Tech Layoffs 2023 & 2024: A Brutal Wave Crashing Over Silicon Valley

Tech Layoffs 2023 & 2024: A Brutal Wave Crashing Over Silicon Valley

The tech industry, once known for its seemingly endless growth and overflowing coffers, is facing a stark reality in 2023 and 2024: job cuts. From giants like Google and Amazon to smaller startups, companies are slashing their workforces at an alarming rate. This isn't just a ripple – it's a tsunami, leaving thousands feeling the sting of uncertainty and lost livelihoods.

Why the Bloodbath?

The storm brewing over Silicon Valley isn't a single weather system, but a confluence of factors:

• Economic Downturn: The global economy is sputtering, and tech companies are feeling the pinch. Consumer spending is down, inflation is up, and investors are tightening their belts.
• Pandemic Hangover: The rapid growth fueled by pandemic lockdowns is over. People are venturing out again, and online activity is returning to pre-pandemic levels. This "normalcy" isn't what many tech companies were prepared for.
• Overhiring: Let's be honest, some tech companies got a little carried away during the boom times. They hired aggressively, anticipating continued growth that never materialized. Now, they're left with bloated workforces and the painful task of downsizing.
• Restructuring and Shifting Priorities: Some companies are using the economic downturn as an opportunity to restructure and refocus their priorities. This often means eliminating positions and teams that no longer align with their new vision.

The Layoff Rundown: A Grim Tally

The list of companies announcing layoffs is long and disheartening. Here are some of the biggest hits:

• Google (Alphabet): 12,000+ employees
• Amazon: 18,000+ employees (plus additional cuts later)
• Microsoft: 10,000 employees
• Meta (Facebook): 11,000+ employees (across multiple rounds)
• Coinbase: 2,050 employees (across multiple rounds)
• Twitter: 35% of workforce (approx. 500 employees)
• Rivian: 840 employees
• Dell: 6,650 employees
• Unity: 1,800 employees (plus smaller earlier layoffs)
• And many, many more...

February 2024:

1. DocuSign Layoffs: DocuSign made a significant cut in its workforce, reducing it by six percent. The most impacted were the employees in the sales and marketing departments. It’s worth noting that the company’s total headcount was 7,336 at the end of 2023.
2. Snap Layoffs: Snap, not for the first time, reduced its workforce, this time by an additional 10 percent. This equates to approximately 540 workers. The company stated that these layoffs were necessary to minimize hierarchy and encourage in-person collaboration.

January 2024:

1. Duolingo Layoffs: Duolingo reduced its contractor workforce by 10 percent, shifting some tasks to generative AI technology.
2. Unity Layoffs: Unity made a significant cut, laying off 1,800 employees, which is a quarter of its workforce. This was in addition to the 1,110 layoffs over the previous two years.
3. Humane AI Layoffs: Humane AI reduced its workforce by 4 percent even before the launch of its flagship product, the Ai pin.
4. Twitch Layoffs: Twitch, owned by Amazon, announced a substantial layoff of 35 percent of its workforce, which is just over 500 people.
5. Amazon Layoffs: On the same day as the Twitch layoffs, Amazon reportedly laid off several hundred employees at Prime Video and MGM Studios. Later in the month, Amazon also cut 5 percent of the staff behind its Buy with Prime program.
6. Meta Layoffs: Meta’s layoffs continued into 2024, with the company reportedly letting go of 60 technical program managers at Instagram.
7. Google Layoffs: Google reportedly laid off hundreds of workers in its Assistant and hardware divisions, among other departments. This was followed by a reorganization of its Pixel, Nest, and Fitbit divisions, leading to the departure of Fitbit’s co-founders.
8. Discord Layoffs: Discord reportedly laid off 170 workers, or 17 percent of its workforce.
9. Riot Games Layoffs: Riot Games announced that it laid off 11 percent of its workforce globally, impacting 530 people.
10. eBay Layoffs: eBay reduced its workforce by around 1,000 roles, or roughly 9 percent of its full-time employees.
11. TikTok Layoffs: TikTok confirmed it let go of 60 employees, mostly in its sales and advertising division.
12. Microsoft Layoffs: Microsoft cut 1,900 jobs across Activision and Blizzard.
13. iRobot Layoffs: iRobot, the maker of Roomba, slashed 31 percent of its workforce.
14. Block Layoffs: Block reportedly laid off around 1,000 workers, with the Cash App and Square teams among those most heavily affected.
15. PayPal Layoffs: PayPal cut nine percent of its workforce, approximately 2,500 employees, despite reporting strong revenue growth in 2023.
16. Sega Layoffs: Sega announced plans to lay off 61 workers in March. The employees are based at two offices in Irvine, California.

