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Topic: Layoff

The streaming giant is also combining Gimlet and Parcast into one team. News 

Spotify to Cut 200 Jobs in Podcast Division

Febin Mathew, , ,

Spotify is set to continue its layoffs in 2021, with the announcement that it will be cutting 200 jobs in its podcast division. This represents approximately 2% of the company’s workforce and is part of a “strategic realignment.” Spotify is shifting towards a more customized approach that maximizes resources for individual podcast creators and their shows, which it believes necessitates a more streamlined team. The new strategy would also include Spotify merging its Gimlet and Parcast production houses into an updated Spotify Studios unit. They continue to produce well-known originals…

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Sam Altman said in Paris that AI would not -- as some have warned -- wipe out whole sectors of the workforce through automation News 

OpenAI chief Sam Altman is trying to calm fears about job losses

Febin Mathew, , ,

The boss of OpenAI, the company behind the massively popular ChatGPT bot, said on Friday that his company’s technology would not destroy the job market as he sought to calm fears about the march of artificial intelligence (AI). Sam Altman, on a global tour to woo national leaders and power brokers, said in Paris that AI would not — as some have warned — wipe out entire sectors of the workforce through automation. “This idea of AI advancing to the point where humans have no work to do or no…

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The tech giant did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment News 

Microsoft won’t raise workers’ wages this year: Report

Adriana Marais, ,

Microsoft Corp will not raise wages for full-time employees this year and will cut the budget for bonuses and stock awards, Insider reported Wednesday, citing an internal email from CEO Satya Nadella. The technology giant did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment. “Last year, we made a significant investment in compensation, driven by market conditions and company performance, and nearly doubled our overall budget … this year, economic conditions are very different in many dimensions,” Nadella was quoted as saying in the report. In January, Microsoft announced it…

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The fresh round of job cuts is likely to affect Disney Entertainment and ESPN, as well as Disney Parks, Experiences and Products. News 

Disney+ loses 4 million subscribers as another round of layoffs approaches

Sanjay Patil, ,

Entertainment giant The Walt Disney Company’s flagship streaming service, Disney+, lost four million subscribers in the second quarter that ended April 1 as the company neared its third round of layoffs. In the second quarter of 2023, the company reported 157.8 million subscribers, compared to 161.8 million in the previous quarter. The main reason for the decline was Disney+Hotstar, which lost 8 percent of its subscriber base – from 57.5 million in the first quarter of 2023 to 52.9 million in the second quarter. “Disney+Hotstar average monthly revenue per paid…

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The reports came as Qualcomm struggles to close its purchase of NXP while concurrently meeting its goal to cut costs by $1 billion, reports Fierce Wireless. News 

Qualcomm begins layoffs to support long-term growth: All the details

Adriana Marais, ,

Global chipmaker Qualcomm has begun layoffs affecting both full-time and temporary employees as “workforce reductions are necessary to support long-term growth and success.” According to reports, Qualcomm may cut 1,500 jobs in California alone. The reports come as Qualcomm struggles to complete its purchase of NXP while meeting its goal of cutting costs by $1 billion, reports Fierce Wireless. “As part of a cost-cutting plan announced in January, Qualcomm is reducing our full-time and temporary workforce. Workforce reductions like this affect not only the employees who are part of the…

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Clubhouse, the online social audio platform, which rose to fame during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, has axed 50% of its total workforce. News 

The clubhouse lays off 50% of the entire workforce; Here’s what the founders had to say

Sanjay Patil, , ,

Clubhouse, the online social voice platform that gained massive popularity at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, has announced that it is cutting 50 percent of its entire workforce. Founded by Rohan Seth and Paul Davison, usage of the app increased as people were forced to stay at home during the pandemic. However, as the world has started to return to normal, the founders have noticed a decrease in users. “As the world has opened up post-Covid, many people find it harder to find their friends at the Clubhouse and…

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The integration required specific terms and routines to be created for ChatGPT to function properly within Spot, but the end result is impressive News 

Artificial intelligence meets robotics: will ChatGPT-powered robots make people unemployed?

