Even as the business world entered mid-2024 with high hopes of growth and performance, the tech sector continued its lay-off trend with big tech companies such as intel and Cisco leading the charge. According to reports, the recent lay-offs were part of continued cost-cutting efforts and prioritisation of essential verticals by the tech companies.
Now with the leading tech companies axing their employees, it is certain that mid-cap and small-cap tech companies will follow suit and kick off a new wave of lay-offs at this middle stage of the 2024 calendar year.
Latest layoff updates (as of 25th August)
Kaiyo Abruptly Shuts Down, Lays Off Entire Workforce
Furniture resale platform Kaiyo has unexpectedly announced its closure, leaving its entire workforce unemployed. The New York-based company, initially launched as Furnishare in 2015, had been winding down its operations recently. This abrupt move has also impacted customers, as the company notified them that it could no longer process payouts.
Adding to the gravity of the situation, Kaiyo laid off 69 employees in Teterboro, New Jersey, on August 23, 2024, as indicated in a WARN notice. The layoffs mark a significant chapter in the company’s sudden downfall, following its relaunch as Kaiyo in 2019 and a subsequent $36 million Series B funding round in 2022.
British Steel to Lay Off 2,500 Workers Before Christmas as Scunthorpe Blast Furnaces Close
In a move set to devastate the local community, British Steel has announced plans to lay off approximately 2,500 steelworkers before Christmas due to the early closure of its blast furnaces in Scunthorpe. The decision follows the company’s shift toward electric arc furnace (EAF) technology as part of its decarbonisation strategy, which requires significantly fewer staff.
British Steel had initially planned to keep the blast furnaces operational until the transition to electric arc steelmaking was complete. However, a source revealed that the company will stop importing coal and coke in October, leading to the permanent shutdown of the blast furnaces by the end of the year.
Skip the Dishes and Parent Company to Lay Off 800 Canadian Employees
Skip the Dishes, a popular food delivery service, announced the layoff of 800 Canadian employees, including 100 workers directly employed by Skip and 700 employed by its parent company, Just Eat Takeaway.com. The decision, announced by Skip’s CEO Paul Burns on LinkedIn, is part of a broader strategy to ensure the company has the necessary resources and organizational structure to drive sustainable growth.
The layoffs come as the company faces increasing economic pressures, including inflation and rising interest rates, which have weighed on consumer spending. Skip the Dishes, which was acquired by Just Eat in 2016 and merged with Takeaway.com in 2020, had previously laid off 350 employees in 2022 following a global logistics workforce review.
ReshaMandi Lays Off Entire Workforce Amid Financial Struggles
ReshaMandi, a Bengaluru-based startup focused on the textile supply chain, has laid off its entire workforce. The company, backed by Creation Investments, has faced increasing financial difficulties, leading to this drastic decision.
The company’s website has been down for a week, coinciding with the resignation of its auditor, Walker Chandiok & Co LLP, who cited concerns over the company’s financial stability, including inflated revenues and fake invoices.
ReshaMandi’s CTO and founder, Saurabh Kumar Agarwal, acknowledged the company’s financial struggles, which have led to downsized operations and the inability to meet its liabilities, including staff salaries. The company also owes Rs 14.16 lakh to the auditing firm for its services. Despite appointing a new auditor, Suresh Kapoor & Associates, in late July, the situation remains bleak.
Latest layoff updates (as of 13th August)
Cisco to Cut Thousands of Jobs in Second Layoff Round
Cisco Systems is set to announce a second wave of layoffs, potentially affecting thousands of employees, according to sources familiar with the matter. This announcement, expected with the company’s fourth-quarter results on Wednesday, could match or exceed the 4,000 layoffs disclosed in February.
Cisco, which employed approximately 84,900 people as of July 2023, is realigning its focus towards higher-growth areas such as cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. This strategic shift follows a challenging period marked by sluggish demand and supply-chain issues in its core business.
Cisco’s recent $28-billion acquisition of cybersecurity firm Splunk is part of its strategy to bolster its subscription business and reduce dependency on equipment sales. The company has yet to comment on the impending job cuts.
Intel Plans Major Workforce Reduction
Intel Corporation announced a few days ago that it will cut 15,000 jobs, reflecting a 15% reduction in its workforce, amid a significant decline in its stock value and financial difficulties. The job cuts come in response to a 20% drop in share price following a $1.6 billion loss in the April-June period, compared to a $1.5 billion profit a year earlier.
