Tech Companies Laid Off 4.25 Lakh Workers in the Last Two Years
Representational image. | Image courtesy: Needpix
With the threat of generative AI looming over millions of jobs in the technology industry, tech companies globally are on a firing spree during the holiday season. The companies didn't fire employees during the holiday seasons in 2021 and 2022 at the time of the global economic recession during COVID-19.
As per data from layoff-fyi, a website tracking jobs in the tech sector, the companies have laid off more than 4.25 lakh employees in the last two years.
In the latest round of firings, Intel let go of around 300 employees in its hardware vertical in the US.
Hyperloop One, an ambitious project started by Elon Musk, did not go as planned in Los Angeles. The company shut all its operations last week, laying off 100% of its workforce.
The number of employees fired in India in this period is around 36,000. Data from Longhouse Consulting, a search firm, shows that Indian companies have laid off around 28,000 in the first three quarters of 2023.
Tech firms and startups have cited global macroeconomic conditions as one of the reasons for the job cuts.
Fintech, consumer tech, and retail tech are the sectors that laid off the most employees in 2023.
In the latest round of firings, Paytm fired over 1,000 employees "to reduce costs and realign its businesses." The decision to fire employees by Pattm follows the company's "withdrawal from small-ticket consumer lending and the 'buy not pay later' segment due to regulatory restrictions on unsecured loans by the Reserve Bank of India."
Social media platform ShareChat laid off around 15% of its workforce for strategic restructuring.
Loco, a game streaming platform, fired around 36% of its workforce. Adda247, an edtech platform backed by Google, let go of around 300 employees.
A few months ago, edtech company Byju's had fired around 5,000 employees.
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