December 2023:

1. Spotify Layoffs: Spotify announced a workforce reduction of 17 percent in a pre-holiday press release by CEO Daniel Ek.
2. New World Interactive Layoffs: New World Interactive, the developer behind the Insurgency series and Day of Infamy, let go of an undisclosed number of employees.
3. Tinybuild Layoffs: Indie game developer Tinybuild also downsized, laying off an undisclosed number of employees due to cost restructuring.
4. Codemasters Layoffs: Codemasters, an EA-owned studio, made job cuts in December, though the exact number of affected employees remains unclear.
5. Tidal Layoffs: Tidal, the music streaming service, announced in December that it was reducing its workforce by 10 percent. This followed an announcement from parent company Block Inc. in November that it would cap its workforce at 12,000 employees.
6. Etsy Layoffs: Etsy announced that it was reducing its staff by 11 percent, or around 225 employees. The company also reshuffled its c-suite, with two executives set to depart in early 2024.

November 2023:

1. Ubisoft Montreal Layoffs: Ubisoft Montreal, home to the company’s largest in-house development team, let go of 98 employees in early November. The layoffs primarily affected those in business administration and IT. In its latest quarterly earnings report, the company revealed a reduction of about 1,000 jobs over the past year, including both layoffs and positions left vacant by voluntary departures.
2. Cruise Layoffs: Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors specializing in driverless cars, announced plans to lay off a portion of its workforce in November. This news coincided with GM’s recall of Cruise’s entire fleet of 950 robotaxis following a pedestrian collision. In December, Cruise confirmed that the layoffs would affect about 900 employees, or 24 percent of its workforce.
3. Snap Layoffs: Snap made the decision to lay off 20 product managers, a move it claims will streamline decision-making processes.
4. Amazon Layoffs: Amazon reduced its gaming division by 180 jobs, as reported by several reputable news outlets including Reuters and Bloomberg. The layoffs included the entire team working on Crown, a Twitch channel backed by Amazon. Later in November, Amazon also laid off several hundred employees working on Alexa. The company is widely perceived to have fallen behind AI competitors such as OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT.
5. ByteDance Layoffs: ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, reportedly cut hundreds of roles across its gaming division. Nuverse, a publisher it acquired in 2017, was said to be significantly affected by the layoffs.
6. Unity Layoffs: Unity Software, as part of a company “reset,” cut 265 jobs, or 3.8 percent of its workforce.

October 2023:

LinkedIn Layoffs: LinkedIn announced its second wave of layoffs for the year, with around 668 employees from its engineering, product, talent, and finance teams being let go. Earlier in May, LinkedIn had also announced the layoff of 716 employees and the closure of its job search app in China. Cumulatively, LinkedIn has reduced its workforce by nearly 1,400 jobs in 2023.

September 2023:

1. Epic Games Layoffs: Epic Games announced a significant reduction in its workforce, letting go of 16 percent, or approximately 830 employees. CEO Tim Sweeney, in an open letter to employees, stated that the company’s expenditures far exceeded its earnings, leading to the conclusion that layoffs were the only viable solution. Prior to this, the company had attempted to cut costs by freezing hiring and reducing marketing spending.
2. Roku Layoffs: Roku underwent its second round of layoffs for 2023, resulting in an additional 300 employees leaving the company. This was on top of the 200 employees let go in March and another 200 dismissed in late 2022. In an effort to further reduce costs, Roku has been axing shows and movies from its platform, consolidating office space, and minimizing expenditure on external services.

July 2023:

1. Google Layoffs: In July, Google’s contracting partner, Accenture, made headlines when it laid off 80 Help subcontractors who had voted to form the Alphabet Workers Union-CWA the previous month. Accenture cited cost-cutting as the reason for this move. Despite the company’s claim of respecting the subcontractors’ right to unionize, the former teams accused Google of retaliation against labor organizers.
2. CD Projekt Red Layoffs: CD Projekt Red, the creator of Cyberpunk 2077, faced business hurdles and announced in July that it would be laying off about 100 people over the coming months, which is approximately nine percent of the workforce. The layoffs are expected to continue until the first quarter of 2024. CEO Adam Kiciński was candid about the reason, stating that CDPR was “overstaffed” for a reorganization aimed at better managing the game developer’s expanding product roadmap, which includes new Cyberpunk and Witcher titles.

