The Recent Wave Of Tech Layoff

Blog Credit: Trupti Thakur

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The Recent Wave Of Tech Layoff

 

Layoff means removing employees from jobs. Dismissing due to a decrease in profits. When the profit of a company is not sufficient to pay all its employees, it Lays OFF. Recently, IBM (International Business Corporation), one of the largest tech companies in the world laid off its 3,500 employees. This is the largest layoff since 2022. MID LIFE CRISIS is the main reason for the layoff. Apart from IBM, several other tech giants such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta are also reducing their employees.

Reason for the recent Tech Layoff

The United States Federal Reserve has increased the interest rates rapidly to control inflation in the country. During inflation, the apex banks increase the interest rates to encourage people to save and invest. Consumer demands decrease and people start saving. This decreases liquidity in the country. During such times, the companies are affected as loans become expensive. This leads to lay off.

How is this affecting Indian Professionals?

Out of the total layoffs made, 30% to 40% of them are Indian IT professionals. They are on L1 and H – 1B visas in the US. H – 1B visa allows American companies to hire foreign companies.

What is MID LIFE CRISIS?

Midlife in the economy means the period during which a company or a country faces financial challenges.

Intel Cuts 311 More West Coast Workers, Kaspien Holdings Sets Total Shutdown Date, And 2024 Kicks Off With More Layoffs

The last month in a year fraught with layoffs didn’t hold many surprises. Reported tech workforce cuts in the weeks leading up to the final days of 2023 found tech startups ranging from e-commerce to transportation calling it quits.

Chipmaker Intel reportedly laid off another 311 workers from both its Santa Clara headquarters and Folsom lab, effective Dec. 31. According to California WARN reports the company shed 1,714 Golden State workers in 2023.

Spokane, Washington-based e-commerce company Kaspien Holdings reported in an SEC filing that it is in the process of shutting down with an end date of around May 1, 2024, with a majority of its workforce being cut at the end of January.

Just days before Miami-based former unicorn scooter startup Bird filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, another e-scooter startup, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Superpedestrian, reported its plans to close its U.S. location effective Dec. 31. The company says it is, however, on the hunt for a buyer for its European business.

Other U.S. startups ending the year with an ending include Boulder, Colorado-based cloud infrastructure provider Strake, and Los Angeles-based logistics propulsion system Hyperloop One.

Will 2024 be the year layoffs end, or at the very least slow down? If the jobs cuts reported in the first week of the year are an indication, the answer is not likely.

On the very first official working day of 2024, it was reported that Milwaukee proptech startup Frontdesk laid off all 200 of its workers. On the same day, early-stage hard tech VC firm Countdown Capital announced it will lay off staff and close its doors by the end of March.

Latest tech layoffs

The following companies were added to the tracker this week:

• Commure
• Countdown Capital
• Enphase Energy
• Flyhomes
• Frontdesk
• Glowforge
• Hyperloop One
• Intel
• Invitae
• Kaspien
• Noteable
• Palmetto Clean Technology
• Strake
• Superpedestrian
• The Messenger

 

 

Blog By: Trupti Thakur