Navigating the Tech Industry’s Layoff Landscape: A Comprehensive List of 2023 & 2024 Workforce Reductions

The tech industry’s recent reckoning continues to unfold, with over 240,000 job losses in 2023 alone—a staggering 50% increase compared to the previous year. This ongoing trend has been marked by widespread workforce reductions across major tech giants like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Yahoo, Meta, and Zoom, as well as numerous startups and app-based companies. While the pace of layoffs slowed down somewhat during the summer and fall of 2023, there are indications that these cutbacks are once again ramping up.

While some economists have sought to downplay fears of a looming recession, the momentum for a tech sector rebound has been slow to materialize. Consequently, tech companies continue to scale back their workforces and pivot away from growth-oriented strategies in favor of efficiency-driven approaches to navigate persistent market challenges.

Tracking these layoffs serves multiple purposes. It allows us to assess their impact on innovation, identify companies facing significant pressures, and determine which businesses are actively hiring amid these turbulent times. Unfortunately, it also serves as a sobering reminder of the profound human impact of layoffs and the potential shifts in risk profiles that may arise in the future.

Below is a comprehensive list of all known layoffs that have occurred in the tech industry in 2023, to be updated on a monthly basis. If you have information regarding a layoff that is not included in this list, please contact us here. You can also choose to remain anonymous by contacting us here.

Layoffs in 2024

Microsoft:

• Announced plans to lay off 1,900 employees across its gaming divisions following its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Blizzard president Mike Ybarra also announced his resignation.

Swiggy:

• Is cutting about 400 jobs, approximately 7% of its workforce, as the food delivery startup seeks to improve its finances ahead of a planned IPO later this year.

Aurora:

• Laid off dozens of workers, according to sources familiar with the decision. The autonomous vehicle technology company has since confirmed that approximately 3% of its workforce has been let go.

eBay:

• Will lay off 9% of the company’s workforce, affecting about 1,000 full-time employees. In a blog post, the company also plans to cut contract roles in the coming months.

SAP:

• Announced its intention to offer voluntary buyouts or job changes to 8,000 employees amid restructuring efforts.

Brex:

• Laid off 20% of its staff, impacting 282 workers. In a blog post, Co-CEO Pedro Franceschi emphasized the company’s prioritization of “long-term thinking and ownership over short-term gains in our comp structure.”

TikTok:

• Eliminated around 60 jobs across the U.S. in Los Angeles, New York, and Austin, in addition to layoffs in international markets. The affected roles, as initially reported by NPR, are largely in sales and advertising.

Vroom:

• Is cutting 90% of its employees as it shuts down its online used car marketplace and shifts resources into two business units: one focused on auto financing and the other on AI-powered analytics.

Riot Games:

• Is laying off 11% of its workforce, affecting about 530 employees, as the company focuses on “fewer, high-impact projects.” The League of Legends maker is also sunsetting its five-year-old publishing group, Riot Forge.

Wayfair:

• Is eliminating 13% of its global workforce, affecting 1,650 employees, in a restructuring effort aimed at reducing layers of management.

YouTube:

• Will eliminate 100 employees, a spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch, as part of a restructuring effort in its creator management and operations teams.

Google:

• Is laying off “hundreds” of employees in its advertising sales team, according to a leaked memo. The cuts come a week after the company did sweeping layoffs across its hardware teams. More layoffs are expected throughout the year, as CEO Sundar Pichai told the company in a memo obtained by The Verge.

Lost Boys Interactive:

• Reportedly laid off a “sizable” number of employees on January 12. The game developer studio was acquired by Borderlands maker Gearbox in 2022.

Pixar:

• Will lay off employees in 2024, TechCrunch exclusively learned, with the total impacted employees potentially reaching as high as 20% of the animation studio’s 1,300-person workforce. The cutbacks come as Disney looks to reduce the studio’s output as it struggles to achieve profitability in streaming.

Audible:

• Is laying off 5% of its workforce, citing an “increasingly challenging landscape,” according to a leaked memo obtained by Business Insider.

Discord:

• Is laying off 17% of its staff, impacting 170 people. In an internal memo obtained by The Verge, Discord CEO Jason Citron blamed the cuts on the company growing too quickly.

Google:

• Laid off hundreds of employees across its Google Assistant division and the team that manages Pixel, Nest, and Fitbit hardware. The company confirmed to TechCrunch that Fitbit co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman are also exiting.

Amazon:

• Is laying off “several hundreds” of employees at Prime Video and MGM Studios, according to a memo obtained by TechCrunch. The cuts come days after the 500 layoffs at Amazon’s Twitch.

Twitch:

• Is reportedly laying off 500 employees, 35% of its current staff, amid a continued struggle to achieve profitability in the face of rising costs and community backlash. The pending layoffs come after hundreds more employees were laid off in 2023.

Treasure Financial:

• Confirmed to TechCunch that layoffs, conducted in December, had impacted 14 employees, accounting for 60% to 70% of the company, according to multiple sources.

Duolingo:

• Confirmed it cut 10% of its contractor workforce at the end of 2023 as it turns to AI to streamline content production and translations previously handled by humans.

Rent the Runway:

• Will cut about 10% of corporate roles as it goes through a restructuring plan following Anushka Salinas’ planned resignation as operating chief and president at the end of January.

Unity:

• Is reducing its workforce by about 25%, or 1,800 people. The video game engine maker went through three rounds of layoffs in 2023.

Pitch:

• Laid off two-thirds of its employees as the German startup, which built collaborative presentation software, looks to pursue a “completely different path.” CEO and co-founder Christian Reber also stepped down.

BenchSci:

• The AI and biomedical startup reportedly cut 17% of its workforce on January 8, citing “shifts in the economic environment,” in a LinkedIn post announcing the layoffs.

Flexe:

• Eliminated 38% of its staff on January 8 as the online retail logistics company follows up after conducting layoffs in 2023.

This list will be updated on a monthly basis. If you have information regarding a layoff that is not included in this list, please contact us here. You can also choose to remain anonymous by contacting us here.