Last updated on November 21st, 2022 at 07:15 am
Layoffs have been in the frontline of a difficult 2022 for American workers, owing primarily to the threat of a recession.
Cuts by big businesses have dominated the news, with Crunchbase reporting that 42,000 tech workers were thrown off through mid-September, but no industry has been spared.
Cost-cutting has also grown popular; Meta, Google, FedEx and Walmart are just a few of the major names that have announced cost-cutting efforts.
TECH LAYOFFS 2022
According to a LinkedIn Workforce Confidence poll, however, only 31% of the U.S. workforce is concerned about budget cuts or layoffs at Big Tech Companies.
Some of the prominent Tech Layoffs 2022 have been mentioned below
November 21 Update
Layoffs are here to stay in 2023
As firm after firm fires a sizable portion of its workforce, the business world is shaking. CEOs are taking this necessary but harsh step to protect their businesses’ finances from the effects of the economic crisis. Read Full Article
Updated November 18
Carvana is letting go of 1,500 workers on Friday, which is 8% of its staff. This is one of many layoffs happening in many industries right now. In an email to employees, CEO Ernie Garcia talked about “economic headwinds” and a “hard day.”
During the online shopping frenzy caused by the pandemic, the popularity of the used car dealer went through the roof. However, demand has since dropped because of “rising interest rates and fears of a recession.”
Most of the people laid off on Friday will be in the company’s corporate and technology departments. These people will get separation and severance pay. Read Full Article
Update November 11
Juul Avoids Bankruptcy
At the last moment planning to layoff 400 employees
Juul will not have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy because early investors injected money at the last minute. The vaping company has been struggling since the Food and Drug Administration banned its e-cigarettes in the United States in June.
While the decision was stayed pending, sales decreased considerably, causing the company to declare bankruptcy. According to the Journal, two early investors have stepped up with a lifeline. Juul will lay off 400 employees and reduce operating costs by 30% to 40% as part of the bailout.
Read Full article: Juul gets emergency funding to avoid Bankruptcy : Plan Big Layoffs
Updated 4th November
Gem, a tech unicorn responsible for hiring for some big names laid off 100+ employees. Read full article here
Updated Oct 29
Spreetail
Spreetail, which sells home and garden products on eBay, Amazon, and other websites as well as providing fulfilment and logistics services to other companies and brands, did not specify how many people were laid off, but it appeared to be a significant number.
Spreetail announced the acquisition of Buy Box Experts about a month ago, describing it as “a leading performance marketing agency with a deep-seated history of driving brand success on Amazon.”
It now refers to itself as an end-to-end e-commerce acceleration partner, and its website states, “We buy, stock, sell, ship, and support your products everywhere online.”
Spreetail, which began in Lincoln in 2006 by selling refurbished computers online, has reinvented itself several times.
The plan had always been to rebrand its e-commerce operation as Spreetail, which it did in 2019 with the launch of a new Spreetail website.
That launch was not as successful as the company had hoped, and it laid off more than 100 people just three months later, including the majority of its staff in Austin, Texas, where it had opened an office less than a year before.
Spreetail, like most e-commerce companies, appeared to benefit from the coronavirus pandemic as more people switched to shopping online. In 2020, sales are expected to increase by 90%. It repaid a federal Paycheck Protection Plan loan early because it discovered it didn’t require the funds.
Mindbody
Mindbody, a software company, has announced its second round of layoffs in two years. The California Central Coast-based company, which makes booking and club administration software for fitness and wellness studios, said the layoffs were motivated by the pandemic’s ongoing effects and the need to deal with four-decade-high inflation.
Mindbody has not specified how many people company will lay off; in April 2020, it laid off approximately 700 of its 2,000 employees.
Read full story: https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/software-firm-mindbody-cuts-staff-5479348/
Zillow
Zillow has cut off approximately 300 employees as the business shifts its attention to technology-related employment.
Last year, Zillow stated that it will lay off a quarter of its workforce — approximately 2,000 employees — as a result of the closure of its home-buying service Offers, which promised to give sellers with rapid home offers. At the time, the corporation employed 8,000 people.
Oracle
Oracle has “quietly” reduced its workforce as it seeks to reduce costs, according to Business Insider.
The number of employees affected by this wave of layoffs is unknown, but internal emails obtained by Insider indicate that the layoffs affect people in the company’s North America Cloud Infrastructure & Technology (NACT) section.
Oracle laid off workers in August and then imposed a hiring freeze in September. According to an SEC filing, it plans to expend $519 million in restructuring costs “mainly linked to employee severance” through August 2023.
Snyk
One of the big tech companies, Snyk, a supplier of cloud-native application security, has begun layoffs affecting over 200 employees owing to “major” market upheavals.
