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.
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SmartNews
Job losses: Around 120 staff
News aggregator service SmartNews confirms that it is slashing around 120 positions from the company, affecting roles in US and China. SmartNews currently employees around 900 staff, meaning a hefty 13% reduction in headcount. Speaking to TechCrunch, the company blamed ‘economic conditions’ for the move.
Alphabet
Job losses: Around 200 staff
Verily, a healthcare services unit of Alphabet, announces that it is cutting 200 roles at the organisation, around 15% of positions with the company. In a statement on the company’s blog, CEO Stephen Verily stated “To enable greater focus on our updated portfolio, we are discontinuing the development of Verily Value Suite and some early-stage products, including our work in remote patient monitoring for heart failure and microneedles for drug delivery.”
Meta
Job losses: At least 20 potential new staff
We reported previously on Meta removing job offers before candidates could start their new roles, and it appears the company has done it again. Originally reported by TechCrunch, Meta confirmed that it had had to withdraw some offers to new employees. Exact numbers aren’t known, although one source, engineer Gergely Orosz, claims to have heard of 20 people affected “so far.”
Coinbase
Job losses: Around 950 staff
Crypto firm Coinbase announces that it is closing 950 roles in a blog post, equalling 20% of its entire workforce. In a statement, CEO Brian Armstrong said that the cuts were necessary to ensure that Coinbase was able to succeed in 2023. He went on to say “While it is always painful to part ways with our fellow colleagues, there was no way to reduce our expenses significantly enough, without considering changes to headcount.”
Coinbase had previously issued mass redundancies in June 2022, leading to around 1,100 job losses.
Twitter
Job losses: Around 10+ staff
Reports that Twitter has continued its huge layoffs into the new year, with around a dozen cuts being made to its Dublin and Singapore offices. Speaking to Bloomberg, Ella Irwin, Twitter’s Head of Trust and Safety, said “It made more sense to consolidate teams under one leader (instead of two) for example.”
Amazon
Job losses: Around 18,000 staff
Amazon has blamed a staff leak on having to announce huge redundancies earlier than expected, with 18,000 at the company expected to lose their jobs. Amazon has yet to announce which areas these cuts will affect. It marks another in a long line of job losses at the company, with 10,000 roles being made redundant less than two months ago.
Salesforce
Job losses: Around 8,000 staff
Salesforce kicked off the year with redundancies for 10% of its workforce. The company stated that it had hired too rapidly, and that these job losses were an attempt to correct this. In addition, the company will also look to close some of its physical offices.
In a statement, co-CEO Marc Benioff said “As our revenue accelerated through the pandemic, we hired too many people leading into this economic downturn we’re now facing, and I take responsibility for that.”
TuSimple
Job losses: Around 350 staff
Self-driving truck company TuSimple announces layoffs of 25% of its workforce, equating to around 350 staff. In a statement from the company, CEO Cheng Lu stated “While I deeply regret the impact this has on those affected, I believe it is a necessary step as TuSimple continues down our path to commercialization.”
Adobe
Job losses: Around 100 staff
Adobe cuts around 100 roles, mainly focused on sales . In a statement, the company said that it was not looking to make company wide layoffs, and that it was still hiring for critical roles.
Lyst
Job losses: Around 50 staff
UK-based fashion e-commerce platform Lyst is reported slashing 25% of its workforce, amounting to around 25% of its staff, as it looks to make savings, as first reported by TechCrunch.
HP
Job losses: Around 4,000 – 6,000 staff
HP announces that it plans to cut between 4,000 to 6,000 roles over the next three years. In a statement, the company stated that its “Future Ready Transformation Plan, estimates annualized gross run rate cost savings of at least $1.4 billion by the end of fiscal 2025, and restructuring and other charges of approximately $1.0 billion.”
HP blames poor PC sales, which saw a sharp rise during the pandemic, but have since been in decline.
Cisco
Job losses: Around 4,000 staff
Despite announcing a 6% increase in revenue in its first quarter earning report compared to last year, Cisco announced that it was cutting 4,000 of its 83,000 workforce.
In a statement, Cisco CFO, Scot Herren said “Don’t think of this as a headcount action that is motivated by cost savings. This really is a rebalancing.”
The company pointed to a new number of roles that it has opened in new areas, and stated that it will work hard to match employees affected by the cuts to this new positions.
Roku
Job losses: Around 200 staff
Roku announces plans to cut around 5% of its workforce. In a statement, Roku blames the decision on ‘economic conditions’ in its industry.
Job losses: Around 10,000 staff
Rumors had been circulating about huge cuts at Amazon for a few weeks, but today, it was official. News is slowly trickling out as those affected are posting to social media, but Amazon has started making redundancies that are expected to reach around 10,000. The layoffs represent 3% of the total workforce, and so far have confirmed to have affected AI, HR and and retail positions.
Job losses: Around 400 staff
RingCentral is trimming 10% of its workforce, amounting to around 400 people. The company stated that making these cuts would allow it to be “more agile and better align our course with our strategic priorities in the current macro environment.”
Unlike some other companies issuing redundancies, RingCentral isn’t currently experiencing a dire financial outlook. In fact, its Q3 2022 revenue results exceeded expectation, with an increase of $94 million compared to the year previous.
Job losses: Around 11,000 staff
Meta has confirmed the long running rumors that it was to make huge layoffs. In a statement, Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that the company was cutting 10% of the company workforce, amounting to 11,000 roles. Those impacted will receive 16 weeks severance, plus two weeks pay for each year they have been with the company. They’ll also receive additional health and career benefits.
Zuckerberg blamed the layoffs on Meta betting big during Covid, believing the accelerated growth would continue – “Not only has online commerce returned to prior trends, but the macroeconomic downturn, increased competition, and ads signal loss have caused our revenue to be much lower than I’d expected. I got this wrong, and I take responsibility for that.”
Job losses: 100s of staff
Salesforce has cut 100s of roles at the company, although the actual numbers are unknown, with the company stating that it is fewer than one thousand. In an official statement, the company said “Our sales performance process drives accountability. Unfortunately, that can lead to some leaving the business, and we support them through their transition.”
Job losses: Around 350 staff
Zendesk announced that it would be letting 5% of its staff go, citing cost-reduction initiatives. The job losses include those based at the company’s San Francisco location.
Job losses: Around 3,700 staff
It took only a week for Elon Musk to fire half of Twitter’s workforce, after taking over the company for $44 billion. It perhaps isn’t too surprising – there had been plenty of rumors of layoffs in the weeks running up to the takeover, and Musk isn’t exactly a man known for his compassion. Twitter staff discovered their fate by email on Friday. Those that remain will have the privilege of remote working taken away and be expected to return to the office.
It’s one of the biggest layoffs in the tech industry this year, and also one of the most brutal. Twitter under the Musk regime has started with controversy, and will likely continue on in this way for the foreseeable future.
Job losses: Around 550 staff
Huge losses announced by the real estate tech company as it cuts around 18% of its total workforce. It follows competitor Better.com, which made several big layoffs this year alone. In a statement, Opendoor CEO Eric Wu blamed “one of the most challenging real estate markets in 40 years.”
Job losses: Around 300 staff
Seattle-based real estate firm Zillow has laid off 300 employees, with layoffs affecting those in home and loans, and closing services. In a statement, the company said that the cuts were part of its ‘normal business process’. The layoffs leave the company with around 5,000 employees in total.
Job losses: Around 200 staff
Cybersecurity firm Snyk lets go 14% of its workforce, blaming ‘significant market shifts’, leading to the company having to ‘restructure its global workforce’. In addition CEO of Snyk, Peter McKay also stated that it would be reducing spending in other areas, including subscription services and business travel.
Job losses: Around 23 staff
San Francisco video messaging start up Loom announces that it is cutting 23 employees, representing around 10% of the company’s staff. Sales staff are those most affected. It follows redundancies earlier in the year where 34 staff were let go.