Production issues with Intel’s Meteor Lake processors and competition from AI chip manufacturers like Nvidia have compounded the company’s challenges. Additionally, export restrictions to China have further strained operations.
CEO Pat Gelsinger announced that the layoffs, expected to be completed by the end of 2024, are part of a broader cost-cutting plan, including a pause on non-essential projects. This move follows a previous cost reduction strategy announced in October 2022.
Intuit Cuts 1,800 Jobs Amid AI Focus
Intuit Inc. in July announced a reduction of 1,800 employees, representing about 10% of its global workforce, as part of a strategic shift towards artificial intelligence. CEO Sasan Goodarzi stated that the layoffs, which primarily affect low performers and some executives, are intended to sharpen the company’s focus on AI-driven products rather than cost-cutting.
The company plans to rehire a similar number of employees in key areas such as engineering, product development, and sales. The reduction in executive positions is aimed at accelerating decision-making processes. Intuit’s move comes as the company seeks to enhance its product offerings and improve overall efficiency.
Redbox Parent Company Shuts Down Amid Bankruptcy
Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, the parent company of Redbox, announced in July, the closure of its business and a mass layoff of over 1,000 employees. The company is converting its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case to a Chapter 7 liquidation due to the unwillingness of lenders to continue financing.
The closure follows allegations of self-dealing and mismanagement by the company’s controlling shareholder. The decision to liquidate marks the end of Redbox’s operations, with a trustee appointed to investigate the allegations. This move reflects the company’s inability to secure further financial support and its transition towards winding down its operations.
UKG Announces 2,200 Job Cuts
UKG, a leading staffing software provider, implemented significant layoffs last month, cutting approximately 2,200 positions, or about 14% of its workforce. The reductions, which were communicated to employees in an email from CEO Chris Todd, come as part of organisational changes aimed at focusing on critical growth areas.
As one of the largest software developers in Massachusetts, UKG employed 15,882 people as of last month. The company’s decision to cut jobs reflects its strategy to streamline operations and support its long-term business objectives. UKG has indicated that these layoffs are part of a broader effort to enhance its strategic focus and operational efficiency.
Latest layoff updates (as of 5th May)
Google few days ago laid off approximately 200 employees from its “core team” and shifted some jobs overseas as part of cost-cutting measures during a restructuring process. About 50 positions were cut from the engineering team based at Google’s headquarters in California.
Reports suggest that Google plans to hire replacements for these roles in India and Mexico, as mentioned in internal documents cited by CNBC.
According to Asim Husain, the vice president of Google Developer Ecosystem, who announced the layoffs via email, this is the largest reduction in the workforce from his team this year. He stated in the email that Google intends to maintain its current global presence while also expanding in high-growth locations to operate closer to partners and developer communities.
Amazon
In early April, Amazon laid off hundreds of employees from its cloud computing division, AWS. Reports indicate that AWS is undergoing substantial restructuring, resulting in the dismissal of employees from its physical stores technology, sales, and marketing departments.
This decision reflects a strategic realignment towards key focus areas, as confirmed by a spokesperson from AWS. These workforce reductions occur amid a broader shift in the usage of applications within both Amazon-owned and third-party stores.
Earlier Version of the article
Currently, a US-based IT services company Cloudflare is under extreme public audit for handling terminations casually without any proper clarity as to why the employees are getting terminated. An accounts executive of the company, Brittany Pietsch recorded herself getting terminated over a video call. When she asked the executives who were in the call as to what was wrong with her performance that made the company decide to fire her, the HR executives were pretty clueless about any specific performance-related issue from Brittany’s side. It is important to note that Britanny was hired only a few months ago and was reportedly given praise and good reviews by her manager without any signs of performance issues from her side.
The video in which the HRs are finding it hard to explain to her why she got laid off is going viral now.
Update on 26/1/2024: Video gaming division at Microsoft undergoes lay-offs
Microsoft is reducing its video game workforce by 1,900, following the $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Xbox boss Phil Spencer conveyed the decision in a message, citing the need for a sustainable cost structure. The lay-offs include Blizzard Entertainment President Mike Ybarra, who expressed gratitude to impacted individuals. Blizzard’s chief design officer, Allen Adham, is also departing, and the long-in-development game “Odyssey” is canceled.
