All the big tech layoffs of 2023


The tech industry is reeling from the combination of a rough economy, the COVID-19 pandemic, and not to mention some obvious business missteps. And while that led to job cuts in 2022, the headcount reductions have unfortunately ramped up in 2023. It can be tough to keep track of these moves, so we’ve compiled all the major layoffs in one place and will update as the situation evolves .

Amazon layoffs

Alejandro Martinez Velez/Europa Press via Getty Images

Amazon already had outlined layoff plans last fall, but expanded those cuts in early January when it said it would eliminate 18,000 jobs, most of them coming from retail and recruiting teams. To no one’s surprise, CEO Andy Jassy blamed both an “uncertain economy” and rapid hiring in recent years. Amazon benefited tremendously from the pandemic as people shifted to online shopping, but its growth is slowing as people return to in-person stores.

Coinbase layoffs

A representation of the cryptocurrency is seen in front of Coinbase logo in this illustration taken, March 4, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

Coinbase was one of the larger companies impacted by the crypto market’s 2022 downturn, and that carried over into the new year. The cryptocurrency exchange laid off 950 people in mid-January, just months after it slashed 1,100 roles. This is one of the steepest proportionate cuts among larger tech brands — Coinbase offloaded about a fifth of its staff. Chief Brian Armstrong said his outfit needed the layoffs to shrink operating expenses and survive what he previously described as a “crypto winter,” but that also meant canceling some projects that were less likely to succeed.

Google (Alphabet) layoffs

An exterior view of building BV100, during a tour of Google's new Bay View Campus in Mountain View, California, US May 16, 2022. Picture taken May 16, 2022. REUTERS/Peter DaSilva

REUTERS/Peter DaSilva

Google’s parent company Alphabet has been cutting costs for a while, including shutting down Stadiabut it took those efforts one step further in late January when it said it would laid off 12,000 employees. CEO Sundar Pichai wasn’t shy about the reasoning: Alphabet had been hiring for a “different economic reality,” and was restructuring to focus on the internet giant’s most important businesses. The decision hit the company’s Area 120 incubator especially hard, with the majority of the unit’s workers losing their jobs. Sub-brands like Intrinsic (robotics) and Verily (health) also shed significant portions of their workforce in the days before the mass layoffs.

IBM layoffs

The IBM logo is pictured in the Garibaldi-Porta Nuova modern district of Milan on June 22, 2021. (Photo by MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP) (Photo by MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP via Getty Images)

MIGUEL MEDINA via Getty Images

Layoffs sometimes stem more from corporate strategy shifts than financial hardship, and IBM provided a classic example of this in 2023. The computing pioneer axed 3,900 jobs in late January after offloading both its AI-driven Watson Health business and its infrastructure management division (now Kyndryl) in the fall. Simply put, those employees had nothing to work on as IBM pivoted towards cloud computing.

Microsoft layoffs

A person walks past Microsoft signage at the headquarters in Redmond, Washington, US, January 18, 2023. REUTERS/Matt Mills McKnight

REUTERS/Matt Mills McKnight

Microsoft started its second-largest wave of layoffs in company history when it signaled it would cut 10,000 jobs between mid-January and the end of March. Like many other tech heavyweights, it was trimming costs as customers scaled back their spending (particularly on Windows and devices) during the pandemic recovery. The reductions were especially painful for some divisions — they reported gutted the HoloLens and mixed reality teamswhile 343 Industries is believed to be rebooting Halo development after losing dozens of workers.

PayPal layoffs

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 02: A sign is posted in front of PayPal headquarters on February 02, 2023 in San Jose, California.  PayPal has announced plans to lay off 2,000 employees, nearly 7 percent of its workforce.  (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

PayPal has been one of the healthier large tech companies, having beat expectations in its third quarter last year. Still, it hasn’t been immune to a tough economy. The online payment firm unveiled plans at the end of January to laid off 2,000 employees, or seven percent of its total worker base. CEO Dan Schulman claimed the downsizing would keep costs in check and help PayPal focus on “core strategic priorities.”

Salesforce layoffs

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - DECEMBER 01: The Salesforce logo is seen at its headquarters on December 1, 2020 in San Francisco, California.  The cloud-based enterprise software company announced on Tuesday that it will purchase the popular workplace-chat app Slack for $27.7 billion.  (Photo by Stephen Lam/Getty Images)

Stephen Lam/Getty Images)

Salesforce set the tone for 2023 when it warned it would laid off 8,000 employees, or about 10 percent of its workforce, just four days into the new year. While the cloud software brand thrived during the pandemic with rapidly growing revenue, it admitted that it hired too aggressively during the boom and could not maintain that staffing level while the economy was in decline.

SAP layoffs

The logo of German software group SAP is pictured at its headquarters in Walldorf, Germany, May 12, 2016. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski

REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski

Business software powerhouse SAP saw a steep 68 percent drop in profit at the end of 2022, and it started 2023 by laying off 2,800 staff to keep its business healthy. Unlike some big names in tech, though, SAP didn’t blame excessive pandemic-era hiring for the cutback. Instead, it characterized the initiative as a “targeted restructuring” for a company that still expected accelerating growth in 2023.

Spotify layoffs

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 23: People are seen inside the Spotify headquarters building in Lower Manhattan on January 23, 2023 in New York City.  Spotify announced Monday they will be cutting 6% of its global workforce.  (Photo by Eduardo MunozAlvarez/VIEWpress via Getty Images)

Eduardo MunozAlvarez/VIEWpress via Getty Images

Spotify spent aggressively in recent years as it expanded its podcast empire, but it quickly put a stop to that practice as 2023 began. The streaming music service said in late January that it would laid off 6 percent of its workforce (9,800 people worked at Spotify as of the third quarter) alongside a restructuring effort that included the departure of content chief Dawn Ostroff. While there were more Premium subscribers than ever in 2022, the company also suffered steep losses — CEO Daniel Ek said he was “too ambitious” investing before the revenue existed to support it.

Wayfair layoffs

NATICK, MA - AUGUST 20: A virtual reality app is demonstrated at Wayfair's first store in the Natick Mall in Natick, MA on Aug.  20, 2019. Shoppers can don virtual reality headsets to see how furniture would fit into a space, using Wayfairs Room Planner tool.  They can virtually climb onto a dining room table to get a 360-degree view of a digitally rendered room, then swap out chairs, chandeliers, and art on the virtual walls.  That's just one example of how the Boston-based e-commerce giant has used its digital DNA to create its first brick-and-mortar store.  It opens Wednesday in the Natick Mall.  Product information, including prices and customer ratings, is displayed on screens that update in real time to reflect online price changes.  Staffers carry iPads with an augmented reality tool that makes furniture appear in a 3-D setting, or they can snap a picture of an item in the store and find dozens like it online.  (Photo by Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Amazon isn’t the only major online retailer scaling back in 2023. Wayfair said in late January that it would laid off 1,750 team members, or 10 percent of its global headcount. About 1,200 of those were corporate staff cut in a bid to “eliminate management layers” and otherwise help the company become leaner and nimbler. Wayfair had been cutting costs since August 2022 (including 870 positions), but saw the layoffs as helping it reach break-even earnings sooner than expected.

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