June 2023:

1. Spotify Layoffs: Spotify, following its layoff plans from January, announced in June that it would be reducing its podcast unit by 200 jobs. This move is part of a more focused strategy to nurture podcasts with optimized resources for creators and shows. Additionally, Spotify is merging its Gimlet and Parcast production teams into a revamped Spotify Studios division.
2. GrubHub Layoffs: GrubHub, facing significant pressure from the economy and competitors like Uber, decided to cut 15 percent of its workforce in June, equating to roughly 400 staff members. This decision came just weeks after CEO Adam DeWitt officially left the food delivery service. The new CEO, Howard Migdal, believes these job cuts will help the company stay competitive.
3. Embracer Group Layoffs: Embracer Group, a major game publishing company, announced layoff plans in June as part of a significant restructuring effort aimed at reducing costs. The company didn’t disclose how many of its 17,000 employees would be affected but expected the overhaul to continue through March. This news followed Embracer’s revelation that it lost a $2 billion deal with an unnamed partner despite a verbal agreement.
4. Sonos Layoffs: Sonos, struggling to turn a profit recently, is cutting costs to regain its footing. The company announced in June that it would be laying off 7 percent of its staff, or roughly 130 jobs. It also planned to divest real estate and reconsider program spending. CEO Patrick Spence cited “continued headwinds” that included declining sales.
5. Plex Layoffs: Plex, a popular app for streaming both local and online media, hasn’t been able to improve its fortunes. The company laid off roughly 20 percent of its employees in June, or 37 people. The cuts affected all areas. Plex is reportedly feeling the impact of an ad market slowdown and is keen to reduce costs and achieve profitability.

May 2023:

1. Shopify Layoffs: Shopify, an e-commerce platform that played a pivotal role during the pandemic peak, began to scale back as the surge subsided. In May, the company reduced its workforce by 20 percent and divested its logistics business to Flexport. Founder Tobi Lütke described these job cuts as a necessary step to focus on Shopify’s primary mission and acknowledged the need for increased efficiency in the post-boom period.
2. Polestar Layoffs: Polestar, a Volvo spinoff brand, postponed the production of its first electric SUV, the Polestar 3, in May, which had implications for its workforce. The company announced a 10 percent workforce reduction to mitigate costs amidst lowered manufacturing expectations and economic challenges. Volvo required additional time for software development and testing, which also delayed the EX90, according to Polestar.
3. SoundCloud Layoffs: SoundCloud, a streaming audio service, announced further layoffs in May following extensive job cuts the previous year. The company planned to reduce its staff by 8 percent in an effort to achieve profitability by 2023. Sources from Billboard suggest that the company aims to be profitable by the year’s fourth quarter.

April 2023

1. Lyft’s Workforce Reduction In April, Lyft, the ride-hailing service, announced a significant reduction in its workforce. This followed a 13% staff cut in November 2022. The company disclosed that it was dismissing 1,072 employees, which constituted about 26% of its total workforce. This decision was made shortly after a major executive reshuffle that saw former Amazon executive David Risher replace Logan Green as CEO. Risher stated that the layoffs were part of an effort to streamline the company and refocus on its core stakeholders - the drivers and passengers. Previously, Green had emphasized the need for Lyft to increase its expenditure to stay competitive with Uber.
2. Dropbox’s Employee Layoffs Even cloud storage companies like Dropbox have not been spared from the harsh economic conditions. In April, Dropbox announced that it would be laying off 500 employees, approximately 16% of its total staff. Drew Houston, the co-founder of Dropbox, attributed these layoffs to a combination of a challenging economy, a mature business, and the need to quickly adapt to the growing interest in AI. Despite the company being profitable, its growth has been slowing down, and Houston mentioned that some investments were no longer sustainable.

March 2023

1. Roku’s Job Cuts Roku, the creator of the streaming platform, made a decision to let go of another 200 employees in March 2023. This was in addition to the 200 jobs it had already shed at the end of 2022. The company justified these layoffs as a necessary measure to reduce escalating costs and to focus on projects that would yield the most significant impact. Roku has been grappling with the dual challenges of a tough economy and the end of a surge in streaming video due to the pandemic.
2. Lucid Motors’ Workforce Reduction Lucid Motors, a luxury EV manufacturer, confirmed in March that it would be laying off about 18 percent of its workforce, which equates to approximately 1,300 people. The company is still not meeting its production targets, and these layoffs are reportedly a response to changing business needs and improvements in productivity. The layoffs are comprehensive, affecting both executives and contractors.
3. Meta’s (Facebook) Layoffs Meta, formerly known as Facebook, announced in March 2023 that it would be laying off an additional 10,000 workers. This followed a previous round of layoffs in fall 2022, where 11,000 jobs were cut. The initial layoffs primarily affected the recruiting team, but the company also reduced its technology teams in late April and its business groups in late May. Meta aims to streamline its operations by reducing the number of management layers and assigning some leaders tasks that were previously handled by regular employees. The company anticipates that it will take some time before its staff count increases again, as it does not plan to lift its hiring freeze until after the completion of its restructuring effort in late 2023.

