
June 21st
Uber
Job losses: around 200 staff
Uber announces job cuts that will affect its recruiting division, reports the Wall Street Journal. The positions amount to around 1% of the company’s total staff. The company has around 32,000 workers globally.
June 14th
Bell
Job losses: around 1,300 staff
Canadian telecoms and media firm, Bell, announces large cuts to parts of its business, closing six radio stations, and selling three, leading to layoffs of around 1,300. The firm stated that 30% of the roles affected are currently vacant.
Sonos
Job losses: around 130 staff
Audio manufacturer Sonos announces it will be cutting 7% of its workforce, with expectation that the move will cost between $11 to $14 million in severance packages and restructuring. The company also announced it would be scaling back its real estate footprint.
The last mass layoffs at the firm happened in 2020, in response to the pandemic, when it laid off 12% of its staff.
TrueCar
Job losses: around 100 staff
The car buying platform announced that it is laying off around a quarter of its workforce, due to company restructuring. CEO Michael Darrow is confirmed to be stepping down, and will be replaced by Jantoon Reigersman. In a statement, chair of the board, Barbara Carbone, stated that the cuts were “necessary to enable TrueCar to achieve its strategic priorities and create long-term shareholder value.”
Sumo Logic
Job losses: around 80 staff
Cloud software company Sumo Logic revealed that it is making job cuts, affecting 8% of its total workforce. The move follows last month’s news that Sumo Logic had been purchased by private equity firm Francisco Partners for $1.7 billion.
June 13th
23andMe
Job losses: around 75 staff
San Francisco based biotech firm 23andMe announced that it would be closing 75 roles at the company, in filings with the federal government. The job closures are expected to be completed by March 2024. The company previously made cuts in 2020, losing 100 employees.
June 6th
Job losses: around 90 staff
Reported in the Wall Street Journal, Reddit is to cut 90 roles within the company, equalling around 5% of the workforce. The news was conveyed in an email to staff, where Chief Executive Steve Huffman stated that after a strong start to the year, restructuring within the company would allow Reddit to continue its momentum. Plans for hiring have also been scaled back.
June 5th
Spotify
Job losses: around 200 staff
Spotify announces that it is to cut 200 members of staff (around 2% of its total workforce) from the company, all within its podcast division. In a statement, Spotify noted that original podcasts would still be created, as well as expanding its partnership program with podcasters globally.
The move follows 600 job cuts at the company back in January.
May 31st
ZipRecruiter
Job losses: around 270 staff
Recruitment platform ZipRecruiter announced it was laying off 270 of its staff, due to economic pressures leading to a poorer than expected demand for new employees. According to the company, half of those affected are in sales and customer support.
CEO, Ian Siegel, also agreed to take a 30% pay cut.
May 18th
BT
Job losses: around 55,000 staff
UK-based telecoms firm BT announced that it was shedding 55,000 jobs by the end of the decade, reducing the number of employees from the current 130,000. Cuts are expected as the firm finishes work on the UK fibre network, and fewer requirements for maintenance. Around 5,000 of the roles are expected to be swallowed up by restructuring.
In addition, CEO Philip Jansen stated that a fifth of the roles are expected to be replaced by AI.
May 16th
Vodafone
Job losses: around 11,000 staff
Vodafone’s newly appointed CEO, Margherita Della Valle, announced that the company would be cutting around 11,000 roles over the next three years, from the company’s one million employees.
In a statement, the CEO stated that the results of the company’s financial year were ‘not good enough’, and that the new priorities were to ‘simplify our organisation’, and reallocate resources to better serve customers.
May 8th
Job losses: around 716 staff
LinkedIn, Microsoft’s social media platform aimed at business professionals, is to cut 716 roles at the company. In a statement, LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky states that the cuts to jobs in sales, operations and support teams were designed to streamline the decision process. However, Roslansky also stated the move would create 250 new roles. It was also announced that it would be removing its service from China.
May 4th
Unity
Job losses: around 600 staff
Staff at Unity have had a turbulent year, with two layoffs in the past 12 months having already occurred at the company. Now the organisation has announced a third, with 600 staff affected, around 8% of the workforce. The company is also looking to reduce its physical locations, slashing its number of global offices.
April 27th
Dropbox
Job losses: around 500 staff
Dropbox announces job cuts of 16% of its company workforce. In a statement, Dropbox CEO Drew Houston blamed the company’s stalling profits on the economic downturn, and the need to pivot to an AI-driven strategy.
April 21st
Lyft
Job losses: around 1,200 staff
Lyft announces restructuring measures, including cutting around 1,200 roles at the company, around 30% of the company’s 4,000 staff.
