Many tech giants and startups have laid off over 25,000 employees in January 2024, with layoffs expected to get more intense this year.
After a massive firing throughout 2023 in major global tech companies, situation is expected to remain same as over 25,000 tech employees have been laid off in January 2024.
According to sources, over 25,000 employees have been fired from tech companies across the globe in just January this year, with Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Accenture are among the top to layoff employees.
Another tech company, UPS accounts for more than 30 percent of the overall layoffs, firing over 10,000 employees in just one month. Google has laid off over 1000 employees in January.
While Amazon has not disclosed the number of job cuts for January 2024, it is believed to be in thousands. Other major tech firms like YouTube, TikTok, Discord, ebay and Pixar have also collectively laid off over 5000 employees in the first month of the year.
Majority of these layoffs were due to surplus hiring during the pandemic and cost cutting amid high inflation rates.
With over 25,000 fired in just the first month of 2024, this year is projected to be worse in terms for job cuts as compared to last year. Google has already announced that there will be more layoffs later in the year, while two of the most prominent tech startups in India – Paytm and Byju’s – are undergoing major financial crisis this year.
Layoffs in India
Indian tech giant Wipro announced that it will lay off hundreds of mid level employees in the coming weeks in an effort to boost its profit margins. Unconfimred sources said Infosys also started laying off employees but no official announcement has been made by the company.
Swiggy fired 400 employees in January 2024, while e-commerce company Flipkart laid off 1000 employees in the last week of December 2023.
As Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a directive restricting Paytm Payments Bank Account/Wallet from accepting new deposits or allowing credit transactions after February 29, 2024. Paytm announced it is firing 1000 employees across multiple departments as a cost cutting measure.
Over the course of last year, ed-tech company Byju’s fired over 5000 employees as it remained embroiled in a legal battle with lenders. As the company’s valuation has been cut more than 90 percent in the recent round of funding, employees are bracing themselves for fresh job cuts this year.