2024 tech layoffs have already started: Unity Software to cut nearly 25% of workforce

Unity Software, maker of the popular cross-platform game engine used by developers across the globe, has announced the first major tech layoffs of the new year. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dated January 8, 2024, Unity Software said it will cut “approximately 1,800 employees,” which it says equates to about 25% of its current workforce.

The layoffs are the largest in Unity Software’s history and the fourth round of cuts since July 2022. The company told Reuters that the layoffs will impact all teams in all regions and areas of the company. In a memo to employees on Monday, interim CEO Jim Whitehurst said Unity Software is “reducing the number of things we are doing in order to focus on our core business and drive our long-term success and profitability.”

The job cuts are part of the “company reset” that Whitehurst previously announced in November. At the time, Unity shares (ticker: U) were trading below $30, well below their November 2021 high two years earlier of nearly $200.

The layoffs, which are expected to be completed in the first calendar quarter, will also send an ominous sign to tech workers outside of Unity Software. The sector was hit hard by mass layoffs in late 2022 and throughout much of 2023, with many in the industry hoping that the new year would put the worst of the job cuts behind them.

While Unity has announced the largest round of tech layoffs of 2024 so far, it’s not the first tech company to do so. According to Layoffs.fyi, which tracks job cuts in the tech industry, 13 tech companies have announced 2,358 job cuts in the first nine days of 2024. In 2023, a total of 1,185 tech companies cut 262,242 jobs.

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