Over the last couple years, it feels like we’ve heard news of mass layoffs and hiring freezes from tech companies nearly every week, and since the beginning of 2024, there’s been a new wave of layoffs and firings.
In the first few days of January 2024 alone:
- Google cut around a thousand employees
- Discord cut 17 percent of its staff
- Twitch cut a third of its staff (and Amazon fired hundreds from Amazon Prime Video and MGM Studios)
- Unity cut 25 percent of its workforce
- Humane cut four percent of its employees
And all that adds to the tens of thousands of tech and gaming layoffs that hit in 2023.
Elizabeth Lopatto spoke to experts in an article published last year to try and answer the question of why so many layoffs are happening right now despite tech companies continuing to register sizable profits. One reason is that “investors have changed how they’re evaluating companies,” even if there’s a lack of evidence that the layoffs can help solve any of the problems they may have.
Here’s all our coverage of the recent outbreak of layoffs from big tech, auto, crypto, gaming, and more.
Aug 28
Jess Weatherbed
Brave has laid off around 15 percent of its employees.
The web browser and search startup confirmed to TechCrunch that 27 roles have been axed, but provided no explanation for the cuts.
That’s a significant number for a company the size of Brave — just 191 staffers according to a Pitchbook estimate. The move also follows Brave laying off 9 percent of its workforce in October last year.
Brave lays off 27 employees | TechCrunch
[TechCrunch]
Aug 28
Jess Weatherbed
Apple is cutting jobs across its Books and News apps
Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge
Apple has eliminated about 100 jobs across its digital services group according to Bloomberg, as part of a “shift in priorities” for the division. The majority of those laid off reportedly worked within the team that runs the Apple Books app and Apple Bookstore, with the remaining cuts made to some engineering roles and services like Apple News.
According to Bloomberg, the layoffs aren’t a sign that Apple is shifting its focus away from services like Apple Books, and the Books app is still expected to receive future updates for new features. While the services division — which includes things like Apple TV Plus, Apple News, and Apple Music — has been a revenue driver for Apple in recent years, the company reportedly doesn’t consider Apple books to be a major part of the lineup.
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Aug 6
Joanna Nelius
Dell is creating a new sales team to focus on AI.
The company’s restructure mostly affects sales and managerial staff. Some outlets have reported, based on sources, that the layoffs will cut more than 10,000 jobs, but an analyst told SiliconAngle a number that high seems unlikely.
Dell isn’t the only tech company handing out pink-slips; Intel announced last week it’s laying off over 15,000 employees.
Jul 10
Richard Lawler
Intuit fires 1,800 employees to hire 1,800 employees and focus on AI.
Last spring, Business Insider noted that Intuit was unusual among its peers because it hadn’t done mass layoffs.
Following shutdowns of the Mint app and MailChimp-owned TinyLetter, CEO Sasan Goodarzi today announced layoffs, saying they include “approximately 1,050 employees leaving the company who are not meeting expectations.” as it accelerates investing in data and AI like its Assist bot.
Investing in our future - Intuit Blog
[Intuit Blog]
Jun 11
Wes Davis
Best Buy is laying off more employees as it reckons with falling sales
Image: Best Buy
Best Buy carried out another round of layoffs and job restructurings last week, with the company cutting some of its sales staff and reducing the pay for others, according to current and former employees who spoke with The Verge. Multiple people said their new pay will be much lower due to the changes.
The layoffs appeared to have mostly targeted in-home sales roles called designers, who would go to customers’ homes to help identify products that would work in their space. It’s not clear how many were let go, but designers who weren’t laid off have been moved into a different, largely in-store role. Also, pay scales for a similar, existing in-store “consultant” position were revamped.
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Jun 4
Richard Lawler
Microsoft layoffs hit HoloLens, Azure cloud teams
Image: The Verge
On Monday, Microsoft announced layoffs reportedly affecting around 1,000 employees. As reported previously by CNBC, the mixed reality department working on HoloLens 2 is one of the areas affected. Separately, Business Insider reported that Azure for Operators and Mission Engineering has also seen cuts of “hundreds” of employees.
Microsoft spokesperson Craig Cincotta said in a statement emailed to The Verge, “Earlier today, we announced a restructuring of Microsoft’s Mixed Reality organization. We remain fully committed to the Department of Defense’s IVAS program and will continue to deliver cutting-edge technology to support our soldiers. In addition, we will continue to invest in W365 to reach the broader Mixed Reality hardware ecosystem. We will continue to sell HoloLens 2 while supporting existing HoloLens 2 customers and partners.”
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May 7
Ash ParrishandTom Warren
Microsoft shuts down Bethesda studios behind Redfall and Hi-Fi Rush
Image: The Verge
In an email to staff sent this morning, head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty announced the closure of several game studios, including Redfall developer Arkane Austin, Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog Games, and more. According to the email, as first reported by IGN, Booty wrote the reason for the closures was due to a “reprioritization of titles and resources.” Some staff at the affected studios will be relocated while other studios will completely shut down.