February 2023

1. Rivian’s Staff Reduction In February, Rivian, the emerging EV brand, announced that it was laying off another six percent of its employees, approximately 840 workers. This was in addition to the layoffs conducted in 2022. The company is still striving to achieve profitability, and the production shortfall due to supply chain issues has compounded the problem. CEO RJ Scaringe stated that the job cuts would help Rivian focus on the most impactful aspects of its business.
2. Zoom’s Workforce Downsizing Zoom, a key player in remote work culture during the peak of the pandemic, announced in February that it was laying off about 1,300 employees, or 15 percent of its staff. CEO Eric Yuan explained that the company had not hired sustainably while dealing with its sudden success. The layoffs are reportedly necessary to help the company survive in a difficult economy. In addition to this, Yuan is reducing his salary by 98 percent for the next fiscal year, while all other executives are taking a 20 percent cut in their base salaries and forfeiting their fiscal 2023 bonuses.
3. Yahoo’s Employee Layoffs Yahoo, the parent company of Engadget, announced in February that it would lay off over 20 percent of its workforce throughout 2023, which is more than 1,600 people. Most of these layoffs, about 1,000 positions, took place immediately. CEO Jim Lanzone attributed the layoffs not to economic conditions, but to a restructuring of the advertising technology unit as the company transitioned from an unprofitable business to a successful one. Essentially, Yahoo is stepping back from direct competition with Google and Meta in the ad market.
4. Dell’s Job Cuts Dell, a major PC maker, was hit hard by the economic recovery from the pandemic and a grim economy. In early February, the company laid off five percent of its workforce, or about 6,650 employees, following a brutal fourth quarter where computer shipments reportedly plunged by an estimated 37 percent. Dell stated that previous cost-cutting efforts were insufficient, and that the layoffs and a streamlined organization were necessary to get back on track.
5. Deliveroo’s Workforce Reduction Deliveroo, a food delivery service that thrived while COVID-19 kept people away from restaurants, is feeling the impact now that people are starting to dine out again. The company is laying off about 350 workers, or nine percent of its workforce. According to founder Will Shu, “redeployments” will reduce this number to around 300. The layoffs are reportedly a response to the need to cut costs in a challenging economy, following rapid hiring to handle the “unprecedented” growth related to the pandemic.
6. DocuSign’s Layoffs DocuSign, a company well-known for its online document signing service, announced in mid-February that it was laying off 10 percent of its workforce. While the company did not disclose the exact number of employees affected, it had 7,461 employees at the start of 2022. Most of those losing their jobs work in DocuSign’s worldwide field organization.
7. GitLab’s Employee Layoffs GitLab, a company whose DevOps platform is used by tech brands like NVIDIA and T-Mobile, is laying off seven percent of its employees, or roughly 114 people. The company’s chief, Sid Sijbrandij, stated that the challenging economy has led customers to adopt a “more conservative approach” to software investment, and that the company’s previous attempts to refocus spending were not enough to overcome these challenges.
8. GoDaddy’s Layoffs GoDaddy, a web service provider, conducted layoffs early in the pandemic, cutting over 800 workers from its retail-oriented Social platform. However, in February, it took broader action and laid off eight percent of its workforce, or more than 500 people.

