Major job cuts announced by tech behemoths; why they are laying off & what's the future

Tech behemoths are making deep cuts to its employee base as part of its restructuring efforts to navigate a potential downturn in the global economy.

Job cuts jumped 13% to 33,843 in October, the highest since February 2021, a report said.

Here are some of the major job cuts announced in recent weeks:


Meta Platforms Inc
The Facebook-parent said it would cut 13% of its workforce, or more than 11,000 employees, in one of the biggest tech layoffs this year. An estimated 1000 Indian employees have been impacted by the layoff plan.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a communication to his staff said, “I want to take accountability for these decisions and for how we got here”, adding that “this is tough for everyone” and I am “sorry”.

Twitter Inc
The social media company laid off half its workforce across several teams following Elon Musk's $44 billion takeover. On India front, sources claimed that Twitter has fired the entire marketing and communications team.

Seagate Technology Holdings Plc
The memory chip firm announced a restructuring plan including reducing worldwide headcount by about 8%, or 3,000 employees.

Microsoft Corp
The software giant laid off under 1,000 employees across several divisions this week, sources said.

The list also include Amazon and Walt Disney. Amazon has asked some of its staff to try their luck elsewhere. Wal Disney has announced plans to freeze hiring and eliminate some positions.

Effect on India and the future of employees
Experts say companies that are firing their employees are loss-making and are unable to raise funds dure to global economic conditions and hence these laying offs have become eventuality.

Once the funding picks up, these companies will again resort to hiring spree, the experts further added.

Experts also opined that employees must look for more sustainable companies in the short term till the global economic scenario improves. It is the normal business cycle and hiring will kick in again.

The tech industry always goes through "periods of major adjustments and corrections", such as the "dotcom bubble" in the mid-1990s to early 2000s, said Dr Natalie Pang to Channel NewsAsia.

"Widespread adoption of tech at work and at home drove significant growth for the industry during the last two years of the pandemic, but the post-pandemic era has highlighted the need to adjust and correct," she added. "In the case of the recent layoffs, I would say that tech is in a major period of adjustment."