Redfall developer Arkane “will close with some members of the team joining other studios to work on projects across Bethesda,” says Booty. Redfall’s previous update will be its last as Microsoft is ending all development on the game. Servers “will remain online for players to enjoy and we will provide make-good offers to players who purchased the Hero DLC,” says Booty.
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May 1
Richard Lawler
More Google layoffs.
As previously reported in Alex Heath’s Command Line newsletter, layoffs at the $2 trillion company have cut “at least 200 employees” in the Core engineering group, according to CNBC.
That division handles “building the technical foundation behind Google’s flagship products, protecting our users’ online safety, and maintaining our global IT infrastructure.” Some roles moved to India or Mexico, and includes at least 50 in Google’s Sunnyvale offices.
Apr 17
Jess Weatherbed
GTA 6, BioShock publisher Take-Two to lay off hundreds and cut projects
Image: Take-Two Interactive
Take-Two Interactive, the gaming company behind franchises like Grand Theft Auto, NBA 2K, and BioShock, has announced cost-cutting measures that will lay off “approximately five percent” of its global workforce and scrap several projects already in development.
The company said in an SEC filing published on Tuesday that it is “streamlining its organizational structure, which will eliminate headcount and reduce future hiring needs.” Take-Two says it will incur charges of up to $200 million to enact its “cost reduction program,” which aims to save the company over $165 million per year. The downsizing efforts are expected to be “largely complete” by December 31st, 2024.
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Apr 6
Amrita Khalid
Best Buy Geek Squad employees report mass layoffs
Former employees of Best Buy’s in-house tech support and repair team Geek Squad say there were mass layoffs this week, 404 Media reports. A former Geek Squad agent tells the outlet that they received an email on Tuesday about a work from home event the following day regarding a “company change.”
“Our leadership gave individual calls stating we were being let go for the simple fact that the company couldn’t afford to pay us, more or less. It was extremely short notice and devastating,” an ex-Geek Squad worker told 404 Media.
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Apr 3
Wes Davis
Amazon lays off hundreds in the AWS physical store technology team.
The layoff comes after reports that the company is doing away with its Just Walk Out cashierless retail tech at its large format stores. GeekWire reports AWS VP Dilip Kumar cited the change in emails about the cuts internally.
As CNBC notes, Amazon has laid off more people since 2022 than at any point in its history. This year, that’s included Twitch and Amazon Health.
Feb 28
Emma Roth
EA is the latest gaming company to lay off workers.
Just one day after PlayStation laid off 900 employees (which followed layoffs from Activision Blizzard, Riot Games, Discord, Unity, and others), EA announced on Wednesday that it’s cutting 5 percent of workers, which amounts to around 670 roles.
The game publisher also said that it’s “moving away from development of future licensed IP that we do not believe will be successful in our changing industry,” allowing it to focus on its own IP, sports, and online communities.
Continuing to evolve our business and teams
[Electronic Arts]
“Why are we expected to do the coding Olympics for every company that wants to interview you?”
Wired writes about how tech job interviews have gotten even more demanding after the series of layoffs that rocked the industry these past few years:
Emails reviewed by Wired showed that in one interview for an engineering role at Netflix, a technical recruiter requested that a job candidate submit a three-page project evaluation within 48 hours—all before the first round of interviews.
A Netflix spokesperson said the process is different for each role and otherwise declined to comment.
A similar email at Snap outlined a six-part interview process for a potential engineering candidate, with each part lasting an hour. A company spokesperson says its interview process hasn’t changed as a result of labor market changes.
Feb 13
Emma Roth
Mozilla is laying off around 60 workers and scaling back its Mastodon instance.
In a memo obtained by TechCrunch, Mozilla said the company is making a “strategic correction” that will involve “working through a much smaller team to participate in the Mastodon ecosystem.” The company launched its mozilla.social instance last year.
Additionally, Mozilla is shutting down Hubs, its virtual 3D platform initially launched in 2018. Mozilla says the platform’s userbase isn’t “robust enough to justify continuing to dedicate resources” during an “unfavorable shift in demand.” This shift comes just days after Mozilla appointed Laura Chambers as its interim CEO.
Feb 13
Emma Roth
Paramount is cutting 800 jobs as it looks to “grow revenue, while reducing costs.”
After rumors about layoffs emerged last month, Paramount CEO Bob Bakish announced that the company is laying off around 3 percent of staff. In a memo obtained by Deadline, Bakish tells employees the Super Bowl was a “blockbuster event” that “showcased the full power of Paramount.”
Despite this, the future of Paramount remains unclear, as Deadline reports that media companies and private equity firms are looking into acquiring “some or all” of the entertainment giant. CNBC reported last year that Warner Bros. Discovery was in talks to merge with Paramount.
Feb 8
Amrita Khalid
Warner Music Group to lay off 600 employees and close the Interval Presents podcast division.
WMG CEO Robert Kyncl -- who thinks you could pay more for Spotify--revealed the record label will lay off 10 percent of its workforce, or 600 employees. It’s winding down the podcast division behind Rap Radar and Drink Champs, and IMGN Media. It's also in an "exclusive process" to sell Uproxx and HipHopDX.
