Posts Tagged: layoffs
Best Buy’s Geek Squad agents say they were hit by mass layoffs this week
Geek Squad agents have been flooding Reddit with images of their badges and posts about “going sleeper” after the company reportedly conducted mass layoffs this week. A former employee who spoke to 404 Media said they were sent an email notifying them to work from home on Wednesday and were then called individually to be told the news about their jobs. Some, per 404 Media’s sources and numerous Reddit posts, were longtime Geek Squad agents who had been with the company for more than 10 or even 20 years. Best Buy has not yet responded to Engadget’s request for comment.
There has been an outpouring of support for the laid off workers on the unofficial Geek Squad subreddit, where many have lamented the loss of jobs they’d dedicated much of their lives to and noted that things in the lead up had been heading in a concerning direction. Some commented that their hours had dwindled in recent months, with one former employee telling 404 Media it’s been “a struggle to get by.”
Best Buy conducted mass layoffs affecting employees at its retail stores just last spring, and as The Verge reports, CEO Corie Barry indicated during the company’s February earnings call that more layoffs were coming in 2024 as Best Buy shifts resources toward AI and other areas.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-buys-geek-squad-agents-say-they-were-hit-by-mass-layoffs-this-week-185720480.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
All the big tech layoffs of 2023
The tech industry is reeling from the combination of a rough economy, the COVID-19 pandemic and some obvious business missteps. And while that led to job cuts in 2022, the headcount reductions have unfortunately ramped up in 2023. It can be tough to keep track of these moves, so we’ve compiled all the major layoffs in one place and will continue to update this story as the situation evolves.
June
Spotify layoffs
Spotify followed up its January layoff plans with word in June that it would cut 200 jobs in its podcast unit. The move is part of a more targeted approach to fostering podcasts with optimized resources for creators and shows. The company is also combining its Gimlet and Parcast production teams into a renewed Spotify Studios division.
GrubHub layoffs
GrubHub has faced intense pressure from both the economy and competitors like Uber, and that led it to lay off 15 percent of its workforce in June, or roughly 400 staff. This came just weeks after outgoing CEO Adam DeWitt officially left the food delivery service. New chief executive Howard Migdal claims the job cuts will help the company remain "competitive."
Embracer Group layoffs
Game publishing giant Embracer Group announced plans for layoffs in June as part of a major restructuring effort meant to cut costs. The company didn't say how many of its 17,000 employees would be effected, but expected the overhaul to continue through March. The news came soon after Embracer revealed that it lost a $ 2 billion deal with an unnamed partner despite a verbal agreement.
Sonos layoffs
Sonos has struggled to turn a profit as of late, and it's cutting costs to get back on track. The company said in June that it would lay off 7 percent of staff, or roughly 130 jobs. It also planned to offload real estate and rethink program spending. CEO Patrick Spence said there were "continued headwinds" that included shrinking sales.
Plex layoffs
Plex may be many users' go-to app for streaming both local and online media, but that hasn't helped its fortunes. The company laid off roughly 20 percent of employees in June, or 37 people. Most of the affected people are in its Personal Media unit. Plex is reportedly feeling the blow from an ad market slowdown, and is eager to cut costs and turn a profit.
May
Shopify layoffs
Shopify's e-commerce platform played an important role at the height of the pandemic, but the Canadian company is scaling back now that the rush is over. In May, the company laid off 20 percent of its workforce and sold its logistics business to Flexport. Founder Tobi Lütke characterized the job cuts as necessary to "pay unshared attention" to Shopify's core mission, and an acknowledgment that the firm needed to be more efficient now that the "stable economic boom times" were over.
Polestar layoffs
Polestar delayed production of its first electric SUV (the Polestar 3) in May, and that had repercussions for its workforce. The Volvo spinoff brand said in May that it would cut 10 percent of its workforce to lower costs as it faced reduced manufacturing expectations and a rough economy. Volvo needed more time for software development and testing that also pushed back the EX90, Polestar said.
SoundCloud layoffs
SoundCloud followed up last year's extensive layoffs with more this May. The streaming audio service said it would shed 8 percent of its staff in a bid to become profitable in 2023. Billboard sources claim the company hopes to be profitable by the fourth quarter of the year.
April
Lyft layoffs
Lyft laid off 13 percent of staff in November 2022, but took further steps in April. The ridesharing company said it was laying off 1,072 workers, or about 26 percent of its headcount. It comes just weeks after an executive shuffle that replaced CEO Logan Green with former Amazon exec David Risher, who said the company needed to streamline its business and refocus on drivers and passengers. Green previously said Lyft needed to boost its spending to compete with Uber.