Job losses: Around 1,000 staff
A spate of layoffs at Microsoft has led to around 1,000 employees losing their jobs. It’s one of the biggest round of layoffs we’ve seen this year, but still a relatively small percentage of Microsoft’s 220,000+ workforce. Those affected by the cuts include Xbox, Edge and Devices teams. Microsoft has made at least two other rounds of layoffs this year, with the biggest, back in July, affecting 1,800 employees.
Job losses: Around 24 staff
During an internal review of its staff, Equifax identified 24 employees who were ‘overemployed‘, meaning that they were working two jobs at the same time. CEO Mark Begor told staff ‘We expect our team to be fully dedicated to EFX and have one role …their job at EFX.’
Job losses: Around 200 staff
Oracle lays off around 200 employees from its former Redwood City HQ, after relocating to Austin, Texas.
Job losses: Potentially thousands of staff
Faced with a serious decline in sales, it has been reported that Intel will shortly be making wide-reaching job cuts, potentially slashing its number of employees by up to 20%. The company has already downgraded its sales forecast for 2022 by $10 billion compared to the previous year. An official announcement on this cuts is expected near the end of October.
Job losses: Around 40 staff
Spotify closes down eleven of its exclusive podcasts, resulting in the termination of 5% of the company’s employees.
Job losses: Around 500 staff
Barely two months since the last round of layoffs at Peloton, which saw nearly 800 staff cut, Peloton lays off another 500. The fitness company offered the perfect lockdown product, but the return to normal life has seen profits slide. However, this could be the last job cut at the company for some time, with CEO Barry McCarthy stating that Peloton is now ‘focused on growth.’
Job losses: Around 650 staff
Touted as part of its restructuring plan, San Francisco based DocuSign announced that it was letting go of 9% of its workforce.
Job losses: Around 400 staff
Telecoms company Ericsson, like many other companies, is halting its Russian presence. This means that the 400 staff who currently work at the Russian arm will be out of work by the end of the month.
Job losses: Around 100 staff
Swedish fintech company Klarna announced lay offs this month, marking the second such announcement from the company this year. While it’s small condolence to those affected, Klarna is cutting around 100 staff this time around, compared to the 750 it let go in May.
Job losses: Around 44 staff
Inpixon, a company which provides tech and solutions to map and plan indoor spaces, announced that it was letting go of 20% of its workforce, estimated to be around 44 people. CEO Nadir Ali stated that the company had managed to strengthen its position in recent times, but that it ‘had to be mindful of the current economic environment.’
Job losses: Around 850 staff
Twilio, the cloud communications provider announced that it was reducing it’s workforce by 11%. The company had 7,867 at the end of last year. Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson, stated that the decision was made to help run the company more efficiently.
Job losses: Around 150 staff
Patreon, the subscription platform for content creators, announced that 17% of its workforce is being cut. Estimated to have around 885 staff in total, the losses represent a significant number of employees. A week previously the company had let go of five members of its security team.
Job losses: More than 1,280 staff
The company behind Snapchat is making one of the most drastic workforce cullings we’ve seen in months: It will be laying off 20% of its more than 6,400 employees this week. The biggest cuts will be to the teams behind the hardware division, the social mapping app Zenly, and aiding the developers who create Snapchat’s mini apps and games.
Job losses: 250 staff
Improbable as it seems, Better.com is making its fourth round of layoffs in a year. A source informed TechCrunch that 250 ‘or more’ roles were on the chopping block. The company attracted criticism at the end of last year when it made mass lay offs via video.
Job losses: 60 staff
Meta lets 60 contract workers go, from Accenture. According to a report in Bloomberg, the staff were told over video call, and the unlucky employees learned that the decision had been made by an algorithm, say reports.
The move chimes with CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s recent comments that underperformers will be rooted out.
Job losses: 100 staff
Apple cuts 100 contractor roles across several regions, as reported by Bloomberg. The contractors worked in the recruitment arm of the company. In June CEO Tim Cook stated that the company would be ‘investing through the downturn’, but that it would be ‘more deliberate in doing so in recognition of the realities of the environment.’