April 20th
Buzzfeed
Job losses: 180 staff
Buzzfeed announced job closures, including the shuttering of its Buzzfeed news division. In a memo to staff, CEO Jonah Peretti stated that the company could “no longer afford to fund” the news outlet.
April 4th
Apple
Job losses: number unknown
Early reports from Bloomberg suggest that Apple is cutting numerous roles within its corporate retail teams. Sources who did not wish to be named told Bloomberg that those affected would be allowed to apply for ‘a number of roles similar to their prior jobs’. Anyone who doesn’t take a new role is reported to be entitled to up to four months pay. Once confirmed we’ll update with the number of positions affected.
March 30th
Roku
Job losses: around 200 staff
It’s been less than six months since Roku laid off 200 members of staff, and today it announced that it was letting another 200 go. The company also stated that it expects to end leases on some of its offices.
March 29th
EA
Job losses: around 800 staff
Gaming company Electronic Arts announces that it is cutting 800 jobs, around 6% of its global workforce, as well as reducing office space. In a statement, CEO Andrew Wilson said that the company was moving away from projects that don’t contribute to the company’s strategic priorities, and carry out restructuring.
March 22nd
Indeed
Job losses: around 2,200 staff
Job listing company Indeed announces that it was cutting 2,200 roles at the company. CEO Chris Hyams said that the cuts were hard to make, but taken ‘with care’, and blamed the losses on a diminishing job market and the expectation of fewer openings in 2023/2024.
March 20th
Amazon
Job losses: around 9,000 staff
Amazon employees were likely feeling a little bruised, but safe, after the 18,000 redundancies at the company earlier in the year. However, they were in for a shock today when another 9,000 job cuts were made. Roles affected included those in Amazon Web Services, gaming division Twitch, advertising, and human resources. In a statement, CEO Andrew Jassy blamed the job losses on an ‘uncertain economy.’
March 14th
Meta
Job losses: around 10,000 staff
Following rumors, Meta confirms that it is laying off 10,000 members of staff. CEO Mark Zuckerberg releases a statement on the company blog stating that from here on, efficiency will be a key goal of the company.
March 6th
Atlassian
Job losses: around 500 staff
Software giant Atlassian announces it is cutting around 500 roles, about 5% of its total workforce. The company states that it is ‘rebalancing’ skills within the organisation, with an aim to reduce our investment in specific areas, in order to reinvest in others”, as stated by co-founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar.
February 25th
Job losses: around 200 staff
More lay offs at Twitter, as around 200 staff are cut from their roles, including some Musk loyalists, who only reportedly only discovered their fate when they were unable to access their company email addresses.
February 20th
Ericsson
Job losses: around 1,400 staff
Telecoms company Ericsson announces plans to cut 1,400 roles in its native Sweden, in an attempt to cut costs. It follows the company’s earlier announcement that it was looking to reduce costs by $880 million by the end of 2023.
February 16th
DocuSign
Job losses: around 700 staff
DocuSign announces that it is letting go of 700 members of staff, representing 10% of the company workforce. The job losses follow cuts made by the company last September, in which 650 employees were laid off.
February 13th
iRobot
Job losses: around 85 staff
The company behind Roomba announces that it is laying off around 85 staff, which amounts to 7% of the workforce. In an email to staff, CEO Colin Angle stated “While reducing the size of our workforce is painful, we believe these actions are necessary for the company to better navigate the challenging economic environment and position us to return to profitable growth in the years ahead.”
While Amazon announced plans to acquire iRobot last year, the deal is not yet finalized and is subject to investigation by regulators.
Twilio
Job losses: around 1,400 staff
Twilio announces layoffs in a company-wide email sent out to staff, as part of a strategy change that seeks to improve efficiency and reduce overheads. This news comes five months after Twilio’s CEO, Jeff Lawson, decided to cut 816 employees as the company deals with post-pandemic headcount challenges.
February 9th
Yahoo
Job losses: around 1,600 staff
Yahoo announces plans to layoff 20% of its workforce, with many being let go by the end of the week. A spokesperson for Yahoo told CNBC “Given the new focus of the new Yahoo Advertising group, we will reduce the workforce of the former Yahoo for Business division by nearly 50% by the end of 2023.”
GitHub
Job losses: around 300 staff
GitHub reveals that it is cutting 300 staff, around 10% of its workforce. In addition, its hiring freeze, which began in January, will stay in place. The company also plans to go fully remote, shuttering its physical offices as their leases expire.
February 7th
eBay
Job losses: around 500 staff
eBay announces that it intends to lay off around 500 of its staff, globally. The cuts, which amount to around 4% of the companies total workforce, will allow “additional space to invest and create new roles in high-potential areas – new technologies, customer innovations and key markets,” stated Jamie Iannone, Chief Executive Officer of eBay.
