While last year's labor market was remarkably strong, the tech industry was an exception.
After a massive hiring spree 大规模的招聘狂潮 in the first two years of the pandemic, industry giants like Amazon and Metareversed course in 2022. There were at least 154,000 layoffs from more than 1,000 tech companies last year, according toLayoffs.fyi, a website that has been tracking tech layoffs since March 2020.
The website's tallies – which are likely an undercount – have continued at a fast clip in 2023, with more than 26,000 layoffs recorded so far this year.
"The number of actual layoffs is going to be much higher than what's on the site just because most layoffs don't get reported," Layoffs.fyi creator Roger Lee told USA TODAY. "Unfortunately, I don't see the layoffs going away anytime soon."
Which tech companies are doing layoffs?
Layoffs.fyi data shows the U.S. tech companies that trimmed the most jobs last year include:
Meta: 11,000. Amazon: 10,000. Cisco: 4,100. Carvana: 4,000. Twitter: 3,700.
Are tech companies freezing hiring?
Job openings for tech jobs dropped nearly 30% from January to December of last year, while hires in the industry were down 23%, according to December data from talent acquisition company iCIMS.
Why are there so many layoffs right now?
Lockdowns had a major effect on consumer spending. Experiences like travel or restaurants were largely off the table, so people began to shift their discretionary spending to products from tech companies like Amazon and Peloton. But it didn't take long before consumers started reverting back to their pre-pandemic spending patterns, according to Rucha Vankudre, a senior economist at labor markets analytics firm Lightcast.
"What we're seeing is really just sort of a renormalization," Vankudre said. "And that means that in many cases, these firms over-hired."
Higher interest rates also play a role in layoffs, according to Daniel Keum, an associate professor of business at Columbia Business School.
"It's not that big techs are running short on cash, but they're making huge investments into risky new business areas. And these things have gotten a lot more expensive to fund. So they're pulling back 这并不是说大型科技公司现金短缺，而是它们正在向高风险的新业务领域进行巨额投资。这些项目的资金也变得更加昂贵。所以他们在撤退," Keum said.
Will tech layoffs continue in 2023?
“Honestly, in 2021, I had thought about taking the site down because I thought it had served its purpose,” Lee said. “I did not expect that, fast forward to 2022 to 2023, we would see another wave of layoffs.”
As of Wednesday, Layoffs.fyi has already tracked upward of 100 companies conducting more than 26,000 layoffs in 2023.
Major layoff announcements so far this year include:
Amazon: 8,000. Salesforce: 8,000. Coinbase: 950.
Microsoft on Wednesday also confirmed that it would be reducing its workforce by 10,000 people this year.
Lee has hope that job cuts in the industry will start subsiding by the end of the year if interest rate hikes slow down.
Keum said tech layoffs will likely spread to small- and medium-sized tech companies this year as venture capitalists tighten their spending. 随着风险投资家收紧支出，今年科技公司裁员可能会蔓延到中小型科技公司。
"You will see sort of a gradual rippling out from the big tech to the broader tech industry. The layoffs will become a little bit more widespread 你会看到从大型科技公司逐渐波及到更广泛的科技行业。裁员会变得更广泛一些," he said.
Will layoffs spread to other industries in 2023?
While certain industries like tech and media have seen an influx of layoffs, the broader labor market has remained sturdy.
The U.S. economy added 4.5 million jobs last year, andthe unemployment rate in December fell from 3.7% to 3.5% to match a 50-year low.
"Across the economy, this is not a problem that we're seeing," Vankudre said. "This seems really pretty niche (for the tech industry) at the moment."
The tech industry has seen a string of layoffs in the face of uncertain economic conditions.
面对不确定的经济形势，科技行业出现了一系列裁员。
Microsoft and Amazon both announced fresh rounds of layoffs on Wednesday. 微软和亚马逊周三都宣布了新一轮裁员。
Layoffs come as digital advertisers are cutting back on spending and rising inflation curbs consumer spending.
The job cuts in tech land are piling up, as companies that led the 10-year bull market adapt to a new reality.
Microsoft said Wednesday that it’s letting go of 10,000 employees, which will reduce the company’s headcount by less than 5%.
微软周三表示，将裁员1万人，这将使公司员工总数减少不到5%。
Amazon also began a fresh round of job cuts that are expected to eliminate more than 18,000 employees and become the largest workforce reduction in the e-retailer’s 28-year history. 亚马逊也开始了新一轮裁员，预计裁员人数将超过1.8万人，成为这家电子零售商28年历史上规模最大的一次裁员。
The layoffs come in a period of slowing growth, higher interest rates to battle inflation, and fears of a possible recession next year. 此次裁员正值经济增长放缓、为对抗通胀而上调利率、以及人们担心明年可能出现经济衰退之际。
The U.S. tech sector layoffs continue.
More than 21,000 workers in U.S.-based tech companies have been laid off in mass job cuts so far in 2023, according to a Crunchbase News tally.
Last year, over 107,000 jobs were slashed from public and private tech companies as they were forced to confront rising inflation rates and a tumultuous stock market. The economy has come to reckon with a culture of overzealous hiring and soaring valuations, and startups are now forced to carry themselves through a frosty market as venture funding becomes barren. 随着风险投资变得贫瘠，创业公司现在被迫在一个寒冷的市场中生存。
