Tech giants including Microsoft and Alphabet made their way into the news all over the world after they announced that they will be laying off over 22,000 employees collectively. Microsoft will remove ten thousand workers, whereas Alphabet will give up twelve thousand of its employees.
The Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, stated in his memo that the company is forced towards taking such a significant step due to tough times. Satya also talked about the reduced pace observed in digital spending, and with artificial intelligence getting more advanced, it has started to take over industries.
Sundar Pichai, the Chief Executive Officer of Google, while addressing the employee, used a somewhat similar narrative. According to Sundar, artificial intelligence will be important for future projects. Google took timely measures to bring AI on board. He believes that AI is one of the main reasons behind Google’s successful tech products. The company is ready to use AI more responsibly and boldly.
The layoff trend was initiated back in 2020 when COVID-19 forced a global lockdown. Layoffs.FYI, an online platform has been keeping track of all companies that have laid off their employees since 2020. The data from this site shows that companies including Meta, Amazon, Twitter, and even Cisco have laid off thousands of their employees.
According to their website, 2021 had the fewest layoffs. The trend, which started in 2020, fell dramatically in 2021 and peaked at the end of the second quarter of 2022. In terms of percentage, Alphabet removed twelve thousand employees, which accounts for just 6 percent of the total employees. Whereas Twitter had to fire 3700 of its workforce, which means the company removed 50% of its employees.
In addition to this, almost 1040 companies laid off over 159684 employees last year. Whereas for 2023, not even the first month of the ongoing year has ended, and over 200 companies have collectively removed 59488 members of their task force.
With the ongoing inflation and economic crisis and rising interest rates, it is expected that the trend will be observed throughout 2023 before it stops.
Chart: Statista
Read next: 52% of Marketers Increase Social Media Budgets Due to Economic Turmoil
The Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, stated in his memo that the company is forced towards taking such a significant step due to tough times. Satya also talked about the reduced pace observed in digital spending, and with artificial intelligence getting more advanced, it has started to take over industries.
Sundar Pichai, the Chief Executive Officer of Google, while addressing the employee, used a somewhat similar narrative. According to Sundar, artificial intelligence will be important for future projects. Google took timely measures to bring AI on board. He believes that AI is one of the main reasons behind Google’s successful tech products. The company is ready to use AI more responsibly and boldly.
The layoff trend was initiated back in 2020 when COVID-19 forced a global lockdown. Layoffs.FYI, an online platform has been keeping track of all companies that have laid off their employees since 2020. The data from this site shows that companies including Meta, Amazon, Twitter, and even Cisco have laid off thousands of their employees.
According to their website, 2021 had the fewest layoffs. The trend, which started in 2020, fell dramatically in 2021 and peaked at the end of the second quarter of 2022. In terms of percentage, Alphabet removed twelve thousand employees, which accounts for just 6 percent of the total employees. Whereas Twitter had to fire 3700 of its workforce, which means the company removed 50% of its employees.
In addition to this, almost 1040 companies laid off over 159684 employees last year. Whereas for 2023, not even the first month of the ongoing year has ended, and over 200 companies have collectively removed 59488 members of their task force.
With the ongoing inflation and economic crisis and rising interest rates, it is expected that the trend will be observed throughout 2023 before it stops.
Read next: 52% of Marketers Increase Social Media Budgets Due to Economic Turmoil
