Tech cos' job cut spree continues in 2023

Layoffs that began in 2022 are accelerating across some tech companies. In November, the sector announced 52,771 cuts, for a total of 80,978 this year

The tech industry is slashing jobs at a pace nearing the early days of the covid-19 pandemic. In November, the most recent month for which data is available, the sector announced 52,771 cuts, for a total of 80,978 this year, according to consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. It was the highest monthly total for the industry since the firm started keeping data in 2000.

After a bumpy start to the pandemic in 2020, tech companies benefited from a boom in e-commerce spending and remote work boomed, triggering a hiring spree. Now, things look different. In recent earnings reports, Alphabet Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., Microsoft Corp. and others missed estimates, sending shares plunging. For Amazon.com Inc. and Salesforce Inc., the outlook seems to be worsening as they pursue deeper layoffs at the start of 2023. Other companies are reckoning with volatile cryptocurrency markets or a sudden slump in demand.

Here's a running list of who's cutting jobs and pulling back on hiring.

Amazon: The e-commerce titan is laying off 18,000 employees, Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy announced on 4 January. The cuts, which started last year, were initially planned to affect about 10,000 jobs."Amazon has weathered uncertain and difficult economies in the past, and we will continue to do so," Jassy said. "These changes will help us pursue our long-term opportunities with a stronger cost structure."

Apple: The iPhone maker has paused hiring for many jobs outside of research and development, an escalation of its plan to reduce budgets heading into next year, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The break generally doesn't apply to teams working on future devices and long-term initiatives, but it affects some corporate functions and standard hardware and software engineering roles.