Job losses: 70 staff
Reports that streaming service HBO Max is cutting 70 roles, around 14 percent of its workforce. The streaming landscape is more competitive than ever in 2022, with Netflix cutting 300 jobs in June amidst declining subscriber numbers.
Job losses: 780 staff
It’s already proved to be a year of change for Peloton – the company had previously cut 2,800 roles and replaced its CEO. It’s been a rocky time for the company, with people ditching their bikes as the pandemic subsides, and a much publicised equipment recall after a death involving one of its products.
On August 12th it announced it was cutting a further 780 jobs, with roles affected including delivery and customer support.
Job losses: 90 staff
Calm, a meditation app, announced that it was cutting 90 employees from its 400 person workforce. Calm CEO David Ko said the company was ‘not immune’ to the current economic climate.
Job losses: around 175 staff
Reports from TechCrunch that Truepill, a digital diagnostics company for the health field, has laid off a third of its workforce, around 175 staff. The company has yet to confirm these cuts, but it has already had two rounds of redundancies this year.
Job losses: around 50 staff
Australian firm Linktree announced that it was to let go of 17% of its staff, equating to around 50 people.
In a LinkedIn post, CEO Alez Zaccaria claimed that the move was necessary to “emerge stronger from the economic downturn.”
Job losses: around 200 staff
Business Insider reports that Microsoft is laying off its Modern Life Experiences team, a department focused on professional consumers. The team was originally formed in 2018.
Job losses: 270 staff
San Francisco based cloud software firm, Nutanix, announced a reduction of 270 staff from it’s 6,000 strong global workforce.
Job losses: unknown, potentially hundreds
At the time of writing the actual number of layoffs at Oracle is unknown, but there are signs it’s in the hundreds at least, potentially even thousands, globally.
Job losses: 500 staff
The voucher discount site laid off 500 staff, around 15% of its total workforce. These redundancies were reportedly across several departments, including sales, marketing, and engineering.
In a letter to staff, the company said that it was focusing on “self-service merchant acquisition capabilities.”
Job losses: 140 staff
In August, iRobot, the robot vacuum cleaner brand, made the news, but not for layoffs. The company was acquired by Amazon on August 5th and chose the same day to announce that it was planning to cut 140 jobs — 10% of its workforce.
Job losses: 50 staff
RingCentral‘s layoffs included several senior roles, and are in two rounds, effective on September 18th and 25th. Despite these redundancies, the company is actually weathering the current financial climate rather well, growing revenue by 28% in Q2.
Job losses: around 700 staff
There’s no doubt it’s been a rocky year for this fintech company — this isn’t their only appearance in this list. In August, it laid off 23% of its staff, estimated to be around 700. Its previous round of redundancies in April saw around 300 job losses.
In a blog post on the company site, CEO Vlad Tenev stated that the redundancies were due to over hiring in 2021, and that, “As CEO, I approved and took responsibility for our ambitious staffing trajectory — this is on me.” A message that is unlikely to bring much comfort to those affected.
Job losses: 1,000 staff
Shopify’s 1,000 redundancies in July represented 10% of the company’s entire workforce. In a message to its staff, the company stated that most redundancies were in recruitment, staff, and sales.
Spotify CEO Tobi Lutke stated, “We bet that the channel mix — the share of dollars that travel through ecommerce rather than physical retail — would permanently leap ahead by five or even 10 years. It’s now clear that bet didn’t pay off.”
Job losses: around 70 staff
Staff losses at Vimeo in July represented about 6% of the company workforce, with the redundancies being blamed on an uncertain economic future.
Vimeo CEO Anjali Sud said in a blog post: “After assessing the challenging market conditions and uncertainty ahead, I believe this is the responsible action to take.”
Job losses: around 100 staff
Popular social media platform TikTok has been no stranger to headlines this year, with national security concerns coming to the forefront once again. However, in July, it was job losses that saw it in the public eye, with around 100 TikTok employees getting cut.
