Tech giants like Microsoft, eBay, and PayPal are swinging the axe as they pivot towards artificial intelligence, shedding thousands of jobs. The Financial Times reports a staggering 34,000 job cuts in recent weeks.
Snapchat joined 138 other firms in a synchronized employment exodus. While this year’s headcount hemorrhage is nothing to sneeze at, it still falls short of the massive layoffs last year when industry heavyweights like Microsoft and Meta went on a firing spree.
Layoffs.fyi tracked that 263,000 tech roles vanished into the ether in 2023, with analysts pointing fingers at the AI pivot as the prime suspect. According to financial analyst Brent Hill from Jefferies, companies are Marie Kondo-ing their way through their staff, tossing out the dead wood for a leaner, meaner operation—because in the world of AI, excess baggage just won’t cut it. Hill hinting that we haven’t seen the last of the pink slips.
Amazon-owned Twitch took a hit with 500 employees shown the exit door due to financial pressures, proving that even the big players aren’t immune to the ruthless dance of cost-cutting. The ‘Big Five’ are all feeling the pinch, lining up to join the layoff party that’s been burning the midnight oil in the industry.
SAP recently waved the flag of ‘company-wide transformation,’ waving goodbye to approximately 8,000 jobs. Autumn Mitchell, an anxious QA tester at ZeniMax, echoes the collective tech industry jitters about impending layoff doom, where one domino falling makes everyone else hold their breath, wondering whose turn it is next.
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