Zoom
Job losses: around 1,300 staff
Zoom announces that it is laying off 1,300 staff, around 15% of its workforce. Zoom experienced a meteoric rise during the pandemic, with its name becoming synonymous with web conferencing to the general public. Now however, the company is tightening its belt, blaming the “uncertainty of the global economy”, as chief executive, Eric Yuan, put it in an official statement.
February 6th
Dell
Job losses: around 6,650 staff
Computing giant Dell announces that it is laying off over 6,000 staff, around 5% of its total workforce. Dell Co-Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke stated that “market conditions continue to erode with an uncertain future”, despite the company having taken cost-cutting measures recently, including a hiring freeze.
January 31st
PayPal
Job losses: 2,000 staff
PayPal announced a huge cut of around 7% of its workforce, with 2000 employees being laid off from the company. In a statement, CEO Dan Schulman blamed the decision on the “challenging macroeconomic environment.”
Groupon
Job losses: 500 staff
Groupon has initiated what is calling its ‘second phase of restructuring’, which involves the job losses of 500 of its staff. These layoffs are expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2023. The announcement marks the company’s second big layoff in less than 6 months, with 500 staff also laid off in August 2022.
January 26th
SAP
Job losses: 3,000 staff
German software company SAP announces job losses of 3,000, amounting 2.5% of its global workforce. In an earnings call, Christian Klein, CEO of SAP, commented “What this is really about is a very targeted effort to further streamline our portfolio and concentrate investments on the areas where we clearly can have the most positive impact.” The news came after the company had announced that its cloud revenue had risen 24%.
January 25th
IBM
Job losses: 3,900 staff
IBM announces that it is to cut nearly 4,000 staff, representing 1.4% of the company’s workforce. The layoffs will impact Kyndryl Holdings, the company’s IT services business, and its Watson Health division. The layoffs are blamed on IBM missing its annual cash target, although in a statement, CFO James Kavanaugh stated “[IBM is] committed to hiring for client-facing research and development.”
January 24th
Intel
Job losses: 544 staff
Intel confirms that it is cutting over 500 staff in the latest tech layoffs, with an aim to cut $3 billion from its budget this year. Revenue for Intel is down 20%, which may well explain why it’s getting rid of 544 employees, a fairly modest number compared to the thousands we’ve seen let go from Google and Microsoft in the past couple of weeks, although little comfort for those affected.
January 23rd
Spotify
Job losses: Around 600 staff
Spotify announces layoffs of 600 members of staff, around 6% of the company’s total workforce. In an internal memo, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek stated “In hindsight, I was too ambitious in investing ahead of our revenue growth. And for this reason, today, we are reducing our employee base by about 6% across the company.”
The company had previously laid off 40 staff in October, after trimming its exclusive podcasts.
January 20th
Alphabet/Google
Job losses: Around 12,000 staff
Google’s parent company, Alphabet, announces huge layoffs, letting 12,000 staff go. According to Reuters, the cuts will affect recruiting, engineering and product teams. In an email to staff, CEO Sundar Pichai stated “I am confident about the huge opportunity in front of us thanks to the strength of our mission, the value of our products and services, and our early investments in AI.”
Alphabet/Google had been unique in that it didn’t make any major layoffs in 2022, whilst its competitors were making heavy cuts. Now it seems not even Google employees are safe.
January 18th
Microsoft
Job losses: Around 10,000 staff
After persistent rumors, Microsoft announced 10,000 job losses within the company. In an email to staff, CEO Satya Nadella stated that less than 5% of the company would be affected, and that hiring would still continue in key strategic areas. The company blames the job cuts on “macroeconomic conditions and changing customer priorities.”
The company issued several rounds of job cuts last year, but nothing on the scale of this recent announcement.
January 13th
SmartNews
Job losses: Around 120 staff
News aggregator service SmartNews confirms that it is slashing around 120 positions from the company, affecting roles in US and China. SmartNews currently employees around 900 staff, meaning a hefty 13% reduction in headcount. Speaking to TechCrunch, the company blamed ‘economic conditions’ for the move.
January 11th
Goldman Sachs
Job losses: Around 3,200 staff
Huge layoffs at Goldman Sachs, with staff in major cities such as New York, London and Hong Kong reportedly being given 30 minutes to collect their things and leave. It represents a huge 6.5% of the total workforce for the company, and although the Zoom call that led to the mass firings was shocking for those affected, it hasn’t come out of the blue. Last month, CEO David Solomon warned that in an internal memo that cuts were on the horizon due to “tightening monetary conditions.”
