Tech layoffs: Companies let nearly 200,000 employees go in 2023
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2023 has been a tough year for employees in the technology industry. Nearly 200,000 employees have been laid off in the first five months of the year so far, as per estimates of Layoffs.ai, a tracking site for layoffs in the sector.
Last year as the world returned to normal from the COVID-19 pandemic, big names in the tech industry, such as Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon, began announcing job cuts. While these made significant headlines, the smaller companies were laying off employees, citing over-hiring during the pandemic.
In 2023, with fears of incoming recession and the U.S. Federal Reserve keeping its interest rates high in its fight against inflation, tech companies have continued to let people go, with the number of people losing their jobs superseding in the few months than the year before.
Tech layoffs in 2023
According to data available at Layoffs.ai, nearly 700 tech companies have laid off employees this year, resulting in about 198,000 unemployed people. In comparison, 1,000 tech companies laid off more than 161,000 employees in 2022.
The signs of trouble for the tech sector were visible as early as January this year when tech majors such as Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Salesforce announced additional job cuts that affected employees globally.
The recent rise in artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities has also fuelled further job cuts. Telecom, a significant BT in the U.K., recently announced that it planned to reduce its workforce by 55,000 in the coming decade, with 10,000 of them being replaced by AI.
After global telecom provider Vodafone declared plans to shrink its workforce and streamline its operations, more job losses will follow in the telecom sector. The move is expected to affect 11,000 workers over the next three years.
More bad news is in store for Meta's employees that bet big on the metaverse last year but is not preparing for another round of job cuts in the real world. While the exact number is expected to be announced next week, reports suggest that 6,000 jobs could face the axe at the company.
Meanwhile, at Microsoft, the laying off has been put on hold, but so have the possibilities of an increase in salaries for employees, including senior ones, this year.
Put together, nearly 360,000 employees have been laid off in the past year and a half, and there does not seem to be any sign of the situation improving in the coming months—tough times ahead for tech employees.
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