Remote Amazon Workers Lose Attempted Class Action Lawsuit

Amazon workers want to be fairly compensated for WFH expenses, and are pursuing further action.
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Published on March 8, 2023

Amazon has won a proposed class action lawsuit raised by almost 7,000 workers that claim the company should have reimbursed them for the cost of working remotely during Covid-19.

The US District Judge said the case was lost because the main plaintiff, David Williams, failed to prove that Amazon had a policy that didn’t allow expenses like internet and cell phone to be covered.

With thousands of Amazon staffers recently expressing disdain about the company’s return-to-office mandate, it’s not the first time that the company and its workers have come to blows over remote work. Here’s what we know so far.

Amazon Workers Attempt to Claim Back WFH Expenses

As discontent among Amazon’s workforce brews, almost 7,000 workers tried and failed to claim back home office expenses incurred during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The main plaintiff, David Williams, first sued Amazon in 2021 for failing to reimburse him and his fellow employees for costs associated with hybrid working —  like internet, personal phone use, and other services — despite this going against state laws. Williams then added class-action claims last year, after receiving backing from almost 7,000 of his co-workers.

The case was denied by US District Judge, Vincent Chhabria, as Williams wasn’t able to provide evidence that Amazon has a policy that prevented staff members from being compensated.

Chharbria also said that more than 600 of the proposed class members were reimbursed, an average of $66.49 by Amazon, while some received full compensation.

However, even though William’s case was blocked this time, his motion was denied without prejudice. This means that he’ll be able to file a renewed motion against the ecommerce company in the future.

Amazon Workers Are Striking Back

While William’s case hasn’t yet been met with success, the number of workers involved reveals how widespread discontent is about Amazon’s failure to reimburse a greater amount of WFH costs. But insufficient compensation isn’t the only thing its workforce are up in arms about.

After allowing its employees to work remotely since the start of the pandemic, Amazon’s CEO, Andy Jassy, recently called for workers to return to the office, for at least three days a week from May 1.

In response, around 5,000 Amazonians have signed a petition calling for Jassy’s new mandate to be scrapped. Jaded workers also formed a breakaway Slack channel called “Remote Advocacy” to discuss the benefits of remote work as well as concerns regarding the CEO’s new policy.

However, despite widespread appeals from his workforce, Andy Jassy is still calling for a hybrid return to the office to improve collaboration opportunities and to make it easier to learn in person.

And as the company still reels from the biggest round of layoffs made in its 28-year history, it’s likely that driving up productivity by any means it thinks is necessary will continue to be a top priority going forward. It remains to be seen if refilling the office, with disgruntled workers, will achieve that aim.

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Isobel O'Sullivan (BSc) is a senior writer at Tech.co with over four years of experience covering business and technology news. Since studying Digital Anthropology at University College London (UCL), she’s been a regular contributor to Market Finance’s blog and has also worked as a freelance tech researcher. Isobel’s always up to date with the topics in employment and data security and has a specialist focus on POS and VoIP systems.

Atlassian Lays Off 500 Workers in Big Tech’s Latest Casualty

As the company shifts its focus on "high priority" areas, workers bear the brunt yet again.
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Published on March 8, 2023

The software company Atlassian has decided to cut 500 workers — equating to 5% of its workforce — as the firm funnels more resources into growth divisions like cloud computing.

The Trello and Jira owner broke the news to affected workers by email, just four months after Atlassian pledged to ramp up its hiring efforts last November.

However, with the company’s headcount more than tripling since 2019, it’s no surprise that the company has decided to follow in the footsteps of other tech firms that have made recent layoffs like Meta, Citigroup, and Wix.

Atlassian Lays Off 500 Workers to “Rebalance Priorities”

As the tech sector continues to contend with Covid-induced overhiring efforts and a bleak economic outlook, Atlassian has decided to cut 5% of its workforce.

The company’s co-founders and joint CEOs, Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, informed workers about this decision by email, explaining that the cuts were about rebalancing the team to “better position Atlassian for the long term”.

“We have made the difficult decision to rebalance our team to better position Atlassian for the long term” – Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, Co-Founders and CEOs of Atlassian

“A month back we reorganized our company to better reflect operating in a changing and difficult macroeconomic environment” the CEOs write in their blog post, before adding “while it helped us streamline work, we need to go further in rebalancing the skills we require to run faster at our company priorities”.

The company also points out that these layoffs are not a reflection of Atlassian’s financial performance, before listing their various growth opportunities including cloud migrations, and IT service management.

Atlassian also noted that they will be providing a number of benefits to axed employees including a global separation package, six months of healthcare benefits, and Visa support to those in need.

Big Tech’s Layoffs Continue

Unfortunately, as dismissals in the tech sector exceed 100,000 this year alone, Atlassian isn’t the only software company that’s been forced to make difficult decisions.

As tech firms deal with overhiring efforts throughout the pandemic and a turbulent economic outlook driven by rising inflation rates and wavering consumer demand, some of the biggest names in the industry are making radical cuts to their headcount.

Microsoft has sent a staggering 10,000 staffers packing, in one of “the most challenging” times of the company, Meta is considering making a second round of layoffs and similar actions have been made by a slew of companies like Spotify, PayPal, and Wix.

Despite these sweeping layoffs, the tech industry is still showing healthy signs of growth. However, as corporate trust in tech erodes, and fresh talent continues to be deterred from applying for jobs in the field, it’s uncertain how long this expansion will last.

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Isobel O'Sullivan (BSc) is a senior writer at Tech.co with over four years of experience covering business and technology news. Since studying Digital Anthropology at University College London (UCL), she’s been a regular contributor to Market Finance’s blog and has also worked as a freelance tech researcher. Isobel’s always up to date with the topics in employment and data security and has a specialist focus on POS and VoIP systems.

Wix Unlocks Tap to Pay Functionality on iPhones

Wix merchants can "accept secure, contactless payments directly from their iPhones, without needing additional hardware."
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Published on March 8, 2023

Cash registers and other point-of-sale (POS) systems aren’t going to be around forever, as Wix has announced that it now supports Tap to Pay functionality on iPhones.

Contactless payments become quite popular during the pandemic, with everyday people wary about touching surfaces and generally exposing themselves to germs. However, with vaccines in circulation and business mostly back to normal, many have realized the value of contactless payment, whether you’re dodging a deadly virus or not.

Fortunately, businesses in the US have finally taken notice, with software providers and store owners alike providing tools to make contactless payments easier than ever.

Wix Announces Tap to Pay on iPhone

Announced in a press release this week, Wix announced a partnership with Stripe, the financial service firm that also launched Tap to Pay on Android a few weeks ago. The partnership would bring Tap to Pay functionality on iPhones for Wix users.

This would allow Wix merchants to “accept secure, contactless payments directly from their iPhones, without needing additional hardware.”

“We’re constantly evolving our solutions to help users efficiently grow both their online and offline sales. Tap to Pay on iPhone offers merchants a reliable and secure payment option to increase customer touchpoints and deliver new in-person experiences, ultimately optimizing their multichannel strategy and increasing the monetization of their offline sales.” – Amit Sagiv and Volodymyr Tsukur, Co-Heads of Wix Payments.

The functionality will be compatible with all contactless debit and credit cards, as well as Apple Pay and other contactless online payment service. You can access this new feature through the Wix Owners app, the designated app for Wix merchants.

Is Wix Good for Business?

We’ve done a lot of research when it comes to which business software is best for your business, particularly website builders like Wix. From feature catalogs to pricing pages, we’ve gone through the details with a fine-toothed comb to ensure that you make the right decision.

That said, we can confidently say that Wix is an excellent choice when it comes to business website builders. With a massive selection of features, an intuitive drag-and-drop editor, and all the help and support you could need to get through as a beginner, our research found that Wix is the best website builder for small businesses.

That doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the best option for your business. Luckily, we’re here to help, thanks to our thoroughly researched website builder quiz that can help you find the right website builder based on a few short questions.

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Isobel O'Sullivan (BSc) is a senior writer at Tech.co with over four years of experience covering business and technology news. Since studying Digital Anthropology at University College London (UCL), she’s been a regular contributor to Market Finance’s blog and has also worked as a freelance tech researcher. Isobel’s always up to date with the topics in employment and data security and has a specialist focus on POS and VoIP systems.

Salesforce to Launch ChatGPT Alternative Across Platform

Dubbed Einstein GPT, the new tool will have a business focus, allowing users to take advantage of the generative AI platform.
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Published on March 8, 2023

Another tech firm is jumping on the AI bandwagon, with Salesforce announcing that it would incorporate its own iteration of ChatGPT into its customer relationship management (CRM) software.

The business world is abuzz with talk of artificial intelligence, due to the popularity of ChatGPT, a generative AI platform from OpenAI that is surprisingly adept at creating written content.

As the most popular CRM in the world, it’s safe to assume that this kind of tech would benefit Salesforce users, which is why the company has announced plans to launch its own iteration of the tool.

Salesforce Announces Einstein GPT

At the TrailheadDX developer conference this week, Salesforce announced that it would be adding generative AI capabilities to its popular CRM platform with a new tool dubbed Einstein GPT.