Alphabet
Job losses: Around 200 staff
Verily, a healthcare services unit of Alphabet, announces that it is cutting 200 roles at the organisation, around 15% of positions with the company. In a statement on the company’s blog, CEO Stephen Verily stated “To enable greater focus on our updated portfolio, we are discontinuing the development of Verily Value Suite and some early-stage products, including our work in remote patient monitoring for heart failure and microneedles for drug delivery.”
Meta
Job losses: At least 20 potential new staff
We reported previously on Meta removing job offers before candidates could start their new roles, and it appears the company has done it again. Originally reported by TechCrunch, Meta confirmed that it had had to withdraw some offers to new employees. Exact numbers aren’t known, although one source, engineer Gergely Orosz, claims to have heard of 20 people affected “so far.”
January 10th
Coinbase
Job losses: Around 950 staff
Crypto firm Coinbase announces that it is closing 950 roles in a blog post, equalling 20% of its entire workforce. In a statement, CEO Brian Armstrong said that the cuts were necessary to ensure that Coinbase was able to succeed in 2023. He went on to say “While it is always painful to part ways with our fellow colleagues, there was no way to reduce our expenses significantly enough, without considering changes to headcount.”
Coinbase had previously issued mass redundancies in June 2022, leading to around 1,100 job losses.
January 6th
Job losses: Around 10+ staff
Reports that Twitter has continued its huge layoffs into the new year, with around a dozen cuts being made to its Dublin and Singapore offices. Speaking to Bloomberg, Ella Irwin, Twitter’s Head of Trust and Safety, said “It made more sense to consolidate teams under one leader (instead of two) for example.”
January 5th
Amazon
Job losses: Around 18,000 staff
Amazon has blamed a staff leak on having to announce huge redundancies earlier than expected, with 18,000 at the company expected to lose their jobs. Amazon has yet to announce which areas these cuts will affect. It marks another in a long line of job losses at the company, with 10,000 roles being made redundant less than two months ago.
January 4th
Salesforce
Job losses: Around 8,000 staff
Salesforce kicked off the year with redundancies for 10% of its workforce. The company stated that it had hired too rapidly, and that these job losses were an attempt to correct this. In addition, the company will also look to close some of its physical offices.
In a statement, co-CEO Marc Benioff said “As our revenue accelerated through the pandemic, we hired too many people leading into this economic downturn we’re now facing, and I take responsibility for that.”
Tech Company Layoffs in 2022
December 21st
TuSimple
Job losses: Around 350 staff
Self-driving truck company TuSimple announces layoffs of 25% of its workforce, equating to around 350 staff. In a statement from the company, CEO Cheng Lu stated “While I deeply regret the impact this has on those affected, I believe it is a necessary step as TuSimple continues down our path to commercialization.”
December 6th
Adobe
Job losses: Around 100 staff
Adobe cuts around 100 roles, mainly focused on sales . In a statement, the company said that it was not looking to make company wide layoffs, and that it was still hiring for critical roles.
November 29th
Lyst
Job losses: Around 50 staff
UK-based fashion e-commerce platform Lyst is reported slashing 25% of its workforce, amounting to around 25% of its staff, as it looks to make savings, as first reported by TechCrunch.
November 22nd
HP
Job losses: Around 4,000 – 6,000 staff
HP announces that it plans to cut between 4,000 to 6,000 roles over the next three years. In a statement, the company stated that its “Future Ready Transformation Plan, estimates annualized gross run rate cost savings of at least $1.4 billion by the end of fiscal 2025, and restructuring and other charges of approximately $1.0 billion.”
HP blames poor PC sales, which saw a sharp rise during the pandemic, but have since been in decline.
November 18th
Cisco
Job losses: Around 4,000 staff
Despite announcing a 6% increase in revenue in its first quarter earning report compared to last year, Cisco announced that it was cutting 4,000 of its 83,000 workforce.
In a statement, Cisco CFO, Scot Herren said “Don’t think of this as a headcount action that is motivated by cost savings. This really is a rebalancing.”
The company pointed to a new number of roles that it has opened in new areas, and stated that it will work hard to match employees affected by the cuts to this new positions.
November 17th
Roku
Job losses: Around 200 staff
Roku announces plans to cut around 5% of its workforce. In a statement, Roku blames the decision on ‘economic conditions’ in its industry.
November 14th
Amazon
Job losses: Around 10,000 staff
Rumors had been circulating about huge cuts at Amazon for a few weeks, but today, it was official. News is slowly trickling out as those affected are posting to social media, but Amazon has started making redundancies that are expected to reach around 10,000. The layoffs represent 3% of the total workforce, and so far have confirmed to have affected AI, HR and and retail positions.
