The year 2023 seems to be a worse year for tech companies than 2022, as there have been more layoffs so far this year than the entire year before. Companies such as Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Google, Apple, Mcdonald’s, IBM, SAP, Salesforce, and many others have announced major job cuts. The issue is that during the pandemic, Big Tech had hired a lot of people due to the increase in remote work and e-commerce, which now seems to have caused revenue declines.
Although global IT spending is expected to rise in 2023, the increase is expected to be moderate, with data center systems and communication services growing by less than 1%, according to Gartner. There are also supply chain issues, inflation, and the ongoing war in Ukraine, which is affecting both business and consumer spending and creating fears of recession.
Layoffs.fyi, an online tracker monitoring job losses in the tech sector, reports that 562 tech companies have laid off 168,243 employees so far this year, compared to 164,411 in the previous year. While high-profile tech companies like Amazon and Microsoft have announced significant job cuts this year, the bright side for tech professionals is that many of the layoffs involve non-technical staff. Moreover, due to the lack of skilled tech talent, companies have been offering higher salaries to IT professionals, with Janco Associates predicting that IT pros’ salaries could rise by 8% in 2023.
In 2023, the layoffs have now crossed the entire total from the previous year (2022), as per reports by LayoffFYI. Amazon cuts 9,000 more jobs in addition to the 18,000 announced in January, summing up to 27,000 job losses.
Burger Chain Mcdonald’s plans to lay off hundreds of corporate employees in the first week of April, 2023. Disney begins first of the three rounds of layoff, notifying over 7,000 employees. Recently, it laid off 300 workers in China.
Apple has reportedly started a small number of corporate layoffs, cutting down positions in development and preservation teams.
E-commerce company Walmart to lay off 2000 employees from e- commerce warehouses.
Facebook owner Meta is all set to cut 10,000 jobs in the second round of layoffs after slashing over 11,000 jobs in November 2022. The move aims at recovering from losses and investing in the ‘metaverse’.
