Tech layoffs continue to disrupt industry, with 32,000 job losses

There have been two main waves of layoffs in recent years.

In 2024, the technology industry is facing another wave of layoffs, which follows last year’s widespread layoffs.

About 32,000 tech workers have lost their jobs so far in 2024, according to Layoffs.fyi. The company has been tracking layoffs in the industry since the pandemic began.

Snap Inc. became the latest example, announcing on Monday that it would lay off about 10% of its workforce, or about 540 employees. Earlier this month, software company Okta Inc. said it would cut 7% of its workforce to reduce costs, affecting about 400 employees. The list goes on, including big tech employers like Amazon.com Inc., Salesforce Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc.

This year, “tech companies are still working to correct excessive hiring during the pandemic, given that both the high interest rate environment and the tech downturn are lasting longer than initially expected,” Layoffs.fyi founder Roger Lee said in a statement the report reads. e-mail.

Lee said there have been two major waves of layoffs in recent years. The “early COVID-19” surge from the first quarter to the second quarter of 2020, and the “rate hike” effect that has continued since the second quarter of 2022. “This year’s layoffs are generally smaller and more targeted than last year’s layoffs” a year ago,” Li said.

While economic factors are the main reason for layoffs at tech companies, Li noted that many companies see competition from AI as a factor as they are shifting resources toward AI talent. According to an analysis by CompTIA, which tracks employment trends in the tech industry, “jobs in artificial intelligence or requiring artificial intelligence skills increased by about 2,000 from December to January to 17,479.”

So while the industry is shedding some jobs, it’s also actively recruiting for others. There were 33,727 active job postings in January, the largest month-over-month increase in 12 months, according to CompTIA.

“I do feel that most of the layoffs have already happened and companies will start to rebound,” said Bert Bean, chief executive of staffing firm Insight Global. “But it’s still very uncertain.” He expects the market to be in It remains that way for the next two quarters or so “until the Fed actually comes out and starts cutting rates.”