Update on 25/1/2024: TikTok trims jobs in advertising and sales unit
TikTok is reducing its advertising and sales workforce, cutting 60 jobs without specifying a reason. The company encourages affected employees to apply for other available positions among its 120 job listings. TikTok, owned by ByteDance, boasts over 150 million U.S. users, primarily popular with Gen Z. In September, it expanded into e-commerce.
eBay joins lay-off party
eBay is joining major tech companies like Google and Amazon in cutting costs through workforce reduction. The e-commerce giant plans to lay off 1,000 employees, constituting 9% of its full-time staff, with more lay-offs expected in the coming months. Despite a $1.3 billion profit last quarter, eBay CEO Jamie Iannone cites the need for changes, stating that expenses have outpaced business growth. Overhiring post-pandemic is identified as a key reason for industry-wide lay-offs.
Update on 13/1/2024: 11% of workforce cut at Riot Games
Makers of League of Legends and Valorant, Riot Games, today announced that it is cutting 11% of its entire workforce as part of cost-cutting measures. This would mean more than 500 employees will be laid off from the game developer.
In a recent blog post, CEO Dylan Jadeja revealed that the company has doubled its workforce over the past few months, simultaneously working on multiple projects. This expansion, however, has led to a loss of focus on key areas crucial to gamers. With their latest strategy, the company intends to concentrate on aspects that significantly enhance the user experience, while cutting back on less impactful investments.
Google, Amazon and Microsoft lay off employees en masse
On Wednesday, Google laid off hundreds of employees in various divisions. The major layoff happened in Google’s digital assistant, hardware, and engineering teams as the company shifted its focus more to Artificial Intelligence projects.
It is also possible to analyse that the layoffs by Google are part of the overall trend by the tech sector, driven by advancements in AI.
Another big tech firm, Microsoft also is seeing layoffs, this time at HumaneAI, an artificial intelligence firm supported by Microsoft. The firm has decided to lay off nearly 4% of its entire team, just before the launch of its latest product, a voice-control handsfree AI pin.
E-commerce giant Amazon also laid off hundreds of its employees on Wednesday in the latest round of layoffs which began in the beginning of 2022. The laid-off employees reportedly worked in Prime Video and MGM Studios division, studio and streaming departments to be precise. The recent layoff came as part of restructuring and optimising the business. The multinational e-commerce company reportedly conducted some reviews internally and decided to discontinue investment in some areas, and the latest layoffs can be considered as the first part of those disinvestments.
Earlier there were reports that Amazon was planning to lay off its remote employees in the prime division. These remote employees, mainly based in India, were reportedly part of the customer service department. Last year alone, Amazon axed nearly 27,000 jobs, making it one of the largest companies to lay off employees at such a large scale.
A subsidiary of Amazon, Twitch also announced layoffs amounting to 35 per cent of its workforce, which is around 500 employees. The live-streaming company had earlier laid off 400 employees as part of downsizing measures and cost-cutting measures by its parent company, Amazon.
Macy’s Inc. Announces Major Downsizing
Department-store chain Macy’s Inc. is planning to cut 2,350 jobs and close five stores to reduce expenses and embrace technology. This move, affecting 13% of corporate staff and 3.5% of overall staff, aims to enhance customer experience. The lay-offs start on Jan. 26, as part of a strategy to streamline the company.
Paytm and Flipkart step on lay-off accelerator
Indian companies and startups have also started layoffs across various divisions as part of their cost-cutting measures. Payment platform Paytm and e-commerce platform Flipkart are planning to lay off thousands of employees.
Paytm, which laid off nearly a thousand employees, was the first Indian company to lay off at a large scale. This means the company has laid off nearly 10% of its staff. It is part of the company’s realignment policies and cost-cutting efforts.
Another Indian company that is planning to implement large-scale layoff is Flipkart. The weak financial performance of the company is now forcing the e-commerce giant to lay off nearly 1500 employees, almost 5-7% of its entire workforce.
Now, with more and more companies joining the layoff party, we can expect more layoff news in the coming few weeks. The increased inflation pressure in various countries and weak financial performance for various quarters have forced companies to rethink their strategies and implement a hiring freeze. Now that the hiring freezes are not helping them, they have again started mass layoffs and termination.
