Tech companies have laid off 226,000 employees so far this year, which is nearly 40 percent more than the figures recorded in 2022, according to a report released on Tuesday. While the tech industry witnessed a significant number of job cuts in the previous year, the situation in 2023 has proven to be far more dire.
The substantial surge in layoffs has resulted in the closure of numerous workplaces, effectively making 2023 the most challenging year the tech industry has ever encountered. Data from AltIndex.com supports this observation, illustrating that the year has been marked by unprecedented levels of job losses.
From January to December 2022, tech companies let go of 164,744 employees, a staggering increase compared to the mere 15,000 layoffs reported the year before, as indicated by data from Layoffs.fyi.
The month of January alone witnessed a startling 75,912 job cuts, accounting for nearly half of the total layoffs reported in 2022. While February experienced a decrease with around 40,000 job losses, the subsequent three months still saw a significant number of layoffs, totaling almost 73,000 within that time frame.
Subsequent to those months, an additional 24,000 staff members were released, bringing the cumulative layoffs to a count of 226,117 by last week, as detailed in the report.
Against the backdrop of an uncertain global economy, inflation concerns, ongoing supply chain disruptions and slow down revenue growth, tech companies expedited their layoffs in 2023. Industry giants such as Google, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon led the charge in this regard.
The report noted, “However, numerous smaller tech firms spanning retail, crypto, and transportation have also been compelled to implement painful cost-cutting measures, resulting in an unprecedented number of job losses within the tech sector.”
The statistics for the past three years paint an even grimmer picture. The data indicates that since the beginning of 2021, more than 405,000 individuals have been laid off by tech companies.
US-based tech giants played a pivotal role in the wave of layoffs in 2023. The report highlighted that a notable statistic reveals eight out of the ten largest job cuts reported this year were carried out by US companies.
Also Read: Elvish Yadav Wins Bigg Boss OTT 2 And Claims 280 Million Votes In 15 Minutes