November 10th
RingCentral
Job losses: Around 400 staff
RingCentral is trimming 10% of its workforce, amounting to around 400 people. The company stated that making these cuts would allow it to be “more agile and better align our course with our strategic priorities in the current macro environment.”
Unlike some other companies issuing redundancies, RingCentral isn’t currently experiencing a dire financial outlook. In fact, its Q3 2022 revenue results exceeded expectation, with an increase of $94 million compared to the year previous.
November 9th
Meta
Job losses: Around 11,000 staff
Meta has confirmed the long running rumors that it was to make huge layoffs. In a statement, Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that the company was cutting 10% of the company workforce, amounting to 11,000 roles. Those impacted will receive 16 weeks severance, plus two weeks pay for each year they have been with the company. They’ll also receive additional health and career benefits.
Zuckerberg blamed the layoffs on Meta betting big during Covid, believing the accelerated growth would continue – “Not only has online commerce returned to prior trends, but the macroeconomic downturn, increased competition, and ads signal loss have caused our revenue to be much lower than I’d expected. I got this wrong, and I take responsibility for that.”
November 8th
Salesforce
Job losses: 100s of staff
Salesforce has cut 100s of roles at the company, although the actual numbers are unknown, with the company stating that it is fewer than one thousand. In an official statement, the company said “Our sales performance process drives accountability. Unfortunately, that can lead to some leaving the business, and we support them through their transition.”
November 7th
Zendesk
Job losses: Around 350 staff
Zendesk announced that it would be letting 5% of its staff go, citing cost-reduction initiatives. The job losses include those based at the company’s San Francisco location.
November 4th
Job losses: Around 3,700 staff
It took only a week for Elon Musk to fire half of Twitter’s workforce, after taking over the company for $44 billion. It perhaps isn’t too surprising – there had been plenty of rumors of layoffs in the weeks running up to the takeover, and Musk isn’t exactly a man known for his compassion. Twitter staff discovered their fate by email on Friday. Those that remain will have the privilege of remote working taken away and be expected to return to the office.
It’s one of the biggest layoffs in the tech industry this year, and also one of the most brutal. Twitter under the Musk regime has started with controversy, and will likely continue on in this way for the foreseeable future.
November 2nd
Opendoor
Job losses: Around 550 staff
Huge losses announced by the real estate tech company as it cuts around 18% of its total workforce. It follows competitor Better.com, which made several big layoffs this year alone. In a statement, Opendoor CEO Eric Wu blamed “one of the most challenging real estate markets in 40 years.”
October 26th
Zillow
Job losses: Around 300 staff
Seattle-based real estate firm Zillow has laid off 300 employees, with layoffs affecting those in home and loans, and closing services. In a statement, the company said that the cuts were part of its ‘normal business process’. The layoffs leave the company with around 5,000 employees in total.
October 24th
Snyk
Job losses: Around 200 staff
Cybersecurity firm Snyk lets go 14% of its workforce, blaming ‘significant market shifts’, leading to the company having to ‘restructure its global workforce’. In addition CEO of Snyk, Peter McKay also stated that it would be reducing spending in other areas, including subscription services and business travel.
October 20th
Loom
Job losses: Around 23 staff
San Francisco video messaging start up Loom announces that it is cutting 23 employees, representing around 10% of the company’s staff. Sales staff are those most affected. It follows redundancies earlier in the year where 34 staff were let go.
October 17th
Microsoft
Job losses: Around 1,000 staff
A spate of layoffs at Microsoft has led to around 1,000 employees losing their jobs. It’s one of the biggest round of layoffs we’ve seen this year, but still a relatively small percentage of Microsoft’s 220,000+ workforce. Those affected by the cuts include Xbox, Edge and Devices teams. Microsoft has made at least two other rounds of layoffs this year, with the biggest, back in July, affecting 1,800 employees.
October 14th
Equifax
Job losses: Around 24 staff
During an internal review of its staff, Equifax identified 24 employees who were ‘overemployed‘, meaning that they were working two jobs at the same time. CEO Mark Begor told staff ‘We expect our team to be fully dedicated to EFX and have one role …their job at EFX.’
October 12th
Oracle
Job losses: Around 200 staff
Oracle lays off around 200 employees from its former Redwood City HQ, after relocating to Austin, Texas.
October 11th
Intel
Job losses: Potentially thousands of staff
Faced with a serious decline in sales, it has been reported that Intel will shortly be making wide-reaching job cuts, potentially slashing its number of employees by up to 20%. The company has already downgraded its sales forecast for 2022 by $10 billion compared to the previous year. An official announcement on this cuts is expected near the end of October.