Earlier on Wednesday, WMG reported Q1 revenue of $1.75 billion — its highest quarterly revenue since it went public, and net income of $193 million.
Feb 6
Sean Hollister
Amazon Health, Corsair, DocuSign, Drizly and Glowforge are the latest tech layoffs.
▸ Amazon is cutting a “few hundred roles” from healthcare units. It’s not Amazon’s first health cut.
▸ Corsair is permanently closing an entire Origin PC factory in Miami, laying off 55.
▸ DocuSign is cutting approx. 6 percent of its workforce or around 440 jobs.
▸ Drizly, Uber’s defunct alcohol delivery service, is laying off 168 as its HQ closes for good.
▸ Glowforge, laser engraver maker, wouldn’t say how many new layoffs, but has apparently lost half its staff since last summer.
Feb 5
Jacob Kastrenakes
Snap is cutting 10 percent of its staff
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Snap plans to lay off around 10 percent of its employees as the company continues to struggle with declines in the digital advertising market. The company had around 5,300 employees at the start of 2023. Snap previously cut 20 percent of its staff in 2022 and had a smaller cut of 3 percent in 2023.
Snap has struggled to expand beyond its core social networking product. Its augmented reality glasses were never made widely available, and other hardware projects like a selfie drone were scrapped shortly after launch. Even products launched within Snapchat, like the TikTok-esque Spotlight and the Snapchat Plus subscription service, have failed to grow at the pace the company hoped for.
Read Article >
Feb 1
Emma Roth
Almost 30,000 workers in tech have been laid off this year.
That’s according to data from tech layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi, which recorded 29,995job cuts across 112 different companies in 2024. The data also includes the 150 layoffs at Zoom that just happened today, too.
Jan 30
Emma Roth
Jack Dorsey’s Block is also cutting jobs.
The company, which owns financial services like Cash App and Square, is laying off close to 1,000 employees, according to a report from Business Insider. Here’s what Dorsey told employees in a memo seen by BI:
Why is so much happening in one single day?... We decided it would be better to do at once rather than arbitrarily space them out, which didn’t seem fair to the individuals or to the company When we know we need to take an action, we want to take it immediately, rather than let things linger on forever.
Jan 30
Amrita Khalid
Alphabet posted $307.4 billion in revenue for the 2023. It also spent $2.1 billion on layoffs.
Alphabet generated 13 percent more revenue year over year in 2023, according to its fourth-quarter earnings report (PDF) released on Tuesday. You can follow along with execs on the call embedded below, that’s just starting.
The company also said that over the entire year, it spent $2.1 billion on employee-related severance for the layoffs it announced in January 2023. That doesn’t account for the thousand people it let go earlier this month.
Jan 30
Emma Roth
PayPal is laying off 9 percent of its employees.
CEO Alex Chriss told employees that PayPal is cutting existing jobs and open roles as part of an effort to “right-size”the company, according to a report from Bloomberg. The layoffs will reportedly impact around 2,500 workers.
PayPal is far from the only company in the tech industry to get hit with layoffs this year. Microsoft, Google, eBay, and many others have also been affected.
Jan 30
Ash Parrish
This is not “Play Nice, Play Fair,” Blizzard.
It seems as if Activision Blizzard’s Overwatch and Call of Duty esports teams are getting hit with layoffs. On the Overwatch side, the entire observation crew has reportedly been let go along with long-time broadcast talent Soe “Soe” Gschwind and Matt “Mr. X” Morello.
On the Call of Duty side, according to a post from Scott Parkin, senior esports operations manager, Blizzard made the CDL team work a major event over the weekend without telling the team if their jobs were safe — only to lay them off on their first day off. It’s unknown if these layoffs are new or part of the 1,900 people let go last week.
Microsoft lays off 1,900 Activision Blizzard and Xbox employees
Tom Warren
Jan 29
Sean Hollister
Embracer lays off 97 Eidos employees and cancels new Deus Ex game
Embracer Group, the company attempting to forge one video game publisher to rule them all, has just presided over another round of layoffs. Eidos Montreal is letting go of 97 game developers and support staff, the company announced today on X, shortly after Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier scooped that the studio has canceled an unannounced Deus Ex video game.
“The global economic context, the challenges of our industry and the comprehensive restructuring announced by Embracer have finally impacted our studio,” wrote Eidos Montreal. Eidos doesn’t mention the canceled game.
Read Article >
Jan 25
Tom Warren
Microsoft lays off 1,900 Activision Blizzard and Xbox employees
Photo by Hakan Nural / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Microsoft is laying off 1,900 employees at Activision Blizzard and Xbox this week. While Microsoft is primarily laying off roles at Activision Blizzard, some Xbox and ZeniMax employees will also be impacted by the cuts.
The cuts work out to roughly 8 percent of the overall Microsoft Gaming division that stands at around 22,000 employees in total. The Verge has obtained an internal memo from Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer that confirms the layoffs:
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