“We’re announcing Einstein GPT, the world’s first generative AI for CRM. I think the future is really bright here. It’s creating a tremendous amount of opportunities for innovation within our ecosystem of products as well as our broader ecosystem.” – Patrick Stokes, EVP and GM for platform at Salesforce to TechCrunch

If you know anything about Salesforce, you likely recognize the Einstein name as Salesforce’s own AI-powered assistant that improved functionality for its users. Considering Salesforce partnered with OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, to roll out this new feature, it’s safe to say this new tool could seriously help businesses out in the long run.

What Can Einstein GPT Actually Do?

All this talk of adding generative AI to platforms sounds great and obviously gets headlines. But how does it translate to actual, helpful features in platforms like Salesforce? Well, the specifics actually do sound like they could make life a lot easier for the average user.

“Think about all of the emails and chats that come into service agents today. They get inundated. With Einstein GPT for Service, we can auto-generate draft replies so that the agents can respond to customers much faster, and they get final say. They can make any edits before they hit send.” – Clara Shih, GM at Salesforce

This kind of functionality can be instituted across the Salesforce platform, including automatically generated customer summaries, personalized emails, and marketing copy to attract new customers.

That’s not all, though. Einstein GPT will also be able to generate images, like promotional materials for campaigns and other value assets for business owners. Even better, the platform will learn from your business operations, allowing it to provide a more comprehensive, helpful service in the long run.

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Isobel O'Sullivan (BSc) is a senior writer at Tech.co with over four years of experience covering business and technology news. Since studying Digital Anthropology at University College London (UCL), she’s been a regular contributor to Market Finance’s blog and has also worked as a freelance tech researcher. Isobel’s always up to date with the topics in employment and data security and has a specialist focus on POS and VoIP systems.

More Meta Layoffs Are Likely on the Way This Week

The social media giant already laid off 11,000 employees in November and has asked managers to stop manager to cut costs.
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Published on March 8, 2023

There doesn’t seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel for tech layoffs, with Meta likely planning to cut thousands more jobs from its workforce as early as this week.

Once the pandemic had subsided, tech CEOs blindly and obliviously started hiring in huge numbers. However, due to a lack of common-sense foresight on the part of these CEOs, the economic upturn didn’t last long, and hundreds of thousands of employees have lost their jobs as a result.

The trend continues, as reports out of Meta point to another round of layoffs that could see even more employees outsted from their positions as soon as this week.

Meta Planning for More Layoffs

According to “people familiar with the matter” in a report from Bloomberg, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp — one of the largest social media employers in the world — is planning to lay off thousands of employees as early as this week.

These aren’t the first major round of layoffs from Meta either. In November, the social media company let go of nearly 11,000 employees, which amounted to approximately 13% of its workforce. Meta is also experimenting with a wide range of cost cutting measures, including asking its many managers to stop managing and take lower level positions in the company.

All these firings have been part of Meta’s “year of efficiency,” a term Mark Zuckerberg has been happy to use in the face of these historic cuts. The anonymous sources told Bloomberg that the looming threat of layoffs has had a decidedly negative impact on the morale and mental health of workers at Meta.

Tech Layoffs Abound

The tech industry alone is now responsible for more than 100,000 layoffs in the last few months. Companies like Google, Microsoft, Intel, and dozens of others have been slashing workforces to facilitate this leaner strategy being adopted.

Subsequently, the general consensus across the tech industry — and the global economy as a whole — is that virtually no job is safe, resulting in the atmosphere of distrust and resentment that could have long-lasting effects for the industry.

“I think people should come out of this learning and remembering that we have to trust ourselves before anyone or anything else.” – a recruiter for a large tech firm told Fortune

The sentiment is hard to argue with. While tech was long considered the safest and most lucrative gig you can get, this inability to forecast basic economic trends at the expense of hundreds of thousands of employees doesn’t inspire much confidence. All that to say, the so-called geniuses of the tech industry clearly don’t know enough to protect your job, or worse, they’re apathetic to the plight of the people powering their companies.

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Isobel O'Sullivan (BSc) is a senior writer at Tech.co with over four years of experience covering business and technology news. Since studying Digital Anthropology at University College London (UCL), she’s been a regular contributor to Market Finance’s blog and has also worked as a freelance tech researcher. Isobel’s always up to date with the topics in employment and data security and has a specialist focus on POS and VoIP systems.

Senators Are Launching a Bill to Let the US Ban TikTok

Can TikTok be trusted? Without strong evidence, the proposed TikTok ban may face First Amendment challenges.
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Published on March 8, 2023

Two US senators will introduce new legislation this week with the goal of opening up government power to “ban or prohibit” foreign-owned tech products such as TikTok.

Senator Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, says he has bipartisan support for the bill.

It’s following on the heels of another bill out from the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week, which aims to give President Biden the ability to ban the video app. Plus, the Office of Management and Budget has recently published guidelines detailing how agencies could impliment a ban.

Why the New Bill Exists

Tiktok is owned by ByteDance, a private Chinese company. Many of the app’s critics in the US base their concerns around fear that the private company has too close a relationship to its government. Tiktok’s defense: It operates independantly, even storing its data safely with Oracle, a US-based company.

Warner, who is working on the bill with Senator John Thune, says that questionable data security is only one reason he’s concerned about TikTok specifically. Here’s his statement, covered by CNBC yesterday:

“They are taking data from Americans, not keeping it safe, but what worries me more with TikTok is that this can be a propaganda tool.”

According to Warner, the app’s admittedly opaque algorithm could potentially be used to promote videos in China’s interests. But the proposed ban could face First Amendment challenges, as Caitlin Chin, fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, explained to the New York Times:

“In democratic governments, the government can’t just ban free speech or expression without very strong and tailored grounds to do so and it’s just not clear that we have that yet,” said Ms. Chin.

Social Media and Data Security

TikTok is faced plenty of opposition from the US already: State employees across more than 20 states are banned from using the service on government-issued devices, and some universities have blocked it on their WiFi.

TikTok’s algorithm has clear flaws, including a bias against queer, fat, and disabled people. While there’s no hard evidence that the platform is controlled by or closely cooperates with the government of the country that it operates within, it did weather a July 2022 report accusing the platform of “excessive” levels of data harvesting.

Not for nothing, Meta and Google have recently made the news for turning over their users’ chat logs and search history records to US police departments to aid them in prosecuting abortion seekers — evidence that the scope of governmental concern doesn’t need to stop at foreign-owned companies.

Regardless of how the First Admendment discussion shakes out, one thing’s for sure: TikTok, like any big corporation, is after its users’ data and there’s no harm in sharing less on social media. Thankfully, the service recently rolled out warnings to let some users know when they’ve been scrolling for more than an hour.

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Isobel O'Sullivan (BSc) is a senior writer at Tech.co with over four years of experience covering business and technology news. Since studying Digital Anthropology at University College London (UCL), she’s been a regular contributor to Market Finance’s blog and has also worked as a freelance tech researcher. Isobel’s always up to date with the topics in employment and data security and has a specialist focus on POS and VoIP systems.

Now Even Phones Block Background Noise in Google Meet Calls

Google's expanded noise cancellation tool is coming to phones but won't affect audio capture from screen sharing.
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Published on March 8, 2023

Dialing into a Google Meet call from your phone is about to become a bit less of a struggle: The video communication service is finally rolling out background noise cancellation to phone calls.

Users on desktop or mobile apps have long been able to filter out pesky background noises like typing, car horns, or dog barks. But until now, users dialing directly in from a cell or landline would still need to suffer through those disruptions.

The update is part of a raft of features that Google is rolling out for its Workspace software suite, ensuring that the tech giant keeps up its reputation for constantly adding new features.

How Google Meet Background Noise Cancellation Works

The update is listed among a myriad of brand-new features that also includes improvements to Google Sheet filters and better Google Drive labels.

“Participants who dial in by phone will have background noise removed from their audio,” the update explains. The function can be toggled on or off by the admin for an organization: If your organization has the feature turned on, it will automatically filter noise when you dial in by phone.

This makes sense: Google recently expanded the same cancellation tool, making it available for users on their personal Google Accounts across many Android mobile devices, while also enabling it as a default for any third-party devices using video-tech platform Pexip.

There are a few catches to know about the tool:

  • It won’t work for those who dial out to add a phone participant to a meeting in progress.
  • It’s not recommended for anyone speaking with the use of an electrolarynx.
  • It won’t affect audio capture from screen sharing.
  • Voices from TV or people talking at the same time won’t be filtered out — this is because the tool is intended solely to filter out non-human voices.
  • The tool also adjusts total volume, to avoid harshly loud or quiet voices.

The new expansion of noise cancellation to phone participants will arrive for “select Google Workspace editions,” specifically: Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Frontline users.

Picking Out a Video Call Service

With a large swath of the working world relying heavily on hybrid or fully remote work environments for convenience, flexibility, and health needs, call conferencing services are now a key business software. If you’re looking to Google Meet as your solution, you’ll be guaranteed a background-noise free experience.

That’s also true for many of the top conferencing tools, from Zoom to Microsoft Teams. RingCentral might be the best for longer meetings, however, due to its custom features and low price.

We’ve done the research, so you don’t have to: Check out our full review page of all the top web conferencing platforms for the full story about all the pros, cons, and prices to expect from the cream of the crop.