October 7th
Spotify
Job losses: Around 40 staff
Spotify closes down eleven of its exclusive podcasts, resulting in the termination of 5% of the company’s employees.
October 6th
Peloton
Job losses: Around 500 staff
Barely two months since the last round of layoffs at Peloton, which saw nearly 800 staff cut, Peloton lays off another 500. The fitness company offered the perfect lockdown product, but the return to normal life has seen profits slide. However, this could be the last job cut at the company for some time, with CEO Barry McCarthy stating that Peloton is now ‘focused on growth.’
September 29th
DocuSign
Job losses: Around 650 staff
Touted as part of its restructuring plan, San Francisco based DocuSign announced that it was letting go of 9% of its workforce.
September 26th
Ericsson
Job losses: Around 400 staff
Telecoms company Ericsson, like many other companies, is halting its Russian presence. This means that the 400 staff who currently work at the Russian arm will be out of work by the end of the month.
September 22nd
Klarna
Job losses: Around 100 staff
Swedish fintech company Klarna announced lay offs this month, marking the second such announcement from the company this year. While it’s small condolence to those affected, Klarna is cutting around 100 staff this time around, compared to the 750 it let go in May.
Inpixon
Job losses: Around 44 staff
Inpixon, a company which provides tech and solutions to map and plan indoor spaces, announced that it was letting go of 20% of its workforce, estimated to be around 44 people. CEO Nadir Ali stated that the company had managed to strengthen its position in recent times, but that it ‘had to be mindful of the current economic environment.’
September 14th
Twilio
Job losses: Around 850 staff
Twilio, the cloud communications provider announced that it was reducing it’s workforce by 11%. The company had 7,867 at the end of last year. Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson, stated that the decision was made to help run the company more efficiently.
September 13th
Patreon
Job losses: Around 150 staff
Patreon, the subscription platform for content creators, announced that 17% of its workforce is being cut. Estimated to have around 885 staff in total, the losses represent a significant number of employees. A week previously the company had let go of five members of its security team.
August 30th
Snap
Job losses: More than 1,280 staff
The company behind Snapchat is making one of the most drastic workforce cullings we’ve seen in months: It will be laying off 20% of its more than 6,400 employees this week. The biggest cuts will be to the teams behind the hardware division, the social mapping app Zenly, and aiding the developers who create Snapchat’s mini apps and games.
August 26th
Better.com
Job losses: 250 staff
Improbable as it seems, Better.com is making its fourth round of layoffs in a year. A source informed TechCrunch that 250 ‘or more’ roles were on the chopping block. The company attracted criticism at the end of last year when it made mass lay offs via video.
August 16th
Meta
Job losses: 60 staff
Meta lets 60 contract workers go, from Accenture. According to a report in Bloomberg, the staff were told over video call, and the unlucky employees learned that the decision had been made by an algorithm, say reports.
The move chimes with CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s recent comments that underperformers will be rooted out.
Apple
Job losses: 100 staff
Apple cuts 100 contractor roles across several regions, as reported by Bloomberg. The contractors worked in the recruitment arm of the company. In June CEO Tim Cook stated that the company would be ‘investing through the downturn’, but that it would be ‘more deliberate in doing so in recognition of the realities of the environment.’
August 15th
HBO Max
Job losses: 70 staff
Reports that streaming service HBO Max is cutting 70 roles, around 14 percent of its workforce. The streaming landscape is more competitive than ever in 2022, with Netflix cutting 300 jobs in June amidst declining subscriber numbers.
August 12th
Peloton
Job losses: 780 staff
It’s already proved to be a year of change for Peloton – the company had previously cut 2,800 roles and replaced its CEO. It’s been a rocky time for the company, with people ditching their bikes as the pandemic subsides, and a much publicised equipment recall after a death involving one of its products.
On August 12th it announced it was cutting a further 780 jobs, with roles affected including delivery and customer support.
Calm
Job losses: 90 staff
Calm, a meditation app, announced that it was cutting 90 employees from its 400 person workforce. Calm CEO David Ko said the company was ‘not immune’ to the current economic climate.
August 11th
Truepill
Job losses: around 175 staff
Reports from TechCrunch that Truepill, a digital diagnostics company for the health field, has laid off a third of its workforce, around 175 staff. The company has yet to confirm these cuts, but it has already had two rounds of redundancies this year.
August 10th
Linktree
Job losses: around 50 staff
Australian firm Linktree announced that it was to let go of 17% of its staff, equating to around 50 people.
In a LinkedIn post, CEO Alez Zaccaria claimed that the move was necessary to “emerge stronger from the economic downturn.”
