13 tech companies that have cut the most jobs in 2024

February 7, 2024 3:03 PM

Over 200,000 tech workers were laid off in 2023, and a rocky start to 2024 shows the trend has no sign of slowing.

Almost 32,000 workers have already been let go across 122 tech companies since the start of 2024, according to tracking website Layoffs.fyi, many of which are coming from some of the largest household names in the industry, like Microsoft, Meta, Google and Amazon.

Pandemic hiring binges, high inflation and weak consumer demands are just a few of the drivers behind last year's job cuts. This year, the fast-growing interest in artificial intelligence is also partially to blame. SAP, one of the latest tech companies to reduce headcount, recently announced it will be investing more than $2 billion to integrate AI into its business, with some remaining employees being retrained to work with chatbots, according to the company.

"AI is replacing many [back end jobs]," Michael Gibbs, CEO of Go Cloud Careers, told EBN in a previous interview. "Artificial intelligence can code almost as well as an average programmer and doesn't need time off, get sick or ask for a raise."

While AI is behind many of these cuts, tech employees will still be needed to drive innovation and the industry forward, according to Gibbs. Tech employers will need to find the right balance over time.

"Prospective tech workers should migrate towards customer-facing and revenue-generating positions," Gibbs said. "Positions like cloud architects, enterprise architects and artificial intelligence architects cannot be replaced by AI or outsourced. They require a lot of relationship development, stakeholder management, sales and negotiation skills. The human side of these roles makes them immune to being replaced by technology."

But for now, tech companies seem committed to tightening up their headcounts. See which tech companies have cut the most jobs in 2024:

Microsoft

Microsoft announced 1,900 job cuts in its gaming division in January, which represents about 8% of its total gaming workforce.

Google

In mid-January, Google laid off hundreds of workers on its hardware, voice assistance and engineering teams to cut costs, citing a focus on "responsibly investing in our company's biggest priorities and the significant opportunities ahead," the company said in a statement.

eBay

The popular online retailer slashed 1,000 jobs, or 9% of its full-time workforce.

Jamie Iannone, eBay's CEO, broke the news in a memo at the end of January, stating, "We need to better organize our teams for speed — allowing us to be more nimble, bring like-work together, and help us make decisions more quickly."

Riot Games

The popular video game developer cut 530 jobs, or 11% of its staff in January to allow the company to move "toward a sustainable future," according to a memo sent to staff.

TikTok

The social media app laid off 60 advertising and sales workers in January, as part of a routine reorganization, according to the company.

Salesforce

The San Francisco-based cloud computing company shed 7,350 workers, or 10% of its workforce in January. Salesforce also said it would close some of its offices to save on real estate costs.

Amazon

According to a recent report from Business Insider, roughly 115 positions may be eliminated at One Medical and Amazon Pharmacy. A person cited by Insider estimated up to 400 employees could lose their jobs. The platform also eliminated hundreds of positions across its Prime Video, MGM Studios, Twitch and Audible divisions in January.

Snapchat

The photo-messaging app announced its plan to cut around 528 employees — or 10% of its global workforce.

Discord

The gaming messaging service recently announced that it was cutting 17% of its workforce.

SAP

The software company announced job changes or layoffs for 8,000 employees in early January.

PayPal

The fintech company recently announced that it intends to cut around 2,500 jobs, which equals about 9% of its total workforce.

Block

Block, run by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, announced it would also cut jobs in 2024. A source told Business Insider that the number was close to 1,000.