Just two weeks into the new year, it’s already been a hard time for the tech sector. Any hopes that the layoffs that began in 2022 and accelerated in 2023 would begin to subside have yet to be realized as more major companies joined other big players, including Unity and Amazon, in laying off workers just after the start of the year.
The latest companies to announce layoffs include:
- Discord: The instant messaging and communications platform told employees this week that it would lay off 17% of its staff, equalling 170 people. In an internal memo obtained by The Verge and others, Discord CEO Jason Citron said the company grew its workforce too quickly over the last several years as well as taking “on more projects and [becoming] less efficient in how we operated.”
- Audible: Amazon’s audiobook company announced it would lay off 5% of its workforce, equating to about 100 employees. In an internal memo to employees, Audible CEO Bob Carrigan said “getting leaner and more efficient is the way we will need to operate now—and in the foreseeable future—in order to continue delivering best-in-class audio storytelling to our customers around the world,” reported the Associated Press. The job cuts follow layoffs at other Amazon properties earlier this week, including Amazon Prime Video and Twitch.
- Google: The search giant is laying off hundreds of people working on the company’s Google Assistant product, Semafor reported, which last year was made to look rather archaic with the rise of generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT. The company also laid off hundreds of workers on its knowledge and information product teams.
- Instagram: The Meta-owned company is eliminating the roles of about 60 employees at its popular image-sharing app, reported Business Insider. The employees are all technical program managers. Instagram declined to comment.
- Humane: The startup behind a forthcoming AI Pin laid off 10 people before its product even shipped.
- Rent the Runway: The fashion rental company laid off 10% of its workforce this week, as reported by Fast Company‘s Elizabeth Segran.
In the first 12 days of this year, the total number of tech employees who have been laid off has already reached 5,586 across 35 companies, according to data compiled by Layoffs.fyi. To put that into a historical context, in 2023, 1,186 tech companies laid off a total of 262,682 workers, and in 2022, 1,064 tech companies laid off a total of 164,969 workers.
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