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Written by:
Isobel O'Sullivan (BSc) is a senior writer at Tech.co with over four years of experience covering business and technology news. Since studying Digital Anthropology at University College London (UCL), she’s been a regular contributor to Market Finance’s blog and has also worked as a freelance tech researcher. Isobel’s always up to date with the topics in employment and data security and has a specialist focus on POS and VoIP systems.

10 Ways Businesses Are Using ChatGPT Right Now

From data analysis to PA tasks, ChatGPT's applications are extensive. Here's how businesses are currently using the tool.
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Published on March 8, 2023

Like it or loathe it, ChatGPT is irreversibly changing the way we work. Since the app was released last November, surveys suggest it’s been picked up by almost half of US companies. 93% of these firms are looking to expand their use of ChatGPT further in the upcoming months, and its popularity has even encouraged popular business apps to launch AI tools. For example, you can sign up for a free ClickUp account and join a waitlist to use its new AI assistant.

But its rise to prominence is hardly surprising. Ethical and philosophical debates aside, the artificial intelligence-backed tool offers boundless possibilities to businesses looking to get ahead. And due to the chatbot’s ability to respond to any human prompt, the limit really is your imagination.

To find out how exactly the insurgent app is being used in the workplace, we asked businesses across a vast range of industries how they’re currently deploying ChatGPT. We also asked workers to share their experiences with the app, as well as any anxieties they may be feeling about its meteoric rise, to get a clearer picture of how this tool might shape the future of work.

In this guide:

How Are Businesses Using ChatGPT?

From data analysis to assistant duties, ChatGPTs applications stretch far and wide. Here are 10 ways businesses are currently using OpenAI’s disruptive app.

  1. For customer service inquiries
  2.  To streamline external communications
  3.  As a coding tool
  4.  As a personal assistant 
  5.  To write emails
  6.  To write copy
  7. For time management 
  8. To create presentations 
  9.  For keyword research 
  10.  To manage meetings

1. For customer service inquiries 

Chatbots have been helping customer service teams to automate activity for decades. However, now the use of AI has been democratized further with the use of ChatGPT, businesses are using the tech to carry out even more advanced customer service functions.

Bennett Heyn, the CEO of the digital marketing firm Parker Marker, uses the tool to manage customer service inquiries and track customer data simultaneously. By allowing him to process consumer data more quickly and accurately than when using manual methods, Heyn claimed it allowed him to “save time and maximize efficiency”, changing the way his firm does business as a result.

Farhan Advani from Ncctting Tools uses chatbots for this purpose too. Doing so, Advani explains, helps his business to accurately locate information, reducing the time it takes for them to respond to customer queries.

2. To streamline external communications

ChatGPT can be a useful tool for streamlining communications operations too. Alice Wu from the PR company Mind Meld PR uses ChatGPT to alter content for various mediums including social media posts, blog posts, and emails. Specifically, she uses the app to generate a clear and unique piece of content, before adding some “flavor, additional details, and personal touches” of her own.

“I would recommend the tool for any small business looking to create more content for its website, social accounts, or marketing. It’s definitely been a quick turnaround for our marketing material.” – Alice Wi, PR Associate from Mind Meld PR

While Wu endorses ChatGPT to small businesses, she does offer some words of advice. “Always double-check what it produces to make sure it’s factual and accurate” she warns, “you don’t want to inadvertently post anything controversial, or make promises you can’t deliver”.

3. As a coding tool

ChatGPT is making major waves in the software industry. One data engineer from Detroit told Tech.co that he uses the chatbot when he’s stuck on a project. “If you know how to give correct prompts, it can help you with code logic, syntax errors, and even change code from one coding language to another” he explained.

Another software engineer revealed that ChatGPT helps him to create more complex liquid code snippets that help his clients can use on their websites to filter products, create membership programs, and track consumer interactions.

4. As a personal assistant

In addition to streamlining major processes, the app is being used by workers to carry out a variety of administrative tasks like data entry and email management.

“I feel very positive about the recent explosion of ChatGPT in the workplace. It is an exciting development that definitely has the potential to revolutionize the way people work.” – Abdullah Prem, CEO of Bloggersneed

Founder of Bloggersneed Abdullah Prem — who uses the chatbot for these purposes — tells Tech.co that these tools maximize his efficiency and save him a lot of time. Prem even foresees that ChatGPT will change core processes in his workplace and revolutionize the way people work across sectors in upcoming years.

5. To write emails

ChatGPT has also been helping employees to carry out one of the most universally disliked tasks —writing emails.

Luke Lovelady, an ad developer at BlueOptima, Arizona uses the AI tool to send personalized cold emails. Depending on who Lovelady is emailing, he’ll feed ChatGPT a prompt containing information about a prospect. Then, he’ll tell it to write a personalized email using the AIDA framework and include a CTA at the end.

The Arizonan rep also uses the tool to create original cold calling scripts by feeding the app simple value propositions, engaging hooks, and issues that potential customers may face. Aside from taking care of the tedious work, the app is proving to be a major time saver too. By cutting down time normally spent thinking, structuring, and writing outreach materials, he estimates the tool is saving him anywhere from one to two hours a day.

6. To write copy

ChatGPT is helping workers to create copy too, with content specialist Lauren Van Woerden using the tool at her marketing firm Ollo Metrics whenever she’s working on SEO copywriting tasks. Worden explains that by using very specific, clear prompts, she’s able to generate the best results — with the successful application of these tools cutting down her copywriting time by 30-40%.

“I treat this as a foundation to work from–no more writers block–and then I add in the tone and personality I want the copy to have.” – Lauren Van Woerden

Toni, a freelance copywriter, uses the app to create copy and claims it’s particularly useful when it comes to writing introductions and conclusions. ChatGPT has had a profound effect on her pace of work too, with the app reducing the number of days she spends writing her blog from seven to two. When it comes to using the device transparently, however, Toni isn’t so sure.

“To be honest, I don’t think it’s necessary to tell my employer that I use ChatGPT” she tells Tech.co. “It’s not that much of big of a deal. All he cares about is content, it doesn’t matter where I get it from”.

7. For time management

Lovelady uses ChatGPT to create daily schedules. He feeds the app a prompt about his daily situation and what a normal day looks like before asking for advice on how he should best utilize his time. ChatGPT uses this information to create a daily schedule, which helps Lovelady to organize his task load based on his top priorities.

“It would be foolish for workers and employers to not use this technology in some capacity to eliminate manual and time-consuming tasks and increase our output.” –  Luke Lovelady, Ad Development Rep at BlueOptima

Speaking to Tech.co about the tool’s potential, he says “I think the ChatGPT explosion has created a new work paradigm that can be greatly taken advantage of if used correctly”. He also expressed that due to the app’s boundless potential,  failing to utilize this tech could be an error for businesses. 

8. To create presentations

Fed up with the repetitive nature of making presentations? Well, it seems like ChatGPT might be able to assist with this too.

Harman Signh, Director of the cybersecurity services company Cyphere uses the AI app to create reports and presentations. He explains that ChatGPT allows him to create high-quality presentations quickly and easily, which has a substantial impact on the efficiency of his work. Signh also uses the chatbot to produce reports, responses to customer inquiries, and marketing materials like blogs, which is a true testament to the tool’s versatility.

Unsurprisingly, Signh has a very optimistic view about ChatGPT’s future potential, telling Tech.co that he’s looking forward to seeing how this technology continues to evolve and how it can be used to help companies become more successful.

9. For keyword research

Looking to power up your SEO game? You’re in luck. ChatGPT is also being used as a multi-pronged search engine optimization tool for businesses across the globe.

One worker told us that they use ChatGPT for keyword research, link-building efforts, and even to help build their monthly content calendar. Radhika Gupta, founder of the digital agency One Digital Land also uses ChatGPT to assist with various SEO activities including keyword research, SEO analytics, and content optimization for organic search, PPC, and emails.

Gupta tells us that since using the app, it’s been easier to nurture and convert leads by maximizing the company’s efficiency — a massive win for any sales business. However, her overall attitude is one of cautious optimism, with the business founder pointing out that since it’s a relatively new technology, its overall impact on digital marketing remains to be seen.

10. To manage meetings

ChatGPT also holds the potential to streamline meeting management, with businesses like Moo Soft using the AI-backed software to summarize meeting transcripts to make information more accessible to remote workers who aren’t able to tune into calls.

Moo Soft’s owner, Calvin Wallis tells Tech.co that thanks to ChatGPT’s ability to accurately sum up virtual discussions, he’s able to give his full attention to those participating in meetings in the knowledge that the rest of the team will be caught up to speed.

If you’re keen on using ChatGPT’s smart technology to manage your meetings, you’re in luck. Web conferencing giant Microsoft Teams recently launched a Premium tier that contains a slew of features backed by OpenAI technology ⁠— including intelligent recap tools and watermarking capabilities ⁠— making it easier than ever for businesses to benefit from the technology.

In fact, since ChatGPT first disrupted the business landscape, a number of major tech companies like Google and Meta have been scrambling to get up to speed. And while these efforts have been met with haven’t always been met success, there’s no doubt that ChatGPT and similar tools are going to massively influence the way we live and work going forward.

