BENGALURU: Layoffs in the technology sector and start-ups continued in 2024, as both tech giants and Indian ventures have announced workforce reduction due to difficult economic cycles and also to streamline their operations.
In its second round of layoffs, Salesforce is likely to cut about 700 jobs. Last year, it had fired about 10% of its employees. This year, Google and Amazon too announced fresh layoffs.
Last week, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai announced the company will reduce its workforce by 12,000 roles. In an email to Google employees, Pichai said, “Over the past two years we’ve seen periods of dramatic growth.
To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today. I am confident about the huge opportunity in front of us, thanks to the strength of our mission, the value of our products and services, and our early investments in AI.”
“To fully capture it, we’ll need to make tough choices. So, we’ve undertaken a rigorous review across product areas and functions to ensure that our people and roles are aligned with our highest priorities as a company,” he added.
The roles that are planned to be eliminated cut across Alphabet, product areas, functions, levels and regions. Tencent Holdings’ Riot Games also plans to fire 11% of its employees or about 530 employees. Earlier, Amazon’s Audible division announced layoffs and as per reports, Amazon’s gaming streaming unit Twitch plans to fire about 500 employees.
As per layoffs.fyi, 85 tech firms globally have laid off 23,770 employees in 2024 alone. Indian start-ups are also announcing layoffs. Zomato-backed Curefit fired about 120 employees as part of a restructuring exercise. Flipkart and Swiggy are also expected to hand over pink slips to employees. In 2023, Amazon, Microsoft and Google-parent Alphabet announced 18,000, 10,000 and 12,000 job cuts, respectively.
Aditya Narayan Mishra, MD & CEO of CIEL HR Services, said the ongoing workforce reductions stem from increased automation in business, addressing the prior issue of excessive hiring and navigating the challenges posed by a funding downturn.
“After a sluggish two-year period in technology sector, marked by geopolitical uncertainties, companies find themselves under investor scrutiny to demonstrate improved profitability. Job cuts are a direct consequence of automation adoption, enabling companies to optimise resource utilisation and achieve the same output with fewer personnel,” he said.
These factors collectively contribute to the sustained trend of layoffs in the technology industry in 2024. Presently, tech firms are selectively hiring for specialised or replacement positions, and overall hiring remains subdued, he added.