By all counts, 2023 will emulate 2022 in following the tech layoffs trends. According to various sources, tech layoffs in 2023 already exceeded the total number of tech layoffs in 2022, which spells bad news for both the employees and the industry.
The tech industry, which was once known for its rapid growth and expansion, is now dealing with a reality check. Not only is the economy cooling down, but consumer spending is slowing. This situation has therefore led major players like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Salesforce to take drastic survival strategies.
In order to counter the changing and seemingly unfavorable circumstances, these companies, and many others, have already announced a drastic reduction in their workforce for 2023. The upcoming wave of layoffs could have far-reaching effects on the industry’s future even as they struggle to set the present right.
Despite the layoffs, many tech companies are still dealing with excess staff, added to the payroll mostly during the pandemic. The trend of downsizing is expected to continue in 2023 as the industry aims to remain focused on cost-cutting measures.
Some Cold, Hard Facts
Tech layoffs have put an estimated 153,000 people out of work in 2023. These layoffs have disproportionately impacted women, people of color, and people on H1-B visas in the United States. In addition, experts are of the view that layoffs adversely impact diversity in tech. In most cases, they not only put a spanner in the path of progress by hampering hard-earned gains but also wipes them out at times.
Around 45 percent of those who lost their jobs in 2023 were women. That doesn’t look odd because a third of technical positions and a quarter (or less) of management positions have women at the helm. Some underrepresented groups have also been disproportionately affected, like those employed under work visas. Significantly, these layoffs have exposed the chinks in the immigration system that has remained stagnant for a while.
The Companies that Cut Jobs in 2023
Jan. 1-7:
Jan. 4:
Amazon announces that 18,000 employees will lose their jobs.
Amazon layoffs are expected to reach around 20,000 employees at all levels. While several teams will be affected, most job cuts will be in the Amazon Stores and People, Experience, and Technology (PXT) organizations.
Jan. 4:
Salesforce cut 8,000 jobs in a major rehaul.
The San Francisco-based company, Salesforce stated the layoff of approximately 10 percent of its workforce, affecting around 8,000 employees. Additionally, it will close down some offices as part of its restructuring plan.
Jan. 8-14:
Jan. 11:
Informatica announces layoff of seven percent of its workforce to cut costs.
Informatica, the reputed Enterprise data management firm, has said it will remove seven percent of its workforce in 2023.
Jan. 12:
Alphabet-owned Verily cuts 15 percent of its staff.
Verily, an Alphabet-owned life sciences firm headquartered in San Francisco, announced that it would downsize its workforce by 15 percent. The goal is to simplify its operating model. The company aims to reduce redundancy and streamline operational areas. Consequently, jobs across the organization will be impacted.
Jan. 13:
Intrinsic, the robotics subsidiary of Alphabet, lays off 20% of its staff.
The California-based robotics subsidiary of Alphabet, Intrinsic AI, eliminated around 20 percent of its workforce because of shifts in priorities and our longer-term strategic direction.
Jan. 15-21:
Jan. 16:
Google-backed ShareChat cuts 20 percent of jobs.
Google-backed, India-based social media startup ShareChat removed 20 percent of its workforce because of economic issues. The move will impact 400 employees out of the company’s approximately 2,200 staffers.
Jan. 18:
Microsoft CEO sanctions lay off of 10,000 workers.
Microsoft will cut almost five percent of its staff. The move will impact around 10,000 employees as a result. The reduction consequently aims to align the company’s cost structure and revenue structure.
Jan. 20:
Google declares cutting of 12,000 jobs worldwide.
Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is cutting 12,000 jobs, amounting to six percent of its workforce. The company also reported the slowest growth in five years for the first quarter of 2023.
Jan. 22-28:
Jan. 26:
IBM cuts 3,900 jobs after double asset disposal
IBM announced cutting 3,900 job roles, 1.5 percent of its global workforce. Additionally, the company said the job cuts are connected to the Kyndryl spinoff.
Jan. 26:
SAP announces 2,800 job cuts
SAP reported an 11 percent increase in revenue in 2022 but saw its net income drop by 68 percent, forcing the restructuring decision. The company then said these cuts formed part of its targeted restructuring plan and were unrelated to performance.
February:
Feb. 1:
PayPal to lay off around 2,000 employees.
PayPal President and CEO Dan Schulman said the company would reduce its workforce by around seven percent resulting in the loss of 2,000 jobs. The reasons were an uncertain business environment and also the slowing down of the e-commerce industry.
Feb. 2:
Splunk to lay off 4 percent of its workforce to reduce costs.
Splunk has announced the laying off of four percent of its workforce to optimize costs and processes ahead of uncertain macroeconomic conditions. Likewise, the layoffs will happen mainly in the North American region.
Other Major Job Cuts
- Feb. 6: Dell Technologies to lay off 6,650 staffers.
- Feb. 7: Zoom lays off 15 percent of its workforce.
- Feb. 9: GitHub lays off 10% workforce, plans to go fully remote to cut costs
- Feb. 9: Yahoo to lay off 20 percent of its staff as it slows down its advertising tech business
- Feb. 13: Twilio layoffs to impact 17 percent of its workforce
- Feb. 25: Twitter lays off 10 percent of workers, including tech staff
- March 7: Atlassian lays off five percent of staff.
- March 14: Meta cuts an additional 10,000 jobs from its global workforce
- March 20: Amazon to lay off 9,000 more workers, including some at AWS
- March 23: Accenture to lay off 19,000 to cut costs amid economic uncertainty
- March 30: Kyndryl lays off staff, citing efficiency
- April 20: Meta’s latest wave of layoffs hits its tech team the most
- April 24: Red Hat removes four percent of global staff
- April 27: Dropbox lays off 16 percent of its staff as sales growth slows
- May 4: Cognizant cuts 3,500 jobs, announces hybrid work restructuring plan
- May 9: LinkedIn lays off 716 staffers
- May 10: Microsoft cuts HoloLens, Xbox, and Surface jobs.
- May 11: Stack Overflow removes 10 percent of staff
Most tech companies went on a hiring spree during the pandemic as demand for technology soared among people stuck at home. With the pandemic behind us, less reliance on tech forces companies to prune staff drastically.