January 2023

1. Google (Alphabet) Layoffs In late January, Alphabet, Google’s parent company, announced that it would lay off 12,000 employees. This decision was part of Alphabet’s ongoing cost-cutting measures, which included shutting down Stadia. CEO Sundar Pichai explained that the company had been hiring for a different economic reality and was now restructuring to focus on its most important businesses. The layoffs particularly affected the company’s Area 120 incubator, with most of the unit’s workers losing their jobs. Sub-brands like Intrinsic (robotics) and Verily (health) also saw significant workforce reductions in the days leading up to the mass layoffs. Waymo conducted two rounds of layoffs, shedding 209 people, or eight percent of its force.
2. Amazon Layoffs Amazon, which had already outlined layoff plans in the previous fall, expanded those cuts in early January by eliminating 18,000 jobs, primarily from retail and recruiting teams. The company added another 9,000 people to the layoffs in March and announced in April that over 100 gaming employees were leaving. CEO Andy Jassy attributed the layoffs to an uncertain economy and rapid hiring in recent years. While Amazon benefited tremendously from the pandemic as people shifted to online shopping, its growth is slowing as people return to in-person stores.
3. Coinbase Layoffs Coinbase, a major cryptocurrency exchange, was significantly impacted by the crypto market’s downturn in 2022, and this carried over into the new year. In mid-January, the company laid off 950 people, just months after it had slashed 1,100 roles. This represented one of the steepest proportionate cuts among larger tech brands, with Coinbase offloading about a fifth of its staff. CEO Brian Armstrong stated that the layoffs were necessary to reduce operating expenses and survive what he previously described as a “crypto winter.” This also resulted in the cancellation of some projects that were less likely to succeed.
4. IBM Layoffs IBM, a computing pioneer, axed 3,900 jobs in late January. These layoffs were more a result of corporate strategy shifts than financial hardship. After offloading both its AI-driven Watson Health business and its infrastructure management division (now Kyndryl) in the fall, the employees had nothing to work on as IBM pivoted toward cloud computing.
5. Microsoft Layoffs Microsoft began its second-largest wave of layoffs in company history when it announced in mid-January that it would cut 10,000 jobs by the end of March. Like many other tech heavyweights, it was trimming costs as customers scaled back their spending, particularly on Windows and devices, during the pandemic recovery. The reductions were especially painful for some divisions. They reportedly gutted the HoloLens and mixed reality teams, while 343 Industries is believed to be rebooting Halo development after losing dozens of workers. GitHub is cutting 10 percent of its team, or roughly 300 people.
6. PayPal Layoffs PayPal, one of the healthier large tech companies, unveiled plans at the end of January to lay off 2,000 employees, or seven percent of its total worker base. Despite beating expectations in its third quarter the previous year, the company was not immune to a tough economy. CEO Dan Schulman stated that the downsizing would keep costs in check and help PayPal focus on its core strategic priorities.
7. Salesforce Layoffs Salesforce set the tone for 2023 when it warned just four days into the new year that it would lay off 8,000 employees, or about 10 percent of its workforce. While the cloud software brand thrived during the pandemic with rapidly growing revenue, it admitted that it had hired too aggressively during the boom and couldn’t maintain that staffing level while the economy was in decline.
    
8. SAP’s Staff Reduction SAP, a business software powerhouse, experienced a steep 68 percent drop in profit at the end of 2022. To maintain its business health, the company began 2023 by laying off 2,800 staff members. Unlike some tech giants, SAP did not attribute the layoffs to excessive hiring during the pandemic. Instead, it described the move as a “targeted restructuring” for a company that still anticipated growth acceleration in 2023.
9. Spotify’s Workforce Downsizing Spotify, which had aggressively expanded its podcast empire in recent years, quickly halted this practice as 2023 began. In late January, the streaming music service announced that it would lay off 6 percent of its workforce, which equated to about 9,800 people as of the third quarter. This decision was made alongside a restructuring effort that included the departure of content chief Dawn Ostroff. Despite having more Premium subscribers than ever in 2022, the company also suffered significant losses. CEO Daniel Ek admitted that he had been “too ambitious” in investing before the revenue existed to support it.
10. Wayfair’s Layoffs Wayfair, a major online retailer, announced in late January that it would lay off 1,750 team members, or 10 percent of its global headcount. About 1,200 of these layoffs were corporate staff, cut in an effort to “eliminate management layers” and help the company become leaner and more agile. Wayfair had been cutting costs since August 2022 (including 870 positions), but viewed the layoffs as a means to reach break-even earnings sooner than expected.

The Human Cost: Beyond Numbers

These numbers represent more than just statistics. They represent real people, with families, mortgages, and dreams. The impact of these layoffs is far-reaching, causing anxiety, financial hardship, and a sense of betrayal for many workers.

What's Next? A Cloudy Forecast

The future of the tech industry remains uncertain. While some experts predict a rebound, others fear a prolonged downturn. Regardless of what comes next, one thing is clear: the days of easy growth and endless hiring sprees are over. Tech companies will need to adapt, innovate, and be more mindful of their spending if they want to weather this storm and emerge stronger on the other side.

Beyond the Headlines: A Call for Human-Centered Solutions

While this article focuses on the economic factors driving the layoffs, it's crucial to remember the human cost involved. Tech companies must prioritize responsible practices during this challenging time, such as:

• Offering generous severance packages and outplacement services to help laid-off employees transition to new opportunities.
• Communicating openly and honestly with employees throughout the process to minimize anxiety and uncertainty.
• Investing in retraining programs to equip workers with the skills they need to thrive in the evolving tech landscape.

The tech industry has a responsibility to not only weather this storm but also emerge from it with a renewed focus on its employees and the communities it serves. By prioritizing human well-being and responsible practices, tech companies can navigate this challenging period and build a more sustainable and equitable future for all.