An anonymous Slashdot reader shared this report from CNBC.
The S&P 500 is trading at record levels and the Nasdaq is at a two-year high. Alphabet stocks reached new highs on Thursday, as did Meta and Microsoft, which have a market capitalization of more than $3 trillion.
Don't tell your boss that.
While Wall Street cheers Silicon Valley on, tech companies are downsizing at an accelerating pace. Some 23,670 workers have been laid off from 85 technology companies so far in January, according to the website Layoffs.fyi. This is the highest number since March, when approximately 38,000 people in the industry were asked to leave the venue. This week saw increased activity, with SAP announcing 8,000 employee moves or layoffs and Microsoft cutting 1,900 positions in its gaming division. Additionally, highly rated fintech startup Brex laid off his 20% of its staff, eBay cut his 1,000 people, representing his 9% of full-time employees… Earlier this month, Google has announced that it has cut hundreds of jobs across the company. And Amazon has cut hundreds of positions across its Prime Video, MGM Studios, Twitch and Audible divisions. Unity will cut about 25% of its staff, and Discord, a popular messaging service for gamers, announced it will cut 17% of its employees…
Investors praised cost-cutting measures companies introduced last year in response to rising inflation, rising interest rates, recession fears and a severe market downturn in 2022. Frugality continues even as the economic outlook improves. Layoffs peaked last January, when 277 technology companies cut nearly 90,000 jobs as the industry was forced to consider the end of a bull market that lasted more than a decade. Most of the optimization efforts took place in the first quarter of 2023, with the number of reductions decreasing every month until September and then increasing towards the end of the year.
As companies plan their budgets for the year ahead, one explanation for January's spike is that they have learned they can do more with less… Chief Executive Officer of consulting firm Publicis Sapient (CEO) Nigel Vaz told CNBC that perhaps some companies are looking at the benefits that meth can bring. As a result of major cost-cutting measures last year, Salesforce found that large publicly traded companies are now “focused” on profitability, margins and cost reductions, tracking global trends. said Tim Herbert, chief research officer at CompTIA. Technology department.
CNBC reports that the CEO of the company that runs the tech job site Dice said the number of layoffs is significantly lower than last year, and stressed that layoffs are not limited to the tech industry. But the article also claims that “the demand for AI is so great that some tech companies are cutting headcount in parts of their operations to invest more in developing AI products.” (SAP specifically said the reorganization is aimed at increasing its “focus on key strategic growth areas, particularly business AI.”)
CNBC also reports that “job cuts are likely to continue in other sectors through 2024 as tech companies prioritize investments in artificial intelligence and hire, industry experts say.” writing.
