Working in the technology industry has been particularly tumultuous over the past year or so, as the sector has been rocked with extensive layoffs. There was once a time when it seemed like there was no limit to the growth that big tech companies could experience. However, a lot has changed in the tech industry, and we have new numbers to qualify just how volatile it has been. Just last year, more than 250,000 workers in the tech industry were laid off. More importantly, the biggest tech companies were the worst offenders.
The totals are courtesy of layoffs.fyi, a layoff tracker for the companies in the tech sector. It was started following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and is the most expansive database of tech layoffs available on the internet. According to the site, 1,191 tech companies are known to have laid off employees in 2023. Those layoffs resulted in 262,735 employees being laid off. They are just the ones we know about, too. It’s likely that the real total is higher than that. More people in the tech industry were laid off last year.
Meta and Google laid off the most workers in 2023
Notably, the biggest companies in the tech industry laid off the most workers last year. This contrasts from what is usually the case, when startups fold and experience mass layoffs while large corporations continue to rise. In fact, two of the largest companies — Meta and Google — have continued to layoff employees in the name of efficiency. Meta laid off more than 20,000 employees in 2023, which is the most by any one company. Google eliminated 12,000 jobs to start last year as well, setting the tone for what would follow.
A common theme amidst these widespread layoffs is the focus on “efficiency.” Due to potential overhiring and redundancy, many of the companies said the layoffs were aimed at efficiency.
Will more workers in the tech industry be laid off in 2024?
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like this year holds a better outlook. We are just over a month into 2024, and there have been plenty of layoffs already. In fact, layoffs.fyi reports that 154 companies in the tech industry laid off 24,496 workers so far. Some companies are even preparing their employees for the worst. Google laid off thousands of workers to start this year, and its CEO Sundar Pichai told employees to expect those layoffs to continue. We don’t know what the future holds, but it’s a rough time to be working in tech.
2024-02-16 15:06:10