Hundreds of thousands have lost jobs across sectors in 2023 as technology behemoths raced to cut costs.
The job cuts in the technology sector neared 90,000 in January 2023 and came down to 39,471 in February, 37,662 in March, 19,807 in April and 11,491 in the month of May so far, according to layoffs tracking platform Layoffs.fyi.
The platform showed that 695 tech companies have executed job cuts of around 198,000 employees so far in 2023. In 2022, over 1,000 tech companies laid off more than 161,000 employees. This indicates about a 19 per cent increase in the number of tech professionals who have lost their jobs in 2023 compared to the previous year.
According to a Business Today report, in January 2023, nearly 100,000 tech employees were affected globally as technology-majors such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google contributed to a high number of job cuts.
Why such mass layoffs?
Companies have cited reasons such as over-hiring during the pandemic’s Work-From-Home era and uncertain global macroeconomic conditions.
Mark Zuckerberg-owned Meta eliminated thousands of positions across Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Reality Labs, as part of the company’s goal of “greater efficiency. Meta had a hiring-freeze through the first three months of 2023.
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Among the ‘Big Four’ financial consulting giants, Ernst & Young executed 3,000 job cuts in the United States last month.
KPMG laid off close to 2 per cent of its US staff in February.
Accenture has announced it would cut 2.6 per cent of its global workforce over the next 18 months.
McKinsey’s restructuring will reportedly reduce about 3 per cent of its workforce in 2023.
Meanwhile, global telecom carrier Vodafone has declared plans to reduce its workforce by 11,000 employees over the next three years. The company aims to streamline both its headquarters and local markets, seeking a more simplified operational structure.
Adding to the challenging environment, Microsoft has decided not to provide salary increases to its salaried employees, including senior leaders, this year.
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