5 tech sectors hit hardest by layoffs

Technology is more vital to our lives than ever before — but the tech industry and its employees are currently experiencing some brutal growing pains. 

So far in 2022, more than 73,000 workers in the U.S. tech sector have been laid off, according to technology news site Crunchbase. The industry at large is suffering historic losses, but certain sectors are feeling the effects more than others. In order to provide more transparency, data insights platform CoinGecko recently released a study examining tech layoffs that were publicly reported between January 1, 2022 through November 13, 2022. 

"Many companies have expanded aggressively during the last bull market run, instead of growing sustainably or being prudent with finances and investments," says Bobby Ong, chief operating officer and co-founder of CoinGecko. "The crypto winter and challenging macroeconomic environment are exposing which crypto companies have been 'swimming naked' and can no longer keep up with their earlier excesses — this likely parallels tech companies in general, as they cope with slowing growth."

Read more: HR and IT departments will have to work together to recruit and retain talent

Consumer technology is the sector that has laid off the most employees this year, with 18,486 employees let go. That figure represents 15.6% of all technology layoffs, and  includes cuts by Facebook parent company Meta, which laid off 11,000 employees, as well as Twitter, which recently laid off 3,700 employees in the wake of Elon Musk's takeover.

Taking second and third place for sector layoffs are food tech — companies that develop, manufacture, and distribute food products — with 13,203 lost jobs, and the transportation sector — including layoffs from Lyft, Uber and used car dealerships — which saw 11,619 employees laid off year-to-date. 

See what other technology sectors made the top five in CoinGecko's list: