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- Last year's job cuts weren't the end of layoffs. Further reductions have begun in 2024.
- Companies like Tesla, Google, Microsoft, Nike, and Amazon have announced plans for cuts this year.
- See the full list of corporations reducing their worker numbers in 2024.
A slew of companies across the tech, media, finance, and retail industries made significant cuts to staff in 2023. Tech titans like IBM, Google, Microsoft, finance giants like Goldman Sachs, and manufacturers like Dow all announced layoffs.
Nearly 40% of business leaders surveyed by ResumeBuilder think layoffs are likely at their companies this year, and about half say their companies will implement a hiring freeze. ResumeBuilder talked to about 900 leaders at organizations with more than 10 employees. Half of those surveyed cited concerns about a recession as a reason.
Another major factor is artificial intelligence. Around four in 10 respondents said they'll conduct layoffs as they replace workers with AI. Dropbox, Google, and IBM have already announced job cuts related to AI.
Here are the dozens of companies with job cuts planned or already underway in 2024.
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Nike announced its cost-cutting plans in a December 2023 earnings call, discussing a slow growth in sales. The call subsequently resulted in Nike's stock plunging.
"We are seeing indications of more cautious consumer behavior around the world," Nike Chief Financial Officer Matt Friend said in December.
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On January 10, Google laid off hundreds of workers in its central engineering division and members of its hardware teams — including those working on its voice-activated assistant.
In an email to some affected employees, the company encouraged them to consider applying for open positions at Google if they want to remain employed. According to the email, April 9 will be the last day for those unable to secure a new position.
The tech giant laid off thousands throughout 2023, beginning with a 6% reduction of its global workforce (about 12,000 people) last January.
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Discord employees learned about the layoffs in an all-hands meeting and a memo sent by CEO Jason Citron in early January.
"We grew quickly and expanded our workforce even faster, increasing by 5x since 2020," Citron said in the memo. "As a result, we took on more projects and became less efficient in how we operated."
In August 2023, Discord reduced its headcount by 4%. According to CNBC, the company was valued at $15 billion in 2021.
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The layoffs announced in January are part of a larger Citigroup initiative to restructure the business and could leave the company with a remaining head count of 180,000 — excluding its Mexico operations.
In an earnings call that month, the bank said that layoffs could save the company up to $2.5 billion after it suffered a "very disappointing" final quarter last year.
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Twitch announced on January 10 that it would cut 500 jobs, affecting over a third of the employees at the live-streaming company.
CEO Dan Clancy announced the layoffs in a memo, telling staff that while the company has tried to cut costs, the operation is "meaningfully" bigger than necessary.
"As you all know, we have worked hard over the last year to run our business as sustainably as possible," Clancy wrote. "Unfortunately, we still have work to do to rightsize our company and I regret having to share that we are taking the painful step to reduce our headcount by just over 500 people across Twitch."
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Larry Fink, BlackRock's chief executive, and Rob Kapito, the firm's president, announced in January that the layoffs would affect around 600 people from its workforce of about 20,000.
However, the company has plans to expand in other areas to support growth in its overseas markets.
"As we prepare for 2024 and this very exciting but distinctly different landscape, businesses across the firm have developed plans to reallocate resources," the company leaders said in a memo.
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In the fashion company's January announcement, COO and president Anushka Salinas said she will also be leaving the firm, Fast Company reported.
Sutro Software
Around 1,800 jobs at the video game software company will be affected by the layoffs announced, Reuters reported in January.
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In a January 23 memo, CEO Jamie Iannone told employees that the eBay layoffs will affect about 9% of the company's workforce.
Iannone told employees that layoffs were necessary as the company's "overall headcount and expenses have outpaced the growth of our business."
The company also plans to scale back on contractors.
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In late January, nearly three months after Microsoft acquired video game firm Activision Blizzard, the company announced layoffs in its gaming divisions. The layoffs mostly affect employees at Activision Blizzard.
"As we move forward in 2024, the leadership of Microsoft Gaming and Activision Blizzard is committed to aligning on a strategy and an execution plan with a sustainable cost structure that will support the whole of our growing business," Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said in a memo obtained by The Verge.
The cuts come a year after the tech giant announced it was reducing its workforce by 10,000 employees. It then slashed a further 1,000 roles across sales and customer service teams in July 2023.
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Salesforce announced a round of layoffs that the company says will affect 1% of its global workforce, The Journal reported in late January.
The cuts followed a wave of cuts at the cloud giant last year. In 2023, Marc Benioff's company laid off about 10% of its total workforce — or roughly 7,000 jobs. The CEO said the company over-hired during the pandemic.
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In late January, the US logistics startup laid off 15% of its staff which is around 400 workers.
The move came after Flexport founder and CEO Ryan Petersen initiated a 20% reduction of its workforce of an estimated 2,600 employees in October.
Flexport kicked off 2024 with the announcement that it raised $260 million from Shopify and made "massive progress toward returning Flexport to profitability."
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The company behind the Roomba Vacuum announced layoffs in late January around the same time Amazon decided not to go through with its proposed acquisition of the company, the Associated Press reported.
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The UPS layoffs will affect 14% of the company's 85,000 managers and could save the company $1 billion in 2024, UPS CEO Carol Tomé said during a January earnings call.
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Announced in late January, this round of layoffs will affect about 2,500 employees at the payment processing company.
"We are doing this to right-size our business, allowing us to move with the speed needed to deliver for our customers and drive profitable growth," CEO Alex Chriss wrote in a January memo. "At the same time, we will continue to invest in areas of the business we believe will create and accelerate growth."
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The digital-access-management company announced its plans for a "restructuring plan intended to improve operating efficiencies and strengthen the Company's commitment to profitable growth" in an SEC filing in February.
The cuts will impact roughly 400 employees.
Okta CEO Todd McKinnon told staff in a memo that "costs are still too high," CNBC reported.
Snapchat, Tyler Le/Insider
The company behind Snapchat announced in February that it's reducing its global workforce by 10%, according to an SEC filing.
Reuters
The cosmetics company announced in February that it would be cutting 3% to 5% of its roles as part of a restructuring plan.
Estee Lauder reportedly employed about 62,000 employees around the world as of June 30, 2023.
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The electronic signature company said in an SEC filing in February that most of the cuts will be in its sales and marketing divisions.
Kena Betancur
The latest reduction announced in February amounts to about 2% of its workforce.