Job losses: around 1,800 staff
Microsoft’s layoffs of “just” 1% of its staff might not seem so bad, but when you consider that the company employed 181,000 people in 2021, that’s a potential 1,810 people on the chopping block.
Microsoft told Bloomberg: “Today we had a small number of role eliminations. Like all companies, we evaluate our business priorities on a regular basis, and make structural adjustments accordingly.”
Job losses: fewer than 100 people
Twitter paused hiring during Elon Musk’s acquisition of the company, reportedly in an attempt to cut costs. In July, it actually let go of around 100 employees, with the redundancies affecting the talent acquisition team.
Twitter is currently locked in a legal battle with Musk over its acquisition, meaning uncertainty will continue at the company for the coming months.
Job losses: 229 staff
Elon Musk’s Tesla firm made 229 redundancies in June, which was to be expected, considering he had told Bloomberg just a few weeks prior that he would be cutting staff by up to 10%.
The job losses affected salaried employees, most of which were purportedly data annotation specialists.
Job losses: 300 staff
Netflix saw its subscriber base start to dip for the first time in 2022, as fierce competition from the likes of Disney+, and a much-publicized crackdown on password sharing caught up with the company.
Slowed revenue growth was blamed for the job losses in June, which amounted to 300, and followed the loss of 150 employees in May.
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Job losses: around 750 staff
Swedish fintech company Klarna cut a huge 750 staff in May, representing 10% of its workforce, and did so via a pre-recorded message.
Co-founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski stated that the announcement was the “hardest one to date,” and that the world “was a very different world than the one we are in today” when the company made its 2022 plans last year.
Job losses: 2,500 staff
Carvana has had a rocky 2022, with a $506 million loss in the first quarter. In an effort to cut back on expenses, the company dropped 2,500 members of staff in May, some of which were told via a video call.
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Job losses: 87 staff
With redundancies in May, Cameo let go of just under a quarter of its total workforce. The company placed the blame on expanding too rapidly and overestimating its market in a post-pandemic world.
CEO Steven Galanis told staff: “To support both fan and talent demand during the pandemic lockdowns, Cameo’s headcount exploded from just over 100 to nearly 400. We hired a lot of people quickly, and market conditions have rapidly changed since then. Accordingly, we have right sized the business to best reflect the new realities.”
Job losses: 150 staff
In May, Netflix let go of 150 staff, including 25 from its fan site Tudum, which launched in December. The site was designed to give Netflix subscribers a behind-the-scenes look at the streaming giant’s shows and driven by an editorial team.
Job losses: around 300 staff
In April, Robinhood CEO stated that the company had cut 9% of the company’s staff, amounting to around 300 people.
Job losses: between 1,200 to 1,500 staff
In December 2021, Better.com canned 900 employees, and in doing so hit the headlines, thanks to the way it delivered the message — through a very impersonal Zoom call.
April saw the third round of redundancies at the troubled company in less than six months, with an additional 1,200 to 1,500 employees being made redundant.
Job losses: 3,100 staff
Following on from the 900 staff fired in December over Zoom, Better.com let go of another 3,100 members of staff across both the US and India.
The tech redundancies are came thick and fast in 2022, and with experts predicting a global recession on the horizon, we can unfortunately expect to see a few more in 2023.
There are some notable omissions from the list so far. For example, Google has not yet announced any redundancies, although it is slowing hiring, and CEO Sunda Pichai has told employees that they needed to work with a “greater urgency and more hunger than we’ve shown on sunnier days.” If they don’t, there’s chance they might be unfortunate enough to be added to this list.
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Jack is the Deputy Editor for Tech.co. He has been writing about a broad variety of technology subjects for over a decade, both in print and online, including laptops and tablets, gaming, and tech scams. As well as years of experience reviewing the latest tech devices, Jack has also conducted investigative research into a number of tech-related issues, including privacy and fraud.
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