Both 2022 and the first half of 2023 have seen several layoffs and job cuts in the tech industry. While layoffs and job cuts in any industry are not unexpected (especially with global inflation and a looming recession), what makes these tech layoffs so shocking is the fact that they have happened not just to smaller tech startups or tech businesses, but also to the biggest tech companies in the world.
It’s safe to say that “Big Tech” isn’t at all safe from the trying times that the past two years have brought forth.
Let’s take a look at a list of the tech companies that have had to make some hard decisions in the past year.
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Big Tech Layoffs of 2022-2023
Google / Alphabet Inc.
Just this January 20, Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., announced that it was cutting around 12,000 jobs or more than 6% of its global workforce.
According to Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, the company had previously hired to “match and fuel” the “dramatic growth” it had experienced over the past two years (or during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic).
However, Pichai said that they had hired for “a different economic reality than the one we face today,” alluding to the slow (and declining) state of both the global economy and the tech industry as a whole, post-pandemic.
Meta / Facebook
Back in November 2022, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta would be laying off over 11,000 employees immediately. This represented around 13% of Meta’s global workforce.
According to Zuckerberg, Meta had originally hired more employees to keep up with the rapid growth of e-commerce experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, when the pandemic ended, Zuckerberg said that the “macroeconomic downturn, increased competition, and ads signal loss” caused Meta’s revenue to be much “lower than I’d expected.” This, in turn, prompted Meta’s move to lay off a portion of its workforce.
Amazon
E-commerce, cloud computing, and digital streaming company Amazon Inc. also recently announced that it would retrench over 18,000 of its employees last January 5.
The layoff amounts to around 6% of Amazon’s corporate manpower. Reuters reported that the cut was due in large part to smaller consumer spending from its customers amid rising global inflation.
Microsoft
On January 20, software company Microsoft also announced a major reduction in the overall workforce of the company that would affect about 10,000 Microsoft jobs globally.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that the surge in customer spending during the pandemic had also slowed down, causing the job cut that totals roughly 5% of Microsoft’s whole workforce.
Yahoo
The layoffs also didn’t spare multinational tech company Yahoo, as they also decided to let go of around 1,700 employees (which amounts to 20% of its current workforce) early this year.
The job cuts within Yahoo were allegedly due to their business ad tech unit underperforming in terms of profit and expectations.
Spotify
Music-streaming app Spotify also announced that it was cutting around 600 of its 9,800 overall workforce. As reported by CNBC, the cut amounts to around 6% of its global staff of employees.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said that the company had initially hired more people because of the growth experienced during the pandemic. He, however, admitted that he “was too ambitious in investing ahead of [Spotify’s] revenue growth,” pinpointing it as the main reason for the layoffs.
Paypal
On January 31, Fin-tech and online payment company PayPal announced that it would be laying off 2,000 of its workers or 7% of its overall staff.
CNN reported that PayPal CEO Dan Schulman referred to the”challenging macro-economic environment” as the primary reason for the significant job cut.
Zoom
Just last February 7, 2023, video-conferencing giant Zoom announced that it would be letting go of around 1,300 of its employees (or around 15% of its workforce).
Zoom CEO Eric Yuan himself said that while their company grew three times in size amid its success during the COVID-19 pandemic, the transition to a post-COVID society and the “uncertainty of the global economy” today is prompting the company to reset during the challenging economic environment.
Image-sharing social media platform Pinterest also announced layoffs of around 150 people this February (less than 5% of its workforce).
Pinterest says that the move was in line with “organizational changes” aimed at setting them up for “company priorities…and long-term strategies,” according to a report from TechCrunch.
This is on top of the cuts that Pinterest initially made back in December, as reported by MarketWatch. The number of positions concerned in this round of layoffs was not disclosed by the company.
Salesforce
Early on this year, Cloud-based software and customer service company Salesforce laid off 10% of its staff or around 8,000 positions.
As reported by the New York Times, the company’s chief executive, Marc Benioff, said that Salesforce had hired “too many people leading into this economic downturn.”
Dell
Laptop manufacturer Dell had also just announced last February 6 that they would be laying off 6,650 roles or around 5% of its global workforce.
Bloomberg reported that the job cut was due to the falling demand for personal computers, as well as the uncertain market environment.
Github
Code-hosting platform GitHub also announced on February 10 that it will be laying off 10% of its employees or around 300 full-time staff as part of cost-cutting operations.
Forbes reported that the company would also be closing all of its physical offices and will be fully remote from this point forward.
Vimeo
Video-hosting and sharing site Vimeo also entered 2023 with job cuts that totaled 11% of its overall staff, as reported by TechCrunch.
According to the report, Vimeo CEO Anjali Sud cited the “uncertain economic environment” as the main rationale for the significant number of job cuts. This is the second round of layoffs from Vimeo after it cut 6% of its employees in July 2022.
Sophos
Cybersecurity and IT company Sophos shared that it will be cutting over 10% of its global workforce or around 450 employees due to the economic downturn and its shift in focus to managed detection and response or MDR, as reported by CRN.
Coinbase
Cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase has also announced two rounds of layoffs in the past few months: 18% of its workforce last June 2022 and 20% (around 950 employees) of its staff just this January 2023, as reported by Forbes.
Forbes found that Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong related to its employees the “crypto market trended downwards along with the broader macroeconomy. We also saw the fallout from unscrupulous actors in the industry, and there could still be further contagion.”
Disney
Media and innovative tech giant Disney also cut over 7,000 jobs (around 3% of its workforce) just this February. The layoffs were announced after CEO Bob Iger returned to the company, wishing to make a “significant transformation” within the entertainment powerhouse.
Reports have said that Disney is struggling to keep pace with its costs and competition in the streaming industry, as it fights for market share with other streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, HBO, and other sites.
Twilio
Communication company Twilio also reduced its team on Feb 13, 2023, with 1,500 of its employees, or around 17% of its team, being let go.
Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson, in an email sent to all Twilio employees, says that their team has gotten “too big” to be able to efficiently operate both their Communications and Software business.
There we have it — some of the biggest tech layoffs of 2022 and early 2023. It seems alarming that such a trend has emerged in the tech industry, especially in seemingly invincible “Big Tech” companies.
We can see that readjusting to a post-COVID-19-pandemic world and the current decline in the worldwide economy were common threads that prompted significant job cuts or layoffs in these tech companies.
In any case, we hope that the industry, and the hard-working employees that make it all possible, are able to make a comeback in the coming months as we continue to go through 2023.
