The tech industry is plagued by layoffs, with around 150,000 workers expected to be affected since the start of 2023.
Amazon is the latest to announce a significant number of cuts in an effort to streamline costs.
“We intend to eliminate approximately 9,000 more positions over the next few weeks—mostly in AWS, PXT, Ads, and Twitch. This was a difficult decision, but a decision that we feel is best for the long term of the company.” is,” said Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Andy Jassy in a memorandum on Monday.
company 18,000 posts eliminated in January, citing similar reasons, including uncertain economic conditions, and overhiring during the pandemic, as well as doing so with the aim of “leaning what still enables us to invest strongly in key long-term customer experiences.” make capable.”
Twitch CEO Dan Clancy said that about 400 people would be let go, adding that Twitch’s user and revenue growth “has not been in line with our expectations.”
Affected employees will be supported with a package that includes a severance pay, transitional health insurance benefits and external job placement support.
last week, meta too announced Cut a further 10,000 jobs, and freeze recruitment for around 5,000 additional roles. The company’s recruiting team will be the first to be affected, while technical and professional groups will be informed in late April and May respectively.
Late last year, Meta laid off more than 11,000 employees.
Pitching 2023 as the year of efficiency, Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, called for removing multiple layers of management, canceling low-priority projects, keeping the company technology-focused, investing in AI, and prioritizing more personalized work. shared the plan.
meta also said in a SEC filing that it expects to reduce spending by between US$86 billion and US$92 billion in 2023.
On the same day, Samsung laid off 3 percent of the workforce at its US semiconductor subsidiary, Device Solutions America (DSA).
In Q4 2022, the South Korean giant reported $204 million in operating profit in the semiconductor division, representing a dramatic decline of 96.9 percent from Q4 2021.
Intel has also faced chip market volatility over the past two years, reporting an operating loss of US$700 million in the fourth quarter of 2022 and announcing more than 300 job cuts earlier this year. Additionally, CEO Pat Gelsinger took a 25 percent pay cut.
Fellow computer maker Dell also cut 6,650 jobs in early February as it 28 percent decline in global PC shipments in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Other tech companies facing layoffs since early 2023 include Ericsson (8,500 jobs), Twilio (1,500 jobs), Yahoo (1,600 jobs), Zoom (1,300 jobs), Atlassian (500 jobs), DocuSign (680 jobs), eBay . 500 Jobs and Okta (300 Jobs).
Meanwhile, Google employees sent An Open Letter to CEO Sundar Pichai Monday to demand that the company do better in handling its layoffs. company 12,000 job cuts In January.
The letter, signed by 1,400 workers, said: “Nowhere has the voice of workers been adequately considered, and we know that as workers we are stronger than we are alone.”
Additionally, more than 100 former employees have organized a group they call “Leave on Leave”, demanding that the company respect scheduled leaves such as maternity, caregivers and bereavement, and leave employees Does not give notice of retrenchment until terminated.
The letter included heart-wrenching accounts from furloughed workers, including one a week before giving birth to another while caring for a terminally-ill parent.
The employees also demanded that Google not terminate the employment of workers whose visas would be affected when they are forced to return to unsafe and unstable countries.
Lastly, asking Google to immediately respond to the concerns of the employees, the letter mentions the core principle of Google – “Don’t be evil”.
Here is the full letter:
