Tech layoffs were big news in 2022, and that's looking set to continue in 2023, too, with major companies like Amazon and Salesforce already slashing workforces.
There weren't many major tech companies that escaped redundancies last year — Twitter, Tesla, Shopify, Microsoft, and Netflix all cut staff, some of them more than once.
We're keeping track of the notable layoffs in tech in 2023, as well as those that happened in 2022, so read on for a timeline of those companies that have been cutting staff.
Tech Companies That Have Made Layoffs in 2023
Tech layoffs in 2023 have hit hard, with over 153,000 employees in the US let go so far, according to Crunchbase. This is up from 93,000 tech layoffs in all of 2022. The reasons for the layoffs include the current economic climate, overhiring during COVID, and the rise of AI. However, there has been some slowdown in the number of jobs lost compared to the start of the year.
While some companies have blamed financial issues, others have stated that they are starting to replace jobs with AI, a trend that is set to become more and more prevalent thanks to the rise of tools such as ChatGPT and Bard.
Recently, UK telecoms firm British Telecom stated that a fifth of its 55,000 job cuts would be replaced by AI.
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.”
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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
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 recently purchased from Epic Games by Songtradr, 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
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
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
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.
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