To get a general consensus on how workers feel about this, we asked them about their experience with the tool and its potential impact on the future of work. Here’s what they thought.

Anxieties and Optimism: The Future of AI in the Workplace

Almost every business we heard from had very positive experiences with ChatGPT, including Luka Lamaj from Docere Health, who told Tech.co that advances in chatbot technology have made it possible for his medical practice to streamline a number of operations, freeing up human resources and allowing him to focus on driving innovation instead.

Lots of workers are in agreement, including software engineer Cameron Perrin, who told us that tools like ChatGPT have enabled him to speed up his workflow by roughly 20-25%, and a copywriter, who revealed the app reduced his writing time by a staggering 30-40%.

However, while Lamaj from Docere Health believes that ChatGPT can open up a lot of opportunities for businesses, he acknowledges that it shouldn’t be seen as a silver bullet for all problems. “There are certain tasks and interactions that require human interaction” he explains “and chatbots cannot replace that.” 

“I have mixed feelings about it. I like it, but I my fear is that the unemployment rate will go way up.” – Cameron Garrison, CEO of Guardian Lemon Law

Additionally, with recent reports revealing that almost half of US companies using ChatGPT have already replaced workers, lots of respondents expressed understandable concerns over future job security. For example, Cameron Garrison, CEO of Guardian Lemon Law speculates that since the bot is capable of performing many tasks carried out by humans, unemployment rates could surge as a result.

Ultimately, as this technology becomes more commonplace, it’s undeniable that many roles risk becoming obsolete in the process. Yet, as Mattia Santin from the behavior analytic company HotJar points out, since tools like ChatGPT are currently incapable of carrying out tasks that require a human touch, they will still depend on workers to verify their results.

And in the meantime, for innovative businesses like Santin’s, by taking care of the busy work, they leave workers to do what they’re good at, being creative.

Companies That Have Banned ChatGPT

Most companies are welcoming the mechanical arm of ChatGPT. However, since generative AI chatbots are still in their infancy, and many are prone to errors, biases, and misinformation, a number of employers have barred their use outright due to worries about plagiarism and security.

Apple restricted the tool in May, over concerns about employees unknowingly sharing confidential information. Samsung also banned ChatGPT, alongside other generative AI platforms, after an employee of the company was responsible for classified code being leaked via the app. But it’s not just tech companies that are restricting access. A number of Wall Street Banks have cracked down on the tool, including Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Bank of America Corp., and Wells Fargo & Co.

Learn more about companies banning generative AI here.

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Isobel O'Sullivan (BSc) is a senior writer at Tech.co with over four years of experience covering business and technology news. Since studying Digital Anthropology at University College London (UCL), she’s been a regular contributor to Market Finance’s blog and has also worked as a freelance tech researcher. Isobel’s always up to date with the topics in employment and data security and has a specialist focus on POS and VoIP systems.

Tech to Replace Hundreds of Jobs in Global Citigroup Layoffs

CEO says the bank is investing in 'transformation' and simply 'streamlining' processes.
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Published on March 8, 2023

Citigroup is cutting hundreds of jobs across the globe, as the company gears up to replace more manual processes with tech investments, according to the company’s CEO.

The cuts, which will affect less than 1% of Citigroup’s 240,000 employees, will impact staff in operations, technology and investment banking, in an attempt to further ‘streamline’ and ‘automate’ more processes.

The news comes just a week after the company banned ChatGPT, and rival Goldman Sachs cut 3,200 jobs in what is described as one of the most ‘brutal’ layoffs of 2023 to date.

Manual Jobs Are Out, Machines Are In

As part of its transformation initiative, Citigroup cut hundreds of jobs this week, as the company moves forward with its plan to achieve more ‘efficiency’. The job cuts, announced in Bloomberg, will reportedly impact staff in operations, technology and investment banking. However, the instability of the economy will naturally spark concerns for the staff in the company who remain.

“As our investment in transformation and control initiatives mature, we expect to realize efficiency as those programs transition from manually intensive processes to technology-enabled ones, Jane Fraser, Citigroup Chief Executive Officer

According to Bloomberg, the company has spent billions investing its technology division, with the intention of reducing its reliance on manual processes, meaning job cuts at this time are not only standard, but were arguably inevitable.

We’re streamlining our processes and making them more automated, whilst improving the quality and accessibility of our data. This will make us a better bank.”

With the economy at an all-time low and managers being asked to ‘not manage’ in some businesses, companies are doing anything they can to find ways to alleviate the stress of economic downturn.

How Businesses Are Maximizing Technology in 2023

Citigroup isn’t the only company that’s investing in technology. According to Microsoft 90% of businesses are interested in investing in AI-powered toolsto help streamline processes and eliminate repetitive tasks. We also know that 43% of professional workers are using ChatGPT for work-related tasks — 68% of which are doing so without their manager’s knowledge.

But AI isn’t the only type of technology businesses are reportedly investing in. According to Microsoft, 77% of businesses want greater access to tools like Wix and Smartsheet – ‘no and low-code’  tools to help build better digital solutions – with 84% believing the ability to use custom-built apps would help improve collaboration.

Businesses interested in optimizing their workflow are also investing in top project management tools, and reliable video conferencing apps to cut costs, and improve communication and productivity. While company layoffs are still expected to continue, it’s clear that investing in top talent with tech skills will be a priority, regardless of the industry.

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Isobel O'Sullivan (BSc) is a senior writer at Tech.co with over four years of experience covering business and technology news. Since studying Digital Anthropology at University College London (UCL), she’s been a regular contributor to Market Finance’s blog and has also worked as a freelance tech researcher. Isobel’s always up to date with the topics in employment and data security and has a specialist focus on POS and VoIP systems.

Microsoft Windows 11 ‘Moment 2’ Update Boasts New Features & AI Integration

The highly-anticipated update will include snippet screen recording, a phone link for iOS, a Bing AI integration, and more.
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Published on March 8, 2023

Microsoft has released the latest update of Windows 11 (22H2), dubbed its ‘Moment 2’, which comes with some highly-anticipated features, including the new AI-powered Bing Chat in the taskbar.

The news comes shortly after the company announced its ChatGPT-powered Bing search engine integration, designed to help users find answers to their questions faster.

The new version of Windows 11 will also include voice access improvements, iPhone connectivity, task manager search functionality, a new search bar option, screen recording and more.

What Are Microsoft ‘Moments’?

Microsoft ‘Moments’ are the routine software updates released by Microsoft throughout the year to introduce new features to its latest operating system, Windows 11.

The updates, known as ‘Moments’ were introduced in 2022, to allow new features to be released more frequently, as opposed to waiting for the annual feature update that happens just once a year.

The first Windows 11 ‘Moment’ was released in October 2022, and included a file explorer with tabs, suggested actions, taskbar features, and the previously-removed ability to right-click on the taskbar to open the task manager.

Microsoft released Windows 11 in 2021. While the Windows 10 operating system is still functional, only Windows 11 users will benefit from ‘Moment’ updates, and all support for Windows 10 will end in 2025.

What’s Included in the Windows 11 ‘Moment 2’ Update

The Windows 11 22H2 ‘Moment 2’ is packed with a number of new features including a Phone Link for iOS, a searchable task manager, and the highly-anticipated Bing AI-powered chat, linked directly in the Windows search bar. The AI will be able to perform searches, generate content and answer questions. Talking to Bleeping Computer, Microsoft’s Chief Product Officer, Panos Panay, described the update as a ‘major step forward’ for the business.

“Today, we take the next major step forward and combine the incredible breadth and ease of use of the Windows PC with the amazing capability of the new AI-powered Bing… Soon hundreds of millions of Windows 11 users can get access to this incredible new technology to search, chat, answer questions and generate content from right on their Windows taskbar.” — Microsoft Chief Product Officer, Panos Panay

Microsoft hopes that AI-tools will become more common in the workplace, and has invested billions of dollars into its ongoing partnership with OpenAI to upgrade its own applications like Excel, Microsoft Projects, and Microsoft Teams — which now utilizes ChatGPT to take meeting notes during conference calls. While the ‘Moment 2’ AI integration will only consist of a Bing entry point in the Windows search home, there are hopes of a more direct integration in the future.

It should be noted that the new Phone Link iOS feature, which will allow users to access their iPhone messages directly in Windows 11, and make or receive phone calls directly in the app, will only be accessible as a preview for select users at present. However, this could be a game-changer for businesses looking to better integrate their communication channels between their work laptops and phones, in the future.

The Task Manager search bar will allow users to filter processes by ID or name, making it easier to terminate problematic tasks efficiently. See a full list of the Windows 11 ‘Moment 2’ updates expected to roll out in the coming weeks, below:

Windows 11 ‘Moment 2’ new features

  • Bing Chat in Windows Search taskbar
  • Screen recording in the snipping tool
  • Tabs in Notepad
  • New search bar options – allowing users to customize search to their preference
  • Search functionality in Task Manager
  • A taskbar system ‘tray overflow menu’
  • A full-screen widgets board
  • Voice access improvements
  • Windows studio effects in quick settings

All Windows 11 users will receive the new ‘Moment 2’ features as part of the mandatory March 2023 patch updates – which will include security fixes too.