Febin Mathew, , , , ,

A team of programmers just equipped the famous Boston Dynamics robot dog with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s text-to-speech voice modulation, which allows it to literally talk to them and answer their questions. In a video posted to Twitter, a machine learning engineer demonstrated how Spot the robotic dog was programmed to verbally answer the system’s questions using the most popular artificial intelligence tool of the moment. The integration, implemented by machine learning engineer Santiago Valdarrama, enables efficient survey data collection using ChatGPT, which interprets questions and formulates answers in real…

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Cloud storage giant Dropbox announced on Thursday that it is laying off 16 per cent of its workforce, or about 500 employees, due to slowing growth. News 

Dropbox lays off 16% of its workforce due to slowing growth

Jim Hendler, , ,

Cloud storage giant Dropbox announced Thursday that it is laying off 16 percent of its workforce, or about 500 employees, due to slowing growth. Dropbox CEO Drew Houston said he takes full ownership of this decision. “If you’ve been affected, you’ll be sent a calendar invite for a one-on-one meeting with your team leader and a member of the People team to go over your departure, package details and ask any questions you may have,” she said. Houston said that while the business is profitable, “our growth has slowed down.”…

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Disney plans to reduce its workforce by 7,000 jobs as part of a larger reorganisation that will see the company cut $5.5 billion in costs. News 

Disney begins layoffs, affecting 4,000 employees

Febin Mathew, ,

Entertainment giant Disney began its second round of layoffs on Monday, affecting 4,000 workers. According to a CNBC report, the third round is expected to begin before the start of summer. Disney plans to cut 7,000 jobs as part of a larger restructuring that will see the company cut costs by $5.5 billion. “The senior management teams have been working diligently to define our future organization, and our top priority has been to get this right rather than getting it done quickly,” the company said in a statement to employees.…

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Lenovo led the global PC market with 22.4 per cent market share, followed by HP Inc at 21.1 per cent and Dell Technologies at 16.7 per cent. News 

Lenovo to start layoffs after PC Biz hit

Sanjay Patil, ,

Global technology brand Lenovo has started laying off employees as its PC business suffers significantly amid the economic downturn. According to the CRN report, Levono’s job cuts are “part of an approximately $115 million cost-cutting plan.” In February, Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing announced an upcoming “workforce adjustment” as part of a broader cost-cutting drive. The company employed approximately 75,000 employees at the end of the 2022 financial year. “As our CEO Yuanqing Yang said in our most recent quarterly earnings announcement, we are reducing operating expenses and making workforce adjustments…

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Risher informed Lyft's workforce of more than 4,000 employees in an email posted online Friday that a “significant” number of them will lose their jobs News 

Lyft is laying off hundreds of workers as part of new CEO David Risher’s cost-cutting plan

Sanjay Patil, , , ,

Lyft is preparing to lay off hundreds of workers just days after new CEO David Risher began steering the ride-hailing service to cut costs to bring its rates more in line with its biggest rival, Uber. Risher, a former Amazon executive, told Lyft’s workforce of more than 4,000 employees in an email posted online Friday that a “significant” number of them would lose their jobs. It came at the end of his first week as CEO of Lyft. The memo did not specify how many people would be laid off,…

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Meta in March became the first Big Tech company to announce a second round of mass layoffs News 

Meta announces a new round of layoffs affecting engineers and technical teams

Jim Hendler, , ,

Meta Platforms Inc made a second round of layoffs on Wednesday, this time for engineers and adjacent technology teams, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg moves to streamline its business in an effort to make 2023 the “year of efficiency.” In March, Meta became the first Big Tech company to announce a second round of layoffs, which it said would take place in three major batches over several months and affect 10,000 workers. Wednesday’s cuts, although expected, drew expressions of frustration from Meta employees. Layoffs were the topic of the most popular…

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In March, the e-commerce giant announced to lay off another 9,000 employees in Amazon Web Services (AWS), Twitch, advertising, and HR. News 

Amazon laid off more than 100 employees in various gaming divisions

Sanjay Patil, ,

Amazon has laid off more than 100 employees in its gaming divisions, which include Prime Gaming, Game Growth and Amazon Games, as part of ongoing layoffs at the company. According to a report on Engadget, the company is now reallocating employees to projects that fit its “strategic focus.” – The dismissed employees have already been notified, and they will receive severance pay, health benefits and paid time off to find new jobs, the report states. In an internal memo, the company said the cuts came after Amazon weighed its ongoing…

