Though technology companies announced massive layoffs last year, 2023 has been much worse, as tech giants including Amazon, Facebook parent company Meta, Microsoft, Google, IBM, SAP, and Salesforce — as well as many smaller tech companies — announce sweeping jobs cuts.
The problem: Big Tech went on a hiring binge during the pandemic when lockdowns sparked a tech buying spree to support remote work and an uptick in e-commerce, and now they face revenue declines.
Although global IT spending is forecast to rise in 2023, with enterprise software and IT services experiencing the greatest growth, the overall increase is expected to be modest, with data center systems and communications services growing by less than 1%, according to market research firm Gartner. Meanwhile hardware sales are forecast to decline.
Continuing supply chain issues, inflation, and the war in Ukraine are also having an impact on both business and consumer spending, leading to fears of recession.
According to data compiled by Layoffs.fyi, the online tracker keeping tabs on job losses in the technology sector, 669 tech companies have laid off about 193,098 staff so far this year, compared to 164,411 layoffs last year.
While high-profile tech companies such as Amazon and Microsoft have already announced significant job cuts this year, the silver lining for technology pros is that many of the layoffs involve non-technical staff. In fact, a lack of experienced tech talent means companies have been raising salaries for IT professionals, with consultancy Janco Associates predicting that raises for IT pros could jump 8% in 2023.
Here is a list — to be updated regularly — of some of the most prominent technology layoffs the industry has experienced recently.