How to Get Windows 11 ‘Moments 2’

As usual with Microsoft, all existing Windows 11 users will receive the ‘Moment 2’ features as part of the mandatory patch updates, so if you’re a Windows 11 user you should already have these new features. New Windows 11 users will be able to download Windows 11 (22H2, build 22621.1344) with the new features, automatically.

To manually install the Windows update, users can action the following steps:

  1. Open settings
  2. Select ‘windows update’
  3. ‘Click ‘check for updates’
  4. Install

Like most operating system updates, this update is free.

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Isobel O'Sullivan (BSc) is a senior writer at Tech.co with over four years of experience covering business and technology news. Since studying Digital Anthropology at University College London (UCL), she’s been a regular contributor to Market Finance’s blog and has also worked as a freelance tech researcher. Isobel’s always up to date with the topics in employment and data security and has a specialist focus on POS and VoIP systems.

Microsoft Teams Could Start Censoring Profanity

The collaboration platform could allow users to filter profanity from live captions in a potential update.
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Published on March 8, 2023

What the fork? Microsoft Teams is working on a new feature that would allow users to censor profanity from live captions throughout the platform.

There’s no denying that Microsoft Teams is one of the more popular collaboration tools on the market, largely due to the vast array of updates that come along with it. These improvements are always driven by customer feedback, in service of a more capable and functional platform.

Now, Microsoft Teams could soon be making another change related to whether or not your swear words will get through to the rest of your team.

Microsoft Teams Could Add Profanity Filter

Spotted on the Microsoft 365 roadmap, a new feature could be coming to Microsoft Teams to give users the power to censor profanity from live captions in meetings.

“With the newly introduced toggle for turn on/off profanity filtering, user will now be able to control whether they want to continue to leverage the profanity filtering capability provided out of box, or, if they want to see every word as-is.”

Obviously, the swear words you use will only be censored in the live captions, as Microsoft Teams has not yet developed the technology to bleep a person in real time.

Additionally, you’ll have time to use profanity before it’s removed from live captions as well, as the update is not scheduled to go into effect until May 2023.

Is Microsoft Teams Good for Business?

We’ve done extensive research at Tech.co on business tools like Microsoft Teams. From analyzing features to evaluating pricing plans, we’re committed to making sure businesses can make the right decisions when it comes to professional software.

We can confidently say that Microsoft Teams is a rock solid option for the average business, particularly if you’re already set up with Microsoft 365. Sure, it can be a bit complicated at times, but with a lot of features and a vast library of available integrations, Microsoft Teams is good for business.

In fact, one of the best aspects of Microsoft Teams is updates like this. The platform is constantly improving based on customer feedback, so any issues you might have with the platform will likely be solved before you get too frustrated. Feel free to check out our Microsoft Team vs Google Meet guide for more information.


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Isobel O'Sullivan (BSc) is a senior writer at Tech.co with over four years of experience covering business and technology news. Since studying Digital Anthropology at University College London (UCL), she’s been a regular contributor to Market Finance’s blog and has also worked as a freelance tech researcher. Isobel’s always up to date with the topics in employment and data security and has a specialist focus on POS and VoIP systems.

TikTok Now Warns Minors to Stop Scrolling After an Hour

Users can bypass the time limit by inputting a code, which will hopefully make young people reconsider their screen time.
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Published on March 8, 2023

TikTok just announced that it would set a default time limit of 60 minutes per day for users under 18 years old in an effort to curb the mental health crisis among its younger userbase.

There’s no denying that TikTok has seen its fair share of controversy in recent years. From the government bans to its questionable trends, the social media platform seems to never leave the news cycle for very long.

Now, TikTok is hoping to quell the storm of criticism by curbing the addictive behaviors of teens that perhaps use the app a little too much.

TikTok Announces Default Time Limit for Teens

Announced in a press release this week, TikTok announced new features aimed at making the app a better place for teen users, including new default screen time limits and screen time reports.

“We believe digital experiences should bring joy and play a positive role in how people express themselves, discover ideas, and connect.” – Cormac Keenan, Head of Trust and Safety at TikTok

These new time restrictions are not set in stone, though, as teen users will be able to input a passcode to bypass the 60-minute limit. This will still curb usage, claims Keenan, as users will be forced “to make an active decision to extend that time.”

Additionally, if teen users deactivate the 60-minute time limit and use the app for more than 100 minutes per day, the TikTok app will prompt them with a notification to set a time limit, displaying a breakdown of screen time to further illustrate the value of time off of TikTok.

Is TikTok Addictive?

There have been plenty of studies done on the addictive nature of social media, with experts explaining that the scrolling on social media isn’t entirely dissimilar to recreational drug usage as far as brain chemistry is concerned.

“When you’re scrolling… sometimes you see a photo or something that’s delightful and it catches your attention. And you get that little dopamine hit in the brain… in the pleasure center of the brain. So, you want to keep scrolling.” – Dr Julia Albright, Digital Sociologist and Lecturer at USC

There’s also more than enough data to show that social media and TikTok have a negative effect on mental health, particularly for young people. Even the American Psychological Association published a report stating that reduction of social media usage could improve the esteem of emotionally distressed minors.

So, at least TikTok is taking steps to quell this kind of usage, but bigger leaps may be needed to solve the problem.


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Isobel O'Sullivan (BSc) is a senior writer at Tech.co with over four years of experience covering business and technology news. Since studying Digital Anthropology at University College London (UCL), she’s been a regular contributor to Market Finance’s blog and has also worked as a freelance tech researcher. Isobel’s always up to date with the topics in employment and data security and has a specialist focus on POS and VoIP systems.

How to Save Your Data When Microsoft Teams Classic Free Ends

Businesses can still use Microsoft Teams for free — but only if they're willing to back up data and start from scratch.
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Published on March 8, 2023

After serving businesses for almost six years, Microsoft Teams’ free Classic plan is officially retiring on April 12, forcing all remaining users to switch to a paid version to retain their chats, files, and data.

Microsoft Teams (free) will still be available to businesses looking for a complimentary web conferencing service, but annoyingly, migrating data from the legacy version will not be possible.

The changes will come just two months after Microsoft Teams announced the release of its new Premium tier that features a number of tools backed by OpenAI like intelligent recapping and automated note generation.

Currently using Microsoft’s Classic tier? Here’s what these changes will mean for you, and guidance on the different steps your business can take next.

Microsoft Teams Classic Plan is Ending on April 12

Microsoft has decided to call curtains on its free Classic plan —with the company permanently halting its services on April 12 this year.

This doesn’t mark the end of Team’s free offering though. The soon-to-be sheltered plan is being replaced by Microsoft Teams’ new free tier, which contains many of the same trappings as Classic, including unlimited group meetings for up to 60 minutes, meeting limits of 100, and up to 5GB of cloud storage per user.

But what does this mean for the thousands of businesses that currently depend on Microsoft’s free web conferencing service? Well, confusingly Classic users aren’t able to transfer chat data directly into the new free plan. Instead, the software company recommends backing up all Team files before April 12 before signing up for the new service. Or, upgrading to its paid Essentials package, which will cost companies $4 per user per month.

“You’ll be able to view and save files in your current account through April 12, 2023, however, none of it will transfer to your new account.” – Microsoft

By switching to Microsoft’s Essential package, businesses will be able to maintain full access to their chats, files, and meetings and unlock more benefits like unlimited group meetings for up to 30 hours, and generous call limits of up to 300 users.

Businesses willing to fork out slightly higher fees of $7 per month, per user can also opt for Microsoft’s new Premium tier. But what does the platforms’ recently released package include – and are its X features worth the extra cost?

Microsoft Teams Launches New OpenAI-Backed Premium Tier

In light of Microsoft’s recent partnership with OpenAI — the machine learning powerhouse that’s responsible for creating the world’s fastest-growing app, ChatGPT — the company has launched a new web conferencing tier; Microsoft Teams Premium.

The plan includes a number of features powered by OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 AI language model, the upgraded version of GPT-3 that utilizes deep learning to generate human-like output. Features using this new smart technology include an intelligent recap tool that generates meeting notes automatically, automated reminder emails to drive up attendance for webinars, and improved live translation capabilities.

For businesses looking to drive up operational efficiency and workplace collaboration, this suite of smart features is likely to pay for itself over time. However, if you’re looking to keep overheads as low as possible, paying for conferencing services isn’t your business’s only option, as we explore next.

Not Willing to Upgrade? Here Are Your Other Options

If you’re a Teams loyalist, backing up your data and switching to Microsoft’s new free package may be your best bet.

However, despite its market dominance, Microsoft Teams isn’t the only quality free complimentary conference call service out there, and our insights suggest it might not be the best, either.

If you’re looking for a free feature-rich video calling tool, our research suggests Zoom is the number one solution. While its meeting times might not be as generous as Microsoft Team’s free tier, it offers flawless usability and a number of capabilities that Microsoft free lacks like recording tools for calls and access to over 1000+ integrations.

RingCentral is another worthy contender, with generous user limits of 100 participants and a 24-hour time limits on calls. There’s no limit on competitive services though, so see how our favorite free services compare in the table below.