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Meta is no longer listing new remote positions, as managers have reportedly been forbidden from posting new listings with a remote-work option. News 

Meta stops recruiting for remote work positions after mass layoffs: All the details

Jim Hendler, ,

Meta (formerly Facebook) is no longer listing new remote jobs because managers have reportedly been banned from posting new ads with the remote work option. According to SFGate, a Meta spokesperson said that “the removal of remote jobs from the list is temporary.” “We are still committed to remote work. We have only temporarily suspended new remote work apps while executives complete the restructuring that Mark (Zuckerberg) announced last month,” the spokesperson said in the report. The company’s remote-friendly key description — “Remote roles are now available in the US,…

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EA is laying off about 6 per cent of its total workforce, cutting around 780 jobs as it cites global macro-economic uncertainties. News 

Game company Electronic Arts is laying off about 6% of its workforce

Febin Mathew, , , ,

Popular video game company Electronic Arts (EA) is laying off about 6 percent of its workforce amid global macroeconomic uncertainty. According to reports, EA had about 13,000 employees last year, meaning a 6 percent cut could cut about 780 jobs. EA CEO Andrew Wilson told employees in a blog post that as the company becomes more focused across its portfolio, “we’re moving away from projects that don’t advance our strategy, reviewing our real estate footprint and reorganizing some of our teams.” “These decisions are expected to affect approximately six percent…

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Microsoftowned GitHub has laid off 142 people in India, including the entire staff in its engineering division, people aware of the development said on Tuesday. News 

GitHub is laying off 142 employees in India and the entire engineering team

Adarsh V.K, ,

New Delhi, March 28: Microsoft-owned GitHub has laid off 142 people in India, including the entire staff of its engineering division, people familiar with the development said on Tuesday. The targeted individuals were posted to the company’s offices in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Delhi. When contacted, a GitHub spokesperson said the decision was part of the company’s restructuring plan. “As part of the restructuring plan shared in February, the staff reductions were made on Tuesday as part of difficult but necessary decisions and restructuring, both to protect the health of our…

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A Microsoft spokesperson said the latest layoffs "are part of the effort to align our cost structure with our revenue that was announced in January". News 

Microsoft is laying off 559 employees as the Seattle area sees the largest 2,700 job cuts

Adriana Marais, ,

Microsoft has laid off 559 employees in Bellevue and Redmond, Washington, USA, bringing the company’s total layoffs in the region to more than 2,700. The layoffs, announced by the Washington State Department of Occupational Safety and Health, tested Microsoft’s safety operations, The Seattle Times reported. The company announced an earlier round of layoffs in February that also saw 617 workers laid off in Redmond, Bellevue and Issaquah. Hundreds of employees reportedly cut security roles under Charlie Bell, the former Amazon Web Services executive who joined Microsoft in 2021. A Microsoft…

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Anxiety has been building within Disney, as rumors swirled about areas of possible cuts News 

Walt Disney Co begins 7,000 layoffs in effort to control costs

Febin Mathew, ,

Walt Disney Co on Monday began 7,000 layoffs announced earlier this year as it seeks to control costs and create a “more streamlined” business, according to a letter seen by Reuters from CEO Bob Iger to employees. The impact will affect several of the company’s main divisions — Disney Entertainment, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products and the company, according to a person familiar with the matter. This week’s round of cuts does not involve ESPN, but is expected to be included in later rounds. The entertainment industry has seen a…

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Accenture Plc lowered its annual revenue and profit forecasts and decided to cut about 2.5% of its workforce, or 19,000 jobs, the latest sign that the worsening global economic outlook was sapping corporate spending on IT services. News 

Accenture cuts 19,000 jobs as IT spending slows

Sanjay Patil, ,

Accenture Corp lowered its annual revenue and profit forecasts and decided to cut about 2.5 percent of its workforce, or 19,000 jobs, in the latest sign that the outlook for the global economy is weakening, which has reduced the company’s IT services. More than half of the jobs to be cut will be in its non-billable business operations, Accenture said on Thursday, sending its shares up 6.4 percent. Since the end of last year, the technology sector has laid off hundreds of thousands of workers due to a downturn in…

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