Snyk’s CEO, Peter McKay, detailed the layoffs in a blog post. He stated that Snyk had laid off 198 employees, accounting for 14% of the company’s workforce.
Snyk is the latest company to announce layoffs in the channel. Microsoft, Oracle, and Intel are among the corporations that are laying off staff.
While the company has expanded, Snyk has seen a number of key market developments. As a result, McKay stated, “we are restructuring and downsizing our global workforce.”
Phillips
“We are taking urgent actions to decrease the costs associated with running the company,” said Jakobs, the new CEO, during a conference call with investors on Monday. “This includes the tough but essential decision to immediately decrease our worldwide workforce by about 4,000 roles, subject to negotiations with relevant workers’ councils and social partners.”
Nonetheless, Philips recorded a 1.5 billion euro loss for the third quarter, compared to a 358 million euro profit in the same period last year. Meanwhile, its operating cash flow was 180 million euros, a 170% decrease from the year before.
Gopuff
This year, the company has undertaken three rounds of layoffs: first, hundreds of employees amounting to approximately 3% of the company in March, then about 1,500, or another 10%, in July.
The layoffs involved both full-time and temporary staff and were part of a targeted 10% reduction beginning this summer, according to an emailed statement from the company.
Starry Inc.
Starry was on a high just six months ago when it debuted on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), but it has since laid off around half of its personnel and is no longer growing into new areas.
The total number of Starry employees who have been laid off is 508. The reduction affected all markets and departments of Starry, including corporate/administrative, marketing, engineering, sales, production, and construction employment.
Sendoso
Sendoso, a direct mail and gifting platform, was the latest tech business to lay off an unspecified number of employees on Monday.
More than 20,000 tech professionals have been laid off this year, according to Business Insider.
The layoffs follow an announcement in April that Sendoso, which was launched in 2016, would relocate its headquarters from San Francisco to a massive $40 million office in Phoenix in Nov.
Khoros Layoffs
Austin-based online customer interaction startup Khoros LLC has a layoff of around 10% of its workers less than three months after appointing a new CEO.
The corporation did not immediately reply to concerns regarding the layoffs on Friday. Khoros had approximately 1,200 global employees as of August, which equates to approximately 120 layoffs.
Microsoft:
Another one of the big tech companies announced layoffs for almost 1,000 employees worldwide on Monday, according to ABC News.
The decision is the latest hint of weakness among some of the major U.S. technology companies, as inflation, recession fears, and stock market troubles linger.
Microsoft’s stock has dropped over 30% this year. The layoffs came on the heels of a round of layoffs in July that affected fewer than 1% of the company’s personnel.
Momentive Global
The parent tech company of the web-survey platform SurveyMonkey, lay off 11% of its employees.
Momentive described its layoff in the 8-K filing as part of a reorganization effort to “increase operating margins and enhance savings.” According to the company, employee severance, employee benefits, and related facilitation fees would cost the corporation between $4 million and $5 million.
Take-Two
Several job cuts Following the Cancellation of a Major Game Studio is rumoured to be working on new Mafia and tennis games.
Hangar 13, a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. best known for releasing the 2016 game Mafia 3, announced a round of layoffs this week.
In a virtual meeting, studio president Nick Baynes announced that certain positions would be cut, called the news “terrible,” and sought to reassure surviving staff that no further layoffs are planned.
Salesforce
Another round of tech layoffs affected at least 90 people, representing a minuscule portion of the cloud giant’s 78,000 employees worldwide. “While minimal hiring continues, most departments have met their fiscal year hiring goals,” according to a Business Representative. “As a result, we’ve terminated contracts with a few temporary recruiting contractors.”
The current round of job cuts will not affect nearly as many people as the last large round, which took place in August 2020 as part of a “repositioning” of the staff. Salesforce’s hiring freeze will last until January 2023.
Noom
Noom laid off roughly 500 people, or about 10% of its workforce, primarily from its coaching team.
This is the company’s second round of job cuts this year. Insider originally revealed in April that Noom was laying off almost a quarter of its instructors as part of a coaching model strategy shift.
Gannett
According to three people who attended the meeting, Gannett CEO Mike Reed told staff in a companywide Q&A session Wednesday that Gannett lay off 3% of its US workforce, or around 400 employees, in August.
The announcement comes more than two weeks after Gannett, the nation’s largest newspaper company with over 200 publications, announced layoffs beginning Aug. 12.
Brex
Another widely popular Tech Startup made job cuts. According to three attendees, Gannett CEO Mike Reed told staff in a companywide Q&A session Wednesday that Gannett laid off 3% of its US workforce, or around 400 employees, in August.
Gannett
More than two weeks ago, Gannett, the nation’s largest newspaper corporation with nearly 200 properties, announced a round of layoffs beginning Aug. 12.