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Isobel O'Sullivan (BSc) is a senior writer at Tech.co with over four years of experience covering business and technology news. Since studying Digital Anthropology at University College London (UCL), she’s been a regular contributor to Market Finance’s blog and has also worked as a freelance tech researcher. Isobel’s always up to date with the topics in employment and data security and has a specialist focus on POS and VoIP systems.

Canada Becomes Latest Government to Ban TikTok for Officials

The ban follows the US, and EU Commission's decisions to remove the app from all government-owned devices.
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Published on March 8, 2023

Yet another country has decided to ban TikTok on official government devices, with Canada citing security concerns over the social media app.

The move follows others, such as the US, which has given its employees thirty days to remove the app from all government-owned equipment. The EU commission also announced similar measures last week.

ByteDance, owners of the social media platform, has accused these countries of not communicating properly with the company, and singling out TikTok unfairly.

Canada’s TikTok Ban for Employees

On Monday, the Canadian government announced that it had taken the decision to ban the Chinese-owned social media app, TikTok, from government devices.

The government has stated that security concerns are behind the ban, citing issues with the company’s data collection policies. While ByteDance has maintained that the platform is secure, leaks last year seemed to suggest that data from users in the West was viewable by Chinese employees. Chinese citizens have access to a separate version of TikTok, with stricter limitations and deeper levels of monitoring.

Canadian citizens are still free to download and use the app, although Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did theorize that this action may make companies and individuals reconsider their use of the app.

“I suspect that as government takes the significant step of telling all federal employees that they can no longer use TikTok on their work phones, many Canadians from business to private individuals will reflect on the security of their own data and perhaps make choices.” – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

TikTok Bans so Far

Canada isn’t the only country to insist that government officials cease using the TikTok app. The US government banned the social media platform last December, and last week issued a warning to all employees that they had 30 days to remove the app from government-owned devices.

The EU commission also took the step to ban the app, with workers being given until the 15th of March to remove scrub the app from devices.

“The measure aims to protect the Commission against cybersecurity threats and actions which may be exploited for cyberattacks against the corporate environment of the commission.” – EU spokeswoman Sonya Gospodinova

India was one of the first countries to ban TikTok, taking action in 2020 to remove it at the same time as a raft of other Chinese-owned apps, including Weibo and WeChat. However, unlike the EU, US and Canadian bans, the app was also banned for Indian citizens. At the time, the its userbase in the country was around 200 million.

TikTok Responds to Bans

ByteDance’s response to the Canadian ban echoes its previous responses to these actions when taken by other countries. In a statement, the company complained that the move to ban the app was taken without any consultancy.

“We are always available to meet with our government officials to discuss how we protect the privacy and security of Canadians, but singling out TikTok in this way does nothing to achieve that shared goal.” – ByteDance company spokesperson

It also accused Canada of preventing “officials from reaching the public on a platform loved by millions of Canadians.”

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Written by:
Isobel O'Sullivan (BSc) is a senior writer at Tech.co with over four years of experience covering business and technology news. Since studying Digital Anthropology at University College London (UCL), she’s been a regular contributor to Market Finance’s blog and has also worked as a freelance tech researcher. Isobel’s always up to date with the topics in employment and data security and has a specialist focus on POS and VoIP systems.

Snapchat Launches ChatGPT-Powered Chatbot “My AI”

You can start a conversation with the My AI tool like it's just another one of your actual Snapchat contacts.
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Published on March 8, 2023

Snapchat has just launched a chatbot powered by the same technology as ChatGPT, called “My AI”, which will be made available for use next week.

The social media platform, which has around 750 million monthly users, is the latest tech company to utilize the GPT-3 family of language models to create a new AI feature for its customers.

However, don’t expect this chatbot to discuss any and all matters at length – strict limitations mean that it will obediently adhere to established trust and safety guidelines.

Snapchat Launches “My AI”

“My AI”, in a nutshell, is Snapchat’s answer to ChatGPT. It uses the same technology to generate accurate answers to user queries but has repackaged it into a mobile-friendly tool that can generate those answers quickly and concisely.

Unfortunately, at present, the new feature will only be available to Snapchat Plus customers, but the company says it will make My AI available to all of the platform’s users, free or paid, in the near future.

Snapchat Plus is currently priced at $3.99 per month. The company will hope that the release of My AI will help them expand its paid user base, which currently sits at 2 million users, a small fraction of Snapchat’s total.

ChatGPT vs Snapchat My AI: What’s the Difference?

Snapchat has assured users that My AI will always adhere to the trust and safety guidelines it has been trained on, which means it’s safer but more restrictive than ChatGPT.

The other big difference between ChatGPT and Snapchat’s My AI is that the latter functions more like a persona-mimicking bot rather than a tool with a genuine business application like ChatGPT. This will also set My AI apart from Bard, Google’s soon-to-be-released ChatGPT alternative.

In keeping with its more human-like appearance, My AI will appear as another contact on your Snapchat for you to talk to at any time. Don’t expect it to weigh in on politics or use curse words though, as it’s programmed to partake in neither.

Snapchat: One of Foundry’s First Beneficiaries

My AI was only made possible thanks to Foundry, a developer platform launched by ChatGPT creators OpenAI. Snapchat is thought to be among the first clients, according to The Verge.

Now it’s got itself up and running, the social media platform will now be able to improve My AI with information gathered from chats, and even incorporate language models from other vendors.

The race to create the world’s most popular chatbot is well and truly on. With Snapchat’s My AI feature coming out of the blue, it’s anyone’s guess who might be next.

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Isobel O'Sullivan (BSc) is a senior writer at Tech.co with over four years of experience covering business and technology news. Since studying Digital Anthropology at University College London (UCL), she’s been a regular contributor to Market Finance’s blog and has also worked as a freelance tech researcher. Isobel’s always up to date with the topics in employment and data security and has a specialist focus on POS and VoIP systems.

Why China’s ChatGPT Challengers Are Struggling To Catch Up

Chinese companies are developing their own AI chatbots, but will censorship considerations and chip shortages slow them down?
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Published on March 8, 2023

ChatGPT has been taking the western world by storm – over 100 million people are now thought to have had a conversation with the Chatbot in the three months since its launch, and it has since been incorporated into Microsoft Teams and search engine Bing.

Unfortunately, due to the Chinese government’s authoritarian laws presiding over the free speech of its citizens, it’s not officially accessible in the country – and the ruling party is clamping down on other ways to access it.

Alongside all this, Chinese companies like Baidu, Tencent, and ecommerce giant Ali Baba have been quietly researching and developing competing technology. Here’s how they’re doing so far – and what might slow them down.

China’s ChatBots: What’s Out There?

The release of ChatGPT for Bing – as well as the imminent launch of Google’s Bard AI chatbot – does make it feel like China is a world away from releasing a genuine competitor to either platform. But in reality, they don’t seem that far behind.

Perhaps the most significant project currently taking place is Ernie Bot, a chatbot being developed by the Chinese search engine Baidu and scheduled to launch in March.

Baidu CEO Robin Li has said that the bot is designed for Chinese language speakers and the Chinese market more generally, making it a more suitable platform, in theory, for citizens of the world’s largest country than its western analogs.

Jack Ma’s ecommerce behemoth Ali Baba has made similar inroads and is currently testing a ChatGPT alternative internally before releasing it to the public.

On top of this, it was revealed this week that Tencent Holdings, which owns WeChat, has created a team to develop a ChatGPT competitor, currently called “Hunyuan AI”.

The South China Morning Post reported that the language model achieved a record-high score on the Chinese Language Understanding Evaluation (CLUE) test.

AI and Censorship: A Headache for Authoritarians

The Chinese companies currently pumping money into AI projects are forced to contend with something that western companies like OpenAI don’t need to worry about: ensuring their chatbots aren’t violating the draconian censorship laws enforced by the CCP by simply thinking freely.

China has already made it extremely difficult to access the non-compliant ChatGPT for this reason. If you want to access the service from inside the country, you’ll need a VPN or proxy server, but reports suggest that Beijing is also clamping down on these avenues to access too.

It may be easy to ensure censored or banned content doesn’t appear on Chinese search engines, but a Chatbot designed to produce original (or quasi-original) answers is far more unpredictable and difficult to control than a web-crawling device.

“Even if Baidu launches Ernie Bot as promised, chances are high it will quickly be suspended,” Xu Liang, the lead developer at Hangzhou-based YuanYu Intelligence, told the Washington Post. “There will simply be too much moderation to do.”

Liang’s own Chatbot, ChatYuan, was suspended shortly after his company released it to the public.

The Chinese government itself has made a number of statements about the role they see AI playing in Chinese society in the near future.

Conceptually, however, it’s difficult to imagine how a chatbot developed by a private company could generate fresh, conversational content that didn’t violate China’s censorship policies without intrusive government oversight of the datasets being used to train the bot, or hardline content moderation processes that defeat the point of the technology.

Chip Supply Poses Challenge for Chatbots

Despite challenges when it comes to contending with censorship laws, it’s clear that the desire to compete with ChatGPT is strong – but whether the country’s biggest companies will have the hardware components to do so is questionable at present.

“If China wants to create its own ChatGPT, we need tens of thousands of A100 chips to provide the necessary computing power,” Tsinghua University professor Zheng Weimin explained at the Global AI conference in Shanghai last weekend.

