Layoffs in the tech industry continued into the second half of 2024, with numerous prominent companies cutting around 100,000 jobs as part of their restructuring plans. IBM, for example, initiated a second wave of layoffs, primarily targeting senior programmers, sales personnel, and support staff as part of its ongoing “workforce rebalancing” strategy. The company aims to reduce a small percentage of its global workforce but anticipates ending the year with a similar employee count as it had at the start.
Healthtech startup Dozee, which operates across India, laid off about 40 employees to mitigate losses, while WeTransfer, recently acquired by Bending Spoons, cut 75 per cent of its staff as part of a strategy to enhance profitability.
Cisco announces further layoffs
Cisco also continued its layoff trend in 2024, announcing a 7 per cent workforce reduction in August, affecting around 5,600 employees. This followed an earlier layoff round in February, which resulted in 4,000 job losses. Employees, including those from Cisco’s Talos Security division focusing on threat intelligence and security research, were informed of the layoffs on September 16.
After announcing the layoffs, Cisco said that these cuts were necessary to stay competitive in the fast-changing tech landscape.
Microsoft’s Xbox division reduces workforce
Despite these reductions, Microsoft assured that there would be no cancellations of games or closures of studios related to the layoffs.
Qualcomm, Dell, others continue job cuts
Qualcomm announced plans to lay off 226 employees in San Diego later in 2024, following a previous reduction of over 1,250 workers less than a year prior. These layoffs are part of Qualcomm’s strategy to address ongoing financial challenges.
Similarly, Dell Technologies indicated it would continue reducing its workforce into 2024, emphasising cost management amid a slow PC demand recovery.
Udemy announces layoffs
Udemy is set to reduce its workforce by 50 per cent as part of a broader restructuring initiative. The company plans to rehire employees in regions with lower operational costs as part of this strategy.
Fresher hiring expected to surge in IT services sector
While layoffs have dominated the headlines in 2024, the IT services sector anticipates a significant increase in fresher hiring for FY25. Projections suggest that entry-level positions could nearly double, reaching over 150,000 new roles compared to the previous financial year. This follows a period of low hiring in FY24, which recorded the lowest intake since 2000, with about 60,000 net hires.
Global economic challenges lead to widespread layoffs
Tech layoffs 2023
Job cuts in major IT companies increased by 15 per cent in 2023 compared to the previous year. According to Layoffs.fyi data, over 1,150 tech companies laid off more than 260,000 employees during the year.
Amazon reduced its workforce by around 16,000, while Microsoft let go of approximately 10,000 employees. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, also cut over 10,000 jobs, and SAP laid off 8,000 workers.
In July 2024, layoffs in the tech industry continued, with over 8,000 jobs lost across 34 companies. This brought the total layoffs for the year to 124,517 across 384 companies globally.
(With agency inputs)
First Published: Oct 01 2024 | 2:50 PM IST