Microsoft
Job losses: around 200 staff
Business Insider reports that Microsoft is laying off its Modern Life Experiences team, a department focused on professional consumers. The team was originally formed in 2018.
Nutanix
Job losses: 270 staff
San Francisco based cloud software firm, Nutanix, announced a reduction of 270 staff from it’s 6,000 strong global workforce.
August 8th
Oracle
Job losses: unknown, potentially hundreds
At the time of writing the actual number of layoffs at Oracle is unknown, but there are signs it’s in the hundreds at least, potentially even thousands, globally.
Groupon
Job losses: 500 staff
The voucher discount site laid off 500 staff, around 15% of its total workforce. These redundancies were reportedly across several departments, including sales, marketing, and engineering.
In a letter to staff, the company said that it was focusing on “self-service merchant acquisition capabilities.”
August 5th
iRobot
Job losses: 140 staff
In August, iRobot, the robot vacuum cleaner brand, made the news, but not for layoffs. The company was acquired by Amazon on August 5th and chose the same day to announce that it was planning to cut 140 jobs — 10% of its workforce.
RingCentral
Job losses: 50 staff
RingCentral‘s layoffs included several senior roles, and are in two rounds, effective on September 18th and 25th. Despite these redundancies, the company is actually weathering the current financial climate rather well, growing revenue by 28% in Q2.
August 2nd
Robinhood
Job losses: around 700 staff
There’s no doubt it’s been a rocky year for this fintech company — this isn’t their only appearance in this list. In August, it laid off 23% of its staff, estimated to be around 700. Its previous round of redundancies in April saw around 300 job losses.
In a blog post on the company site, CEO Vlad Tenev stated that the redundancies were due to over hiring in 2021, and that, “As CEO, I approved and took responsibility for our ambitious staffing trajectory — this is on me.” A message that is unlikely to bring much comfort to those affected.
July 26th
Shopify
Job losses: 1,000 staff
Shopify’s 1,000 redundancies in July represented 10% of the company’s entire workforce. In a message to its staff, the company stated that most redundancies were in recruitment, staff, and sales.
Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke stated, “We bet that the channel mix — the share of dollars that travel through ecommerce rather than physical retail — would permanently leap ahead by five or even 10 years. It’s now clear that bet didn’t pay off.”
July 20th
Vimeo
Job losses: around 70 staff
Staff losses at Vimeo in July represented about 6% of the company workforce, with the redundancies being blamed on an uncertain economic future.
Vimeo CEO Anjali Sud said in a blog post: “After assessing the challenging market conditions and uncertainty ahead, I believe this is the responsible action to take.”
July 19th
TikTok
Job losses: around 100 staff
Popular social media platform TikTok has been no stranger to headlines this year, with national security concerns coming to the forefront once again. However, in July, it was job losses that saw it in the public eye, with around 100 TikTok employees getting cut.
July 12th
Microsoft
Job losses: around 1,800 staff
Microsoft’s layoffs of “just” 1% of its staff might not seem so bad, but when you consider that the company employed 181,000 people in 2021, that’s a potential 1,810 people on the chopping block.
Microsoft told Bloomberg: “Today we had a small number of role eliminations. Like all companies, we evaluate our business priorities on a regular basis, and make structural adjustments accordingly.”
July 7th
Job losses: fewer than 100 people
Twitter paused hiring during Elon Musk’s acquisition of the company, reportedly in an attempt to cut costs. In July, it actually let go of around 100 employees, with the redundancies affecting the talent acquisition team.
Twitter is currently locked in a legal battle with Musk over its acquisition, meaning uncertainty will continue at the company for the coming months.
June 28th
Tesla
Job losses: 229 staff
Elon Musk’s Tesla firm made 229 redundancies in June, which was to be expected, considering he had told Bloomberg just a few weeks prior that he would be cutting staff by up to 10%.
The job losses affected salaried employees, most of which were purportedly data annotation specialists.
June 24th
Netflix
Job losses: 300 staff
Netflix saw its subscriber base start to dip for the first time in 2022, as fierce competition from the likes of Disney+, and a much-publicized crackdown on password sharing caught up with the company.
Slowed revenue growth was blamed for the job losses in June, which amounted to 300, and followed the loss of 150 employees in May.
May 23rd
Klarna
Job losses: around 750 staff
Swedish fintech company Klarna cut a huge 750 staff in May, representing 10% of its workforce, and did so via a pre-recorded message.
Co-founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski stated that the announcement was the “hardest one to date,” and that the world “was a very different world than the one we are in today” when the company made its 2022 plans last year.
May 11th
Carvana
Job losses: 2,500 staff
Carvana has had a rocky 2022, with a $506 million loss in the first quarter. In an effort to cut back on expenses, the company dropped 2,500 members of staff in May, some of which were told via a video call.