A100 chips are high-performance graphic processors manufactured by Nvidia – but the company is now restricted by the US government from selling the product in China.

What’s more, the popularity of ChatGPT has caused the price of such chips to surge by 50%, making them even harder to come by.

ChatGPT: Not the Only One Chatting

It’s important to remember that it’s not just China making ChatGPT alternatives. There are a number of free alternatives already on the market, and with ChatGPT often at capacity, it’s good to have a plan b in mind when this occurs.

ChatSonic is a great example of a ChatGPT alternative that’s actually worth using. Not only can it provide you with answers to a variety of multi-faceted queries, but it can also generate AI images.

YouChat is also worth a look at if you like the idea of being shown an AI-generated answer and web pages relevant to your query, and you don’t even need an account to try it out.

With much stricter regulations to worry about than their US counterparts, Chinese businesses developing AI tools really have their work cut out. The launch of Baidu’s Ernie Bot, which is just weeks away, will be the first real indication of precisely how close the country is to developing a ChatGPT alternative to be reckoned with.

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Isobel O'Sullivan (BSc) is a senior writer at Tech.co with over four years of experience covering business and technology news. Since studying Digital Anthropology at University College London (UCL), she’s been a regular contributor to Market Finance’s blog and has also worked as a freelance tech researcher. Isobel’s always up to date with the topics in employment and data security and has a specialist focus on POS and VoIP systems.

Twitter Layoffs: “Hardcore Musk Loyalists” Axed in Surprise Cull

Around one-tenth of Twitter's already-shrunken workforce parted ways with the social media site this weekend.
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Published on March 8, 2023

Twitter has abruptly made another round of layoffs, with Elon Musk forcing around 200 employees out of the company over the weekend.

The social media platform, which was acquired by the South African billionaire back in late October of 2022, has already seen its payroll shrink dramatically during his tenure in charge.

Interestingly, Musk now seems to be getting rid of people who were more than happy to work the “hardcore” hours he demands, while other reports have noted that key engineers who keep the site ticking along have also been cast aside.

Musk Lays off 10% of Twitter Workforce

This weekend, Elon Musk laid off “at least 50” employees, The Information reports. However, the figure now emerging seems to be closer to 200, which amounts to around one-tenth of Twitter’s remaining, 2000-person workforce.

Rather than receiving an official letter, many of the now-former employees found out that they were about to lose their jobs after attempting to log into their workplace accounts, only to find out that their access was blocked.

For instance, Martin De Kuijper, founder of Twitter-owned newsletter service Revue, only discovered he was among the unlucky few after finding it impossible to access his Twitter email address.

Shifting to “Hardcore Mode” Is Clearly Not Enough

Zoe Schiffer, managing editor of tech publication Platformer, remarked on Twitter that the cohort deemed surplus to requirements includes a “ton of surprises”.

In another Tweet, Schiffer noted that Esther Crawford, chief of Twitter Payments, has been told she’s no longer required at the company. Crawford is perhaps best known for overseeing the company’s Twitter Blue subscription service.

Crawford attracted media attention shortly after Musk’s takeover of the platform and subsequent introduction of “hardcore mode” for those wanting to stay, quote tweeting an image of herself asleep on the floor of Twitter’s offices accompanied by the hashtag #SleepWhereYouWork.

She added in a thread that “doing hard things requires sacrifice (time, energy, etc). I have teammates around the world who are putting in the effort to bring something new to life so it’s important to me to show up for them & keep the team unblocked.”

Musk’s Twitter: What’s Next?

It was pretty clear that when Musk took over Twitter, significant layoffs would take place. Few, however, thought he’d axe almost three-quarters of the social media platforms’ staff in his first six months at the helm of the social media network.

This latest batch of layoffs is much smaller than the thousands of Twitter staff that were given their marching orders at once towards the tail-end of last year, but is arguably more significant. In addition, Musk’s demands on his staff have seen perks such as free lunches and remote working scrapped (a move that the likes of Disney and Amazon have since adopted), with those that refuse to fall in line cut from the company.

Now, even surviving employees with high degrees of loyalty to Musk must now be wondering precisely how secure their own positions are. With a CEO as volatile and enigmatic as the one in post, however, it’s literally anyone’s guess.

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Written by:
Isobel O'Sullivan (BSc) is a senior writer at Tech.co with over four years of experience covering business and technology news. Since studying Digital Anthropology at University College London (UCL), she’s been a regular contributor to Market Finance’s blog and has also worked as a freelance tech researcher. Isobel’s always up to date with the topics in employment and data security and has a specialist focus on POS and VoIP systems.

Tech Companies That Have Made Layoffs from 2022 to 2026 (Updated List)

2026 looks set to follow last year's trend for tech layoffs. We track the latest job cuts from Amazon, Salesforce and others.
Written by
Published on March 8, 2023

Tech layoffs were big news in 2025, and that continues to remain the case as 2026 officially dawns.

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 2026, so read on for a timeline of those companies that have been cutting staff this year, along with a look back at those that have shed staff ever since 2022.

On this page:

Tech Company Layoffs 2026: Latest News and Updates

We’re just starting 2026, but we’re already seeing layoffs in the tech industry. As we’ve done in previous years, we’ll be reporting on the redundancies affecting the industry as they happen.

Tech Company Layoffs in 2025

October 4

IBM

Multinational tech company IBM has announced layoffs impacting a “low single-digit percentage” of its workforce globally, to go into effect during the current fourth quarter. Specific numbers weren’t given, but since the company had 270,000 workers as of the end of 2024, the new cuts are likely for 2,700 or more workers.

September 16

Google

200 contract workers have been laid off from GlobalLogic, an outsourcing firm that worked on Google AI projects. This included training and reviewing responses from Gemini, Google’s AI chatbot.

September 3

Oracle

The cloud computing company is set to lay off 101 employees in Seattle, which it disclosed in a state regulatory filing. This comes less than a month after it announced it would be laying off 161 employees, again in its Seattle offices.

May 28

IBM

The US-based company has reportedly laid off around 8,000 employees, with the majority of workers coming from its Human Resources (HR) department. This comes as the result of the company wanting to integrate AI into its operations, particularly in the back-office.

May 27

eBay

After years of downsizing its Israeli operation, the company now plans to shut it down entirely by the first quarter of 2026. As a result, all employees will be laid off, affecting more than 200 people.

May 14

Amazon

Amazon is laying off employees in its devices and services division, roughly 100 workers. Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon, has been committed to trimming costs across the company, and has laid off 27,000 workers since 2022.

May 13

Microsoft

The tech giant is laying off 3% of its global workforce, which totals around 6,000 roles. Reportedly, programmers were the worst affected, accounting for more than 40% of the total layoffs.

May 8

Match

Match Group, which owns dating apps including Tinder, Hinge, Match.com, OkCupid, and more, lays off 13% of its workforce. The move comes as part of a restructure to reduce costs and streamline its organizational structure.

May 7

CrowdStrike

The leading cybersecurity company announced its plans to cut 5% of its global workforce, accounting to around 500 jobs. CEO George Kurtz said the plans will help the company move “faster, operate more efficiently, and continue our cybersecurity leadership.”

April 16

Turo

Car rental startup signals intention to cut 150 jobs – shortly after pulling out of its imminent IPO. A company spokesperson cited “ongoing economic uncertainty,” as well as the need to “strengthen our position for long-term growth.”

April 15

GupShup

The San Francisco-based AI startup is letting go of 200 employees as part of a restructure. The announcement follows a round of layoffs in December 2024, in which 300 employees were affected.

April 14

GM

General Motors confirms that it will lay off 200 employees at its factories in Detroit and Hamtramck. The company confirmed that the decision wasn’t motivated by tariffs, but the need to “align with market dynamics,” instead.

April 11

Google

Off the back of a round of layoffs in February, the search engine and tech giant is laying off “hundreds” of staff from its platforms and devices unit, according to The Information.

April 9

Microsoft

Reportedly, the tech giant is mulling over another round of job cuts that could occur in May. According to sources familiar with the matter, cuts to middle managers, and increasing the coders:non-coders ratio are being considered.

April 7

Wicresoft

The Microsoft joint venture is set to shutter its China operations, which will lead to about 2,000 employees losing their jobs. The decision follows Microsoft’s decision to cease outsourcing after-sales support in China to Wicresoft.

April 3

Five9

The software provider is expanding its focus on AI, which has opened the door to a round of layoffs. 4% of its total headcount are set to be laid off, comprising approximately 123 individuals.

Canva

A favorite of designers everywhere, Canva is laying off 10 of its 12 technical writers – shortly after encouraging employees to use AI as part of their everyday workflows.

April 2

Automattic

The company behind WordPress, Tumblr, WooCommerce, and more, is reducing its headcount by 16%. It’s thought that over 270 staff may be affected by the news, which is the result of necessary “restructuring.”

March 25

Block

Jack Dorsey’s fintech company is shedding 8% of its staff, with 931 employees recently laid off. Dorsey told staff that the company will be “making some org changes, including eliminating roles and beginning the consultation process in countries where required.”

March 19

Sequoia

The VC firm is closing its Washington, DC office and letting go of the policy team that is based there. The layoffs impact the policy fellows that are based at the firm, in addition to three full-time employees.

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

Google

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

LinkedIn

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

LinkedIn

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

Google

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

Reddit

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

LinkedIn

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

Twitter

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

Twitter

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

Twitter

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

Twitter

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.

Best Password Managers

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.

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Written by:
Isobel O'Sullivan (BSc) is a senior writer at Tech.co with over four years of experience covering business and technology news. Since studying Digital Anthropology at University College London (UCL), she’s been a regular contributor to Market Finance’s blog and has also worked as a freelance tech researcher. Isobel’s always up to date with the topics in employment and data security and has a specialist focus on POS and VoIP systems.

Survey: Employer-Worker Disputes Are Even More Entrenched in 2023

The annual US inflation rate was 6.4% for the 12-month period ending in January 2022. Most 2023 raises will be lower.
Written by
Published on March 8, 2023

A new survey finds that businesses and workers remain in a push-pull relationship in regards to worker accommodations like remote work and pay raises.

Pay raises in particular are an interesting conversation: Companies won’t be delivering quite as many raises in 2023, but the average amount will be a little higher. It just won’t be not high enough to fully account for the drop in US wage value due to inflation.

A lot has changed in work flexibility since 2020: Remote work remains more than healthy and many companies have adapted the four-day work week, yet inflation and layoffs are threatening wages as well. Here are the latest stats to know.

Pay Raises in 2023: Fewer, and Not High Enough to Match Inflation

Inflation and an economic recession mean that businesses may be less interested in offering raises… but employees will have more reasons to need them. These numbers come from the 2023 edition of Payscale’s annual Compensation Best Practices Report.

In 2023, most organizations still plan on delivering base pay increases to their workers: 80% say they will. But that stat has dropped since last year, when 92% said they planned pay increases. Both numbers are higher than 2020, when just 64% actually increased base pay.

The overall amount of raises is up, too: In 2023, 56% of organizations plan to give base pay increases over 3%, which is just slightly up from 2022, when 53% of organizations gave over 3 percent. But companies are less interested then they were last year in going any higher than a 5% raise. From the study:

“However, more organizations look to be giving between 4-5% in 2023, whereas in 2022, the percentage of those giving more than 5% was higher.”

And since the annual inflation rate for the United States was 6.4% for the 12-month period ending last month, the average worker is ultimately still on the losing end of the pay raise discussion.

29% of Businesses Find Quiet Quitters “At Risk of Termination”

One of the more recent business buzzwords, “quiet quitting,” is a term used to refer to someone who does their job without working beyond the minimum. The survey found 55 percent of organizations understand the term to refer to “mislabeled work/life balance.”

But 29 percent said that they “risk termination if discovered.”

A worker could interpret these results in a few different ways. It seems that meeting your job expectations may not pass muster if you’re not perceived as enough of a team player. But 71% of responding organizations wouldn’t put their own quiet quitters at a risk of termination.

Another way to look at it: Maybe quiet quitters, by definition, don’t mind a higher risk of termination. The number of employees willing to leave their jobs may very well drop as inflation rises, but we haven’t seen data to indicate this yet.

Remote Work Remains Huge

In 2023, a massive 73% of organizations will have some form of remote work — 31% are hybrid workplaces, another 31% are split by job type, and 11% are either remote-first or fully remote. Still, 27% are “traditional” workplaces, and the hybrid model remains the largest piece of the pie, so physical offices aren’t going away either.

Studies have found the ability to chose between remote and in-office positions is a factor for the majority (60%) of workers, so remote-first operations can set themselves apart, provided they stock up on the tech needed to keep remote work secure online, from VPNs to password managers.

And there’s no question that remote workplaces are sticking around since the start of the Covid pandemic. Workers just need to keep pushing for pay raises to match inflation as well, before the urge to quiet quit starts to rise.

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Written by:
Isobel O'Sullivan (BSc) is a senior writer at Tech.co with over four years of experience covering business and technology news. Since studying Digital Anthropology at University College London (UCL), she’s been a regular contributor to Market Finance’s blog and has also worked as a freelance tech researcher. Isobel’s always up to date with the topics in employment and data security and has a specialist focus on POS and VoIP systems.

Wall Street Banks Are Banning Employee Use of AI Bot ChatGPT

Banks from JPMorgan to Goldman Sachs are banning AI chatbots. Will a vetting process reverse that decision?
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Published on March 8, 2023

Wall Street will need a lot of time to warm up to artificial intelligence: A handful of the biggest banks have cracked down on use of the AI chatbot ChatGPT.

Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are among the biggest brands to ban any use of Microsoft’s ChatGPT for business purposes.

It’s not just an anti-technology stance, however: The banks simply won’t allow the use of third-party software without a thorough vetting, which makes sense when you consider that their entire industry lives and dies on keeping its clients’ money secure.

What the ChatGPT Crackdown Looks Like

Here’s the full list of banks with a ban on ChatGPT use during business communications:

  • Bank of America Corp.
  • Citigroup Inc.
  • Deutsche Bank AG
  • Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
  • Wells Fargo & Co.
  • JPMorgan Chase & Co.

“We are imposing usage limits on ChatGPT, as we continue to evaluate safe and effective ways of using technologies like these,” aWells Fargo spokesperson told Bloomberg.

This view is mirrored in statements from Bank of America, which cites standard procedures required to appraise software before it can be used, while Deutsche Bank does farther and has entirely disabled access to ChatGPT.

What Does This Mean for AI Chat Bots?

AI-powered and mostly text-based chat bots have been making headlines in recent weeks. When they’re not flubbing a fact during a live presentation and tanking Google’s stock by 9%, they’re convincing journalists that they’ve gained sentience.

ChatGPT, created by the Microsoft-owned OpenAI and already integrated with the company’s search engine Bing, is one of the most popular chatbots at the moment. The future for ChatGPT and all the other AI bots — at least as hyped-up by techno-optimists — could impact every industry under the sun. Not only can chatbots reduce many simple but time-consuming tasks, but they could arguably learn to create their own stock portfolios or analyst presentations.

But that requires a certain level of dependability that chatbots have yet to prove they can deliver. Google and Microsoft are currently both working towards reducing “emotional” outbursts from the artificial intelligences.

If ChatGPT and its AI peers can pass muster with the biggest banks Wall Street has to offer, we’ll know that the services have a bright future across many different use cases and industries. But right now, those bots are non persona non grata.

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Written by:
Isobel O'Sullivan (BSc) is a senior writer at Tech.co with over four years of experience covering business and technology news. Since studying Digital Anthropology at University College London (UCL), she’s been a regular contributor to Market Finance’s blog and has also worked as a freelance tech researcher. Isobel’s always up to date with the topics in employment and data security and has a specialist focus on POS and VoIP systems.

Google Employees Are Being Asked to Share Desks

After laying off 11,000 employees earlier this year, Google is doing everything it can to cut costs in a recession.
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Published on March 8, 2023

Alphabet is reportedly insisting that Google employees share a desk at its five largest offices around the world, signaling just how bad the recession has gotten for the company once lorded for its incredible employee perks.

For years, the tech industry has been the gold standard for in-office benefits. From catered meals to full-on massage service, these tech firms were extremely proficient at attracting top talent through employee perks.

Google appears to be rolling back those perks, however, as the tech giant has suggested sharing desks as a way to cut costs and make their office space more efficient.

Google to Employees: Please Share Desks

Announced in an internal document acquired by CNBC, Google employees are being asked to share a desk with another employee, with each coming in on alternating days. The change will take place in the for the offices in Kirkland, New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and Sunnyvale.

“Most Googlers will now share a desk with one other Googler. Through the matching process, they will agree on a basic desk setup and establish norms with their desk partner and teams to ensure a positive experience in the new shared environment.” – a Google internal document

In the innovative fashion that Google is known for, the new arrangement is internally being referred to as Cloud Office Evolution, or CLOE.

Why Does Google Want Employees to Share Desks?

It’s no secret that the tech industry is in cost-cutting mode, with a wide range of businesses laying off employees like it’s going out of style.

Google is no different, having laid off around 11,000 employees earlier this year. Subsequently, it seems pretty clear that Google is making this move to cut costs. However, again in true tech industry fashion, Google had to spin it to make it sound like a benefit rather than a cut.

“Since returning to the office, we’ve run pilots and conducted surveys with Cloud employees to explore different hybrid work models and help shape the best experience. Our data show Cloud Googlers value guaranteed in-person collaboration when they are in the office, as well as the option to work from home a few days each week. With this feedback, we’ve developed our new rotational model, combining the best of pre-pandemic collaboration with the flexibility and focus we’ve all come to appreciate from remote work, while also allowing us to use our spaces more efficiently.” – a Google spokesperson

The newly minted focus on “efficiency” that seems to have gripped the tech industry has cost a lot of people their jobs and apparently their desks. And to make matters worse, the economic downturn isn’t going to get better for an industry that used to rely on perks to get its employees to stick around.

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Written by:
Isobel O'Sullivan (BSc) is a senior writer at Tech.co with over four years of experience covering business and technology news. Since studying Digital Anthropology at University College London (UCL), she’s been a regular contributor to Market Finance’s blog and has also worked as a freelance tech researcher. Isobel’s always up to date with the topics in employment and data security and has a specialist focus on POS and VoIP systems.
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