Job cuts in the tech industry come fast and in great numbers

Tech companies big and small have raced to hire millions of people to work remotely over the past several years as demand for their products, software, and services surged.

However, despite all the layoffs announced in recent weeks, most tech companies are still much bigger than they were three years ago. Here’s a look at some of the companies that have announced layoffs so far.

August 2022

crackle: The parent company of social media platform Snapchat said it is letting go of 20 percent of its employees.

Snap’s workforce has grown in recent years to more than 5,600, and the company said at the time that even after laying off more than 1,000 people, its staff would be larger than a year ago.

Robin Hood: The company, whose app helped bring a new generation of investors to market, announced it would reduce its workforce by about 23 percent, or about 780 people.

In the first round of layoffs last year, its workforce was cut by 9 per cent.

November 2022

Twitter: Nearly half of the 7,500 employees of the social media platform were let go after Tesla was acquired by billionaire CEO Elon Musk.

the lift: The ride-hailing service said it was cutting 13 percent of its workforce, about 700 employees.

meta: Facebook’s parent company laid off 11,000 people, roughly 13 percent of its workforce.

January 2023

Amazon: The e-commerce company said it should cut around 18,000 positions. This is just a fraction of its 1.5 million-strong global workforce.

sales force: The company is laying off 10 percent of its workforce, about 8,000 employees.

Coinbase: The cryptocurrency trading platform is about to cut 20 percent of its workforce, or about 950 jobs, in its second round of layoffs in less than a year.

Microsoft: The software company said it would cut around 10,000 jobs, which is around 5 per cent of its workforce.

Google: The search engine giant is the most recent adjustment in the industry, saying 12,000 workers, or about 6% of its workforce, will be let go.

Spotify: The music streaming service is cutting 6% of its global workforce. It did not give a specific number of job losses. Spotify revealed in its latest annual report that it laid off approximately 6,600 employees, which means 400 jobs are being cut.