Why Being Fired Over Zoom Is Such a Jarring Experience
May 5th
Cameo
Job losses: 87 staff
With redundancies in May, Cameo let go of just under a quarter of its total workforce. The company placed the blame on expanding too rapidly and overestimating its market in a post-pandemic world.
CEO Steven Galanis told staff: “To support both fan and talent demand during the pandemic lockdowns, Cameo’s headcount exploded from just over 100 to nearly 400. We hired a lot of people quickly, and market conditions have rapidly changed since then. Accordingly, we have right sized the business to best reflect the new realities.”
April 28th
Netflix
Job losses: 150 staff
In May, Netflix let go of 150 staff, including 25 from its fan site Tudum, which launched in December. The site was designed to give Netflix subscribers a behind-the-scenes look at the streaming giant’s shows and driven by an editorial team.
April 26th
Robinhood
Job losses: around 300 staff
In April, Robinhood CEO stated that the company had cut 9% of the company’s staff, amounting to around 300 people.
April 19th
Better.com
Job losses: between 1,200 to 1,500 staff
In December 2021, Better.com canned 900 employees, and in doing so hit the headlines, thanks to the way it delivered the message — through a very impersonal Zoom call.
April saw the third round of redundancies at the troubled company in less than six months, with an additional 1,200 to 1,500 employees being made redundant.
March 9th
Better.com
Job losses: 3,100 staff
Following on from the 900 staff fired in December over Zoom, Better.com let go of another 3,100 members of staff across both the US and India.
Why Are We Seeing So Many Big Tech Layoffs?
There’s no doubt that the layoffs in tech have been coming thick and fast over the past year, with barely any of the big tech companies unaffected (although Apple has managed to dodge the bullet…for now).
There are a few key reasons why we’re seeing so many big tech layoffs:
- Over hiring
- Economic uncertainty
- Investor pressure
- Artificial Intelligence
Over hiring
Tech companies hired big during the pandemic. With a vast majority of the world stuck at home, the demand for tech was never higher, and tech companies were innovating hard to keep us communicating with each other, as well as entertained. We were spending more time online than ever before, and to keep up with demand, tech companies needed more people.
With the pandemic over, the reliance on tech has subsided slightly, and with that, many tech companies have felt the need to prune their staff.
Economic uncertainty
Take a look at any press statement put out by big tech companies that have made layoffs, and you’ll spot some allusion to the global economy somewhere. It’s an inescapable fact that consumer’s spending power has dwindled in the last year, with demands for tech services and products declining with it.
The cost of living has hit many hard, and multiple factors such as inflation and the war in the Ukraine severely affecting the global economy. While the US isn’t officially in a recession, many financial experts suspect it’s more a case of when, rather than if.
Investor pressure
It only takes one big tech firm to make layoffs to start a domino effect among other companies. When investors see competitors making cuts, they’ll demand the same too. Like it or not, job cuts are a quick way to make substantial savings for companies, and keep investors happy.
When a company like Twitter cuts a huge swathe of its workforce, and still remains operational for a much lower cost, investors are bound to sit up and take note. While it may stifle innovation or affect the services being offered in the long term, the short term is a shot in the arm for share prices.
Artificial intelligence
It’s perhaps a little early to cite this as a main reason for big tech layoffs, but the huge boom in AI use has certainly cast a shadow over the big tech workforce. Recently Goldman Sachs predicted that a massive 300 million roles could be automated, and there is mounting evidence of AI replacing jobs in multiple corners of the business world.
In fact, some big tech companies have openly cited AI in their layoff statements. Dropbox dedicated a lot of space to AI in its most recent layoff communication, which must have been small comfort to the 500 workers who lost their jobs.
How Can My Business Avoid Redundancies?
If you’re concerned about performance at your company, tech solutions may be able to help optimize your workflow, maximize performance and save you money on a monthly basis. This could help reduce the need for redundancies in some situations.
Solutions to streamline project management, improve communications (enabling staff to work efficiently from anywhere, and reducing office costs) and defend against cyberattacks that could majorly disrupt your plans, start from just a few dollars a month. Some are even free. Now is the time for smart investments that lead to the biggest ROIs. See our guides below, for more information.
Top Tech.co Guides
- Easy Website Builders for Beginners
- Ecommerce Solutions to Boost Online Sales
- The Best Free Project Management Software
- Best Google Voice Alternatives, Apps for International Calling and the Best Softphone Apps for Business
- Best CRM Systems for Small Business – How Much Does Salesforce Really Cost?
- Best POS for Restaurants and Retail POS Systems that will boost customer loyalty
