32,000 Jobs Cut as Snap, Okta, and Amazon Face Ongoing Tech Layoffs
In the beginning of 2024, the tech industry has experienced a new round of job reductions, going even deeper after significant layoffs in the previous year. According to Layoffs.fyi, a startup that monitors job cuts in the industry since the pandemic, approximately 32,000 tech employees have been laid off so far this year.
Snap Inc. became the latest example, announcing on Monday that it would cut its workforce by about 10 percent, or about 540 workers. Earlier this month, software company Okta Inc. announced it was cutting 7 percent of its workforce to cut costs, affecting about 400 employees. The list goes on, including Big Tech employers like Amazon.com Inc., Salesforce Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc.
This year, “tech companies are still trying to recover from overhiring during the pandemic boom, as the high interest rate environment and tech downturn have lasted longer than originally expected,” Layoffs.fy founder Roger Lee wrote in a news release. e-mail.
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According to Lee, there have been two main waves of job cuts in recent years. An “early Covid” spike from the first to the second quarter of 2020 and the “rate hike effect” that has continued since the second quarter of 2022. “This year’s layoffs are typically smaller and more targeted than layoffs a year ago,” Lee said.
While economic factors are the main reason for tech layoffs, Lee noted that many companies cite AI competition as a factor as they shift resources to focus on AI capabilities. According to an analysis by CompTIA, which tracks employment trends in the tech industry, “the number of job postings for AI or requiring AI increased by about 2,000 to 17,479 from December to January.”
So while the industry sheds some jobs, it also aggressively hires others. According to CompTIA, there were 33,727 active job postings in January, the largest monthly increase in 12 months.
“Most of the layoffs have happened and businesses are starting to recover,” said Bert Bean, CEO of staffing firm Insight Global. “But it’s still very uncertain.” He expects the market to stay that way for about the next two quarters, “until the Fed actually comes out and starts lowering rates.”