Dropbox layoffs
Cloud storage companies aren't immune to the current financial climate. In April, Dropbox said it would lay off 500 employees, or roughly 16 percent of its team. Co-founder Drew Houston pinned the cuts on the combination of a rough economy, a maturing business and the "urgency" to hop on the growing interest in AI. While the company is profitable, its growth is slowing and some investments are "no longer sustainable," Houston said.
March
Roku layoffs
Roku shed 200 jobs at the end of 2022, but it wasn't done. The streaming platform creator laid off another 200 employees in March 2023. As before, the company argued that it needed to curb growing expenses and concentrate on those projects that would have the most impact. Roku has been struggling with the one-two combination of a rough economy and the end of a pandemic-fueled boom in streaming video.
Lucid Motors layoffs
If you thought luxury EV makers would be particularly susceptible to economic turmoil, you guessed correctly. Lucid Motors said in March that it would lay off 18 percent of its workforce, or about 1,300 people. The marque is still falling short of production targets, and these cuts reportedly help deal with "evolving business needs and productivity improvements." The cuts are across the board, too, and include both executives as well as contractors.
Meta (Facebook) layoffs
Meta slashed 11,000 jobs in fall 2022, but it wasn't finished. In March 2023, the company unveiled plans to lay off another 10,000 workers in a further bid to cut costs. The first layoffs affected its recruiting team, but it shrank its technology teams in late April and its business groups in late May. The Facebook owner is hoping to streamline its operations by reducing management layers and asking some leaders to take on work previously reserved for the rank and file. It may take a while before Meta's staff count grows again — it doesn't expect to lift a hiring freeze until sometime after it completes its restructuring effort in late 2023.
February
Rivian layoffs
Rivian conducted layoffs in 2022, but that wasn't enough to help the fledgling EV brand's bottom line. The company laid off another six percent of its employees in February, or about 840 workers. It's still fighting to achieve profitability, and the production shortfall from supply chain issues hasn't helped matters. CEO RJ Scaringe says the job cuts will help Rivian focus on the "highest impact" aspects of its business.
Zoom layoffs
Zoom was a staple of remote work culture at the pandemic's peak, so it's no surprise that the company is cutting back now that people are returning to offices. The video calling firm said in February it was laying off roughly 1,300 employees, or 15 percent of its personnel. As CEO Eric Yuan put it, the company didn't hire "sustainably" as it dealt with its sudden success. The layoffs are reportedly necessary to help survive a difficult economy. The management team is offering more than just apologies, too. Yuan is cutting his salary by 98 percent for the next fiscal year, while all other executives are losing 20 percent of their base salaries as well as their fiscal 2023 bonuses.
Yahoo layoffs
Engadget's parent company Yahoo isn't immune to layoffs. The internet brand said in February that it would lay off over 20 percent of its workforce throughout 2023, or more than 1,600 people. Most of those cuts, or about 1,000 positions, took place immediately. CEO Jim Lanzone didn't blame the layoffs on economic conditions, however. He instead pitched it as a restructuring of the advertising technology unit as it shed an unprofitable business in favor of a successful one. Effectively, Yahoo is bowing out of direct competition in with Google and Meta in the ad market.
Dell layoffs
The pandemic recovery and a grim economy have hit PC makers particularly hard, and Dell is feeling the pain more than most. It laid off five percent of its workforce in early February, or about 6,650 employees, after a brutal fourth quarter where computer shipments plunged an estimated 37 percent. Past cost-cutting efforts weren't enough, Dell said — the layoffs and a streamlined organization were reportedly needed to get back on track.
Deliveroo layoffs
Food delivery services flourished while COVID-19 kept people away from restaurants, and at least some are feeling the sting now that people are willing to dine out again. Deliveroo is laying off about 350 workers, or nine percent of its workforce. "Redeployments" will bring this closer to 300, according to founder Will Shu. The justification is familiar: Deliveroo hired rapidly to handle "unprecedented" pandemic-related growth, according to Shu, but reportedly has to cut costs as it deals with a troublesome economy.
DocuSign layoffs
DocuSign may be familiar to many people who've signed documents online, but that hasn't spared it from the impact of a harsh economic climate. The company said in mid-February that it was laying off 10 percent of its workforce. While it didn't disclose how many people that represented, the company had 7,461 employees at the start of 2022. Most of those losing their jobs work in DocuSign's worldwide field organization.
