Written by Saurabh P• January 31, 2023• 4:18 pm• Technology

Starting from Google to Spotify the Companies Have Fired Thousands of Employees

The layoffs that have been announced from Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta in total are 41,000, which is approximately a third of all jobs they have added since the beginning of 2019, a Bloomberg report revealed.

The last few months have been dark for the technology industry. Many Big Tech firms have carried massive layoffs, citing macroeconomic conditions as one of the reasons they handed out pink slips of paper to their employees. Social media is filled with tragic stories of employees who recount their experiences of being cut off suddenly.

Google, Twitter, Amazon, Salesforce, Spotify, and many other major global companies have been cutting down their workforce in the course of restructuring exercises. Below is an overview of the top companies that have let go of their employees.

International Business Machines (IBM): The computing giant announced on Thursday that it will be eliminating 3,900 employees as part of its “asset divestments”. IBM has admitted that it did not meet its cash goal for the year, Reuters reported. The company said its 2022 cash flow was $9.3 billion, which is below its target of $10 billion due to ‘higher-than-expected working capital needs’.
SAP SE: The German software firm plans to eliminate 3,000 employees this year while it looks into selling its remaining share in Qualtrics International. The company is seeking ways to increase its earnings, Bloomberg reported. The company has stated that it anticipates adjusting its operating profits for the year ahead to increase to between 8.8 billion euros to 9.1 billion euros.
Prosus NV: Amsterdam-based company that sells e-commerce plans to reduce the number of employees it employs by 30. The cuts will take place in its corporate offices located in Hong Kong, Amsterdam, and South Africa, Bloomberg. The chief executive officer of the company Bob van Dijk said in an interview that the cuts will occur over a period of 12 months. 15 sites will be affected.
3M: This American conglomerate plans to cut 2,500 jobs in the industry of manufacturing due to ‘permanent economic challenges’. 3M claimed that the cuts are necessary because of the declining volume of production, Bloomberg reported. The company had around 95,000 employees by the close of 2021. It has cut twice its 2022 full-year sales and profit projection.
Microsoft: Technology giant that recently announced that it would lay 10,000 workers off approximately five percent of its total workforce. In a letter sent to employees, the chief of staff Satya Nadella said he is convinced that Microsoft will come out of the circumstance. “We will be able to align our cost structure with our revenue and also where we can see demand from customers. We are now making adjustments that will lead to the elimination of our global workforce by 10,000 positions through the close of the FY23 Q3” Nadella wrote.
Amazon: The largest online retailer has announced that it will cut more than 18,000 employees and CEO Andy Jassy announced that the move was a result of the company’s annual plan-of-the-year process. The reductions are concentrated within the corporate ranks of the company which includes the department of retail and the human resources department.
Meta: Mark Zuckerberg helmed social media giant Facebook laid off more than 11,000 employees in November of last year. In a post on Facebook, Zuckerberg apologized and apologized for his decision. In an AP report, the company was impacted by a decline in the economy as well as an unfavorable outlook on online ads.
Twitter: In October Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk purchased Twitter, the social media giant Twitter for a staggering $44 billion. Following the purchase, Musk began an extensive layoff program which saw the company cut more than 50% of the company’s total workforce. The layoffs affected workers across several countries, including India.
Spotify Music: Streaming platform Spotify is also announcing that it will reduce six percent of its workforce. The chief executive officer of the company announced the change in employees. The announcement was also made on the internet. “To keep our costs in line, we’ve taken the difficult, but necessary decision to reduce the staff,” Daniel Ek wrote.
Google: Google search giant announced more than 12,000 layoffs across the globe. In an internal memo to staff, Alphabet chief executive officer Sundar Pichai explained that the cuts were made as a result of a shifting economic environment. “We’ve conducted a thorough review of our product lines as well as functions in order to make sure our roles and people are in line with our top expectations as a business,” Pichai wrote.
Salesforce: In the last month, the cloud-based computing company announced that it would lay around 8,000 employees off which is around 10% of its total workforce. The reductions were the largest in the history of the company. Employees who were laid off or have lost their jobs will receive more than five months’ pay and health insurance, as well as career resources as well as various other benefits. AP reported.