Intel
Though unexpected from Tech Giant, Intel is rumoured to be laying off a significant number of employees. So far no official news has been confirmed by Tech Industry.
General Electric
GE, according to an insider who declined to be identified, is laying off 20% of its US onshore wind employees, amounting to hundreds of jobs. – Reports CNBC
Rising input costs, supply chain concerns, and competition from the likes of Siemens all pose challenges to GE’s renewable energy industry.
While the need for sustainable energy continues to rise as electricity shortages wreak havoc, researchers believe it has been tough to make wind energy a cost-effective option.
The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act reinstates an onshore wind tax credit, but some experts believe it is too late.
According to Research, GE’s renewables sector will produce $15 billion to $16 billion in sales this year, with onshore wind accounting for the great majority, around 70%.
Peleoton
Another mass layoff for the fourth time this year, with the newest round affecting 500 people, or 12% of the workforce.
According to Ben Boyd, a Peloton spokesman, the company would be left with roughly 3,825 people following the latest wave of layoffs, which amount to about 12% of its workforce.
Originally reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Layoffs in Recent Months
High-profile firms mostly Tech Firms that cut staff in September include:
DocuSign
Tech Company stated that it will lay off 9% of its employees as part of a major reorganization plan.
The plan is intended to support the company’s growth and profitability goals, as well as to increase its operating margin. DocuSign has 7,461 workers as of January, and the restructuring plan is expected to be completed in its entirety by the end of the fiscal year 2023.
As a result of the modifications in recent months, it expects to incur costs of $30 million to $40 million, primarily in the third and fourth quarters of fiscal 2023.
During Covid, the electronic signature software firm saw an increase in investor interest as consumers and corporate personnel became more reliant on digital ways to sign documents. However, enthusiasm has waned, and shares have dropped 65% this year.
Wells Fargo
According to a notice filed with Iowa Workforce Development, the banking behemoth let off another 36 staff on Thursday, marking the 10th round of layoffs since April.
According to state documents, the recent layoffs have increased the total number of affected local workers to 402 since April. The layoffs come just three weeks before Wells Fargo’s next earnings report.
“We analyze and alter employment levels on a regular basis to correspond with market conditions and the demands of our businesses,” said spokesperson Kevin Friedlander in a statement Friday.
Gap
Approximately 500 corporate job cuts are being made at the Gap, adding to the retailer’s existing problems.
According to a person familiar with the issue, the cuts involve a mix of layoffs and open positions being eliminated at the company’s global offices in New York, San Francisco, and around Asia.
According to the Wall Street Journal, which broke the story first, the layoffs began recently and affect around 5% of the Gap’s 8,700 corporate employees.
The layoffs come only a few months after the Gap announced disappointing first-quarter earnings, with sales at both its flagship brand and its more popular Old Navy branch declining.
Sonia Syngal, the company’s CEO, announced her resignation in July after less than three years in the position. While the corporation seeks a permanent leader, she will be succeeded by an interim CEO.
Twilio
Other tech company layoffs include Twilio. CEO Jeff Lawson announced in an email to all employees that 11% of the company’s workforce would be laid off, stating that the decisions were made with an “Anti-Racist” and “Anti-Oppression” lens.
In a message to employees, the CEO of the San Francisco-based corporate communications firm stated that the layoffs are “wise and necessary.”
“I will not sugarcoat anything. We don’t want to lay people off, but I believe it’s prudent and necessary. Twilio has expanded at an astounding rate in recent years. It was too quick and lacked focus on our most important company priorities. “I accept responsibility for those judgments, as well as the difficult decision to lay off employees,” Lawson stated.
Warner Bros
According to Warner Bros. Discovery, it will spend up to $1.5 billion to reduce tech talent in the company, discontinue content, and pay severance packages to laid-off employees, among other things.
The business cautioned in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday that “the projected cash expenditures from the organization structural adjustments, facility consolidation efforts, and other contract termination charges will be in the range of approximately $1.0 – $1.5 billion.”
The costs will be spread out over several fiscal years. The regulatory filing also stated that the business was contemplating significant write-downs – potentially more than $4 billion in pre-tax losses through 2024, including more than $2 billion for charges related to reducing production and discontinuing TV series and movies.
Conclusion
Is Job loss a bad thing in the World of Startups? NO
Absolutely not, is the answer. Whether it’s in the United States or any other part of the World, many of these people working in the tech sector never considered opening up their own firm.
With all the experience, they can become the Founders of the next unicorns comparable with the likes of Silicon Valley.
Yes, the Recession is around the corner, and yes many will face consequences due to these massive layoffs but they can also be well-suited for another tech company probably at a higher payout.
A tech worker is too caught up with paying bills. Most of companies are paying advance salaries to their workers being laid off. Now is the time to look for a better opportunity or perhaps your own tech startup.
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