GitLab layoffs
You may not know GitLab, but its DevOps (development and operations) platform underpins work at tech brands like NVIDIA and T-Mobile — and shrinking business at its clients is affecting its bottom line. GitLab is laying off seven percent of employees, or roughly 114 people. Company chief Sid Sijbrandij said the problematic economy meant customers were taking a "more conservative approach" to software investment, and that his company's previous attempts to refocus spending weren't enough to counter these challenges.
GoDaddy layoffs
GoDaddy conducted layoffs early in the pandemic, when it cut over 800 workers for its retail-oriented Social platform. In February this year, however, it took broader action. The web service provider laid off eight percent of its workforce, or more than 500 people, across all divisions. Chief Aman Bhutani claimed other forms of cost-cutting hadn't been enough to help the company navigate an "uncertain" economy, and that this reflected efforts to further integrate acquisitions like Main Street Hub.
Twilio layoffs
Twilio eliminated over 800 jobs in September 2022, but it made deeper cuts as 2023 got started. The cloud communications brand laid off 17 percent of staff, or roughly 1,500 people, in mid-February. Like so many other tech firms, Twillio said that past cost reduction efforts weren't enough to endure an unforgiving environment. It also rationalized the layoffs as necessary for a streamlined organization.
January
Google (Alphabet) layoffs
Google's parent company Alphabet has been cutting costs for a while, including shutting down Stadia, but it took those efforts one step further in late January when it said it would lay off 12,000 employees. CEO Sundar Pichai wasn't shy about the reasoning: Alphabet had been hiring for a "different economic reality," and was restructuring to focus on the internet giant's most important businesses. The decision hit the company's Area 120 incubator particularly hard, with the majority of the unit's workers losing their jobs. Sub-brands like Intrinsic (robotics) and Verily (health) also shed significant portions of their workforce in the days before the mass layoffs. Waymo has conducted two rounds of layoffs that shed 209 people, or eight percent of its force.
Amazon layoffs
Amazon had already outlined layoff plans last fall, but expanded those cuts in early January when it said it would eliminate 18,000 jobs, most of them coming from retail and recruiting teams. It added another 9,000 people to the layoffs in March, and in April said over 100 gaming employees were leaving. To no one's surprise, CEO Andy Jassy blamed both an "uncertain economy" and rapid hiring in recent years. Amazon benefited tremendously from the pandemic as people shifted to online shopping, but its growth is slowing as people return to in-person stores.
Coinbase layoffs
Coinbase was one of the larger companies impacted by the crypto market's 2022 downturn, and that carried over into the new year. The cryptocurrency exchange laid off 950 people in mid-January, just months after it slashed 1,100 roles. This is one of the steepest proportionate cuts among larger tech brands — Coinbase offloaded about a fifth of its staff. Chief Brian Armstrong said his outfit needed the layoffs to shrink operating expenses and survive what he previously described as a "crypto winter," but that also meant canceling some projects that were less likely to succeed.
IBM layoffs
Layoffs sometimes stem more from corporate strategy shifts than financial hardship, and IBM provided a classic example of this in 2023. The computing pioneer axed 3,900 jobs in late January after offloading both its AI-driven Watson Health business and its infrastructure management division (now Kyndryl) in the fall. Simply put, those employees had nothing to work on as IBM pivoted toward cloud computing.
Microsoft layoffs
Microsoft started its second-largest wave of layoffs in company history when it signaled it would cut 10,000 jobs between mid-January and the end of March. Like many other tech heavyweights, it was trimming costs as customers scaled back their spending (particularly on Windows and devices) during the pandemic recovery. The reductions were especially painful for some divisions — they reportedly gutted the HoloLens and mixed reality teams, while 343 Industries is believed to be rebooting Halo development after losing dozens of workers. GitHub is cutting 10 percent of its team, or roughly 300 people.
PayPal layoffs
PayPal has been one of the healthier large tech companies, having beaten expectations in its third quarter last year. Still, it hasn't been immune to a tough economy. The online payment firm unveiled plans at the end of January to lay off 2,000 employees, or seven percent of its total worker base. CEO Dan Schulman claimed the downsizing would keep costs in check and help PayPal focus on "core strategic priorities."
Salesforce layoffs
Salesforce set the tone for 2023 when it warned it would lay off 8,000 employees, or about 10 percent of its workforce, just four days into the new year. While the cloud software brand thrived during the pandemic with rapidly growing revenue, it admitted that it hired too aggressively during the boom and couldn't maintain that staffing level while the economy was in decline.
SAP layoffs
Business software powerhouse SAP saw a steep 68 percent drop in profit at the end of 2022, and it started 2023 by laying off 2,800 staff to keep its business healthy. Unlike some big names in tech, though, SAP didn't blame excessive pandemic-era hiring for the cutback. Instead, it characterized the initiative as a "targeted restructuring" for a company that still expected accelerating growth in 2023.
