Tech layoffs in 2024: New Year off to a brutal start as Amazon, Google, others fire thousands

The New Year has just begun and already, thousands of tech and startup employees have found themselves jobless after surviving brutal mass layoffs in 2023, prompted by economic turmoil.

According to layoff-tracking website Layoffs.fyi, 48 tech companies have sacked 7,528 employees till January 15.

The cuts signal that this could be another tough year for the tech industry after tens of thousands of employees were laid off last year. More than 1,150 tech companies collectively fired over 260,000 people in 2023.

Big Tech companies, including Google and Amazon, plan to cut more jobs this year in a bid to cut costs.

Online rental platform Frontdesk became the first tech startup to execute layoffs in 2024 after it fired its entire 200-person workforce in a “two-minute Google call”.

Here are the companies that have announced layoffs in 2024 so far:

Google: Alphabet’s Google is laying off hundreds of staff working on its digital assistant, hardware and engineering teams, the company said. “Some teams are continuing to make these kinds of organisational changes, which include some role eliminations globally,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement.

Amazon Audible: Online audiobook and podcast service Audible is laying off about 5% of its workforce. In a memo to employees, Audible CEO Bob Carrigan said the company is in good shape but faces an “increasingly challenging landscape.”

Amazon Prime Video: Amazon will lay off several hundred employees in its streaming and studio operations, the company said in an internal note. The staff facing exit at Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios in the Americas will be informed soon.

Amazon’s Twitch: Streaming platform Twitch will reduce its workforce by 35%, or about 500 workers, Bloomberg News reported. The company had laid off more than 400 employees in March 2023 after its user and revenue growth did not meet expectations.

Discord: Social chat and messaging startup Discord told employees on January 11 that it would cut 17% of its staff. About 170 jobs will be affected by the layoffs, according to an internal memo sent by founder and CEO Jason Citron.

Unity Software: Videogame software provider Unity Software will cut approximately 25% of its workforce, or 1,800 jobs, the company announced in a regulatory filing. “We are … reducing the number of things we are doing in order to focus on our core business and drive our long-term success and profitability,” interim CEO Jim Whitehurst wrote in the memo to employees.

Xerox: IT company Xerox on January 3 announced it will reduce its workforce by 15%, which results to about 3,000 employees, to introduce a new organisational structure and operating model. The layoffs are expected to take place in the first quarter of 2024.

Frontdesk: US-based proptech company Frontdesk fired all 200 employees. CEO Jesse DePinto broke the news during a two-minute Google Meet call, mentioning that the company was going for a state receivership instead of declaring bankruptcy.