Hundreds of Layoffs by Google, Amazon, and Meta in Just Weeks

With massive layoffs that devastated the tech sector, 2023 started badly. Google, Microsoft, Meta, and numerous other industry titans let thousands of employees go as part of their reorganisation and cost-cutting initiatives. The earthquakes were felt all year round and continued until 2024. 

January is only halfway through, and there have already been several layoffs. Employers such as Google, Meta, Amazon, Discord, and many more have announced new layoffs affecting hundreds of workers in various departments. The recent layoffs are not large-scale but noteworthy enough to raise concerns about potential future mass layoffs. 

Layoffs Reported in January 2024

Google

Among the first corporations to begin 2024 with a wave of layoffs, Google has impacted over 1,000 workers in various business divisions, including digital assistant, hardware, and engineering. According to the corporation, the layoffs were part of a more significant restructuring effort to streamline operations and allocate funds to its top objectives. 

Google CEO Sundar Pichai sent a formal warning to staff members in an email, indicating that the business may have to make additional job layoffs in the upcoming year due to rising competition and legal obstacles. Google also gave its employees severance pay and the chance to seek other positions inside the firm, expressing regret for the impact of the layoffs on them.

Meta

Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp's parent company, Meta, have also revealed lately that they are cutting 60 jobs, most of which are in the technical program manager (TPM) role. According to the firm, the layoffs are part of a bigger plan to streamline its operations and concentrate on its top goals, which include the metaverse. 

Additionally, Meta stated that the impacted workers would need to undergo a new interview procedure to qualify for positions such as product or program managers. 

The TPM position was eliminated for reasons that Meta did not formally disclose. However, one of the former Instagram staff members claims that the layoffs are connected to Meta's ongoing restructuring, referred to as "the flattening." The goal of this restructuring, which began last year, is to reduce the number of needless management tiers and increase the organisation's agility and efficiency. According to CEO Mark Zuckerberg and CFO Susan Li, further layoffs may occur as Meta attempts to reduce unproductive projects and teams and go back to its pre-2020 staffing levels.

Amazon 

Along with Google, Amazon revealed a new round of layoffs affecting hundreds of workers from its Amazon MGM Studios and Prime Video units. There are rumours that the job losses are a part of Amazon's more extensive strategy to simplify its business and concentrate on its primary goals. 

According to the corporation, a detailed analysis of its operations identified areas for efficiency and customer satisfaction improvements, which led to the layoffs. Although Amazon did not disclose the precise number of impacted workers, it did state that they made up a minor portion of the staff. In addition, Amazon allowed them to seek other positions inside the company and receive severance pay.

Interestingly, Amazon is also implementing a rigorous return-to-office policy, which mandates that workers work from the office three days a week or less, at the same time as the layoffs. Employees who violate the guideline allegedly face consequences from Amazon, including blocked promotions and reduced performance evaluations. Some workers think that Amazon is using this tactic to cut staff without really firing anyone and is inciting hatred at work in an attempt to get them to resign.

YouTube 

After acquiring Twitch, a streaming service, Amazon revealed that it will lay off over 500 workers, or 35 percent of the workforce. In a statement to the workforce and a blog post to the public, the company's CEO, Dan Clancy, broke the news, stating that it was a challenging but essential decision to make Twitch more competitive and sustainable. 

CEO Dan Clancy thanked staff members for their contributions and praised their role in encouraging community-driven development after the news of the layoffs. He highlighted that rather than being a result of excessively optimistic expectations from the past, the recent layoffs were a strategic decision to match the organisation with its existing size and future growth trajectory. 

Discord 

Discord is another online streaming service that has made layoff announcements. As part of a strategy to simplify operations and concentrate on its primary goal, the company eliminates 170 positions or 17 percent of its workforce. Jason Citron, the firm's CEO, broke the news to the workforce in a meeting and a note to the workers, explaining that the layoffs were a challenging but essential choice to make Discord more efficient and flexible. 

The layoffs impacted employees from several departments inside the corporation. The layoffs, which come after a previous wave of employment cuts in August 2023 in which Discord slashed 4% of its workers, are the biggest the company has ever made. Citron clarified that in addition to cutting expenses, the layoffs were implemented to address the overriding problem, which had decreased productivity inside the organisation. He claimed that Discord has taken on too many jobs due to its rapid growth and hiring spree. He thanked the staff for their work and assured them that Discord would keep pursuing its goal of enabling communities to create together.