Spotify layoffs
Spotify spent aggressively in recent years as it expanded its podcast empire, but it quickly put a stop to that practice as 2023 began. The streaming music service said in late January that it would lay off 6 percent of its workforce (9,800 people worked at Spotify as of the third quarter) alongside a restructuring effort that included the departure of content chief Dawn Ostroff. While there were more Premium subscribers than ever in 2022, the company also suffered steep losses — CEO Daniel Ek said he was "too ambitious" investing before the revenue existed to support it.
Wayfair layoffs
Amazon isn't the only major online retailer scaling back in 2023. Wayfair said in late January that it would lay off 1,750 team members, or 10 percent of its global headcount. About 1,200 of those were corporate staff cut in a bid to "eliminate management layers" and otherwise help the company become leaner and nimbler. Wayfair had been cutting costs since August 2022 (including 870 positions), but saw the layoffs as helping it reach break-even earnings sooner than expected.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech-layoffs-2023-152856197.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Google workers in Japan have joined a labor union in response to planned layoffs
Dozens of Google Japan employees have organized under the Tokyo Managers’ Union. It’s the first labor union at Google Japan, according to Meiji University Assistant Professor Ken Yamazaki, who also posted a copy of the group’s statements from a press conference. Apparently, the employees chose to organize out of fear that they could be abruptly laid off, especially since some of them are in Japan on work visas.
Their concerns stemmed from the tech giant’s announcement back in January that it’s cutting 12,000 jobs — that’s six percent of the company’s overall workforce — around the world. They said their counterparts in the US were terminated with just an email sent in the middle of the night, and that the Japanese office’s employees were left anxiously awaiting for the ax to fall over the past few weeks. The workers said they joined a labor union in response to that announcement and to news about the fate of the company’s employees in other countries.
For a dismissal to be legal in Japan, a company has to prove that it has reasonable grounds to terminate an employee. However, some companies terminate employees without good reason by claiming to have problems with the worker. The group is hoping that joining a union would protect them from sudden termination. In the US, one of the divisions most affected by the job cuts was the company’s Area 120 in-house incubator, which works on experimental apps and products. The division used to develop 20 projects simultaneously, but that’s now down to three after most people in the team lost their jobs.
When Google announced it was going to let 12,000 workers go, Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said he was “deeply sorry” and that he takes “full responsibility for the decisions that led [the company] here.” He admitted that the tech giant went on a hiring spree over the last few years, but that Google “hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today.” According to the company’s latest earnings report, its revenue for the fourth quarter of 2022 grew one percent from the year before, but its quarterly net income was down 34 percent year-over-year.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-workers-in-japan-joined-labor-union-064417794.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Jeep parent company Stellantis blames EV costs for upcoming layoffs
Jeep parent company Stellantis on Friday said it would indefinitely shut down a manufacturing plant in Illinois and lay off approximately 1,350 employees early next year. The facility – located in Belvidere, a city 75 miles northwest of downtown Chicago – is responsible for producing the internal combustion engine Jeep Cherokee crossover. In a statement the automaker shared with Reuters, Stellantis blamed the cost of electrifying its cars for the move.
“[The automotive industry] has been adversely affected by a multitude of factors like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the global microchip shortage, but the most impactful challenge is the increasing cost related to the electrification of the automotive market,” the company said, adding that it may shutter the facility permanently as it considers what to do next.
United Auto Workers Local 1268 shop chairman Tim Ferguson told Reuters that company documents show Stellantis plans to move Cherokee production to a facility in Toluca, Mexico. “To me, there is no question about it,” he said. “Their plan is to close this plant.” Stellantis declined to comment on Ferguson’s allegations. “We are not commenting on the future of the Cherokee,” the company said.
As The Verge points out, Stellantis isn’t the first automaker to blame EVs for a recent set of layoffs. In August, Ford cut about 3,000 employees. “We have an opportunity to lead this exciting new era of connected and electric vehicles,” the automaker said at the time. “Building this future requires changing and reshaping virtually all aspects of the way we have operated for more than a century.”
It’s also worth noting Friday’s announcement came on the same day that workers at a General Motors-LG battery cell facility in Ohio voted overwhelmingly in favor of unionization. Unions in France, Italy, Canada and other parts of the world recently asked Stellantis to raise worker wages by as much as 8.5 percent following a year of record global inflation. In the third quarter of the year, Stellantis said revenue grew to €42.1 billion (approximately $ 44 billion), a 29 percent from the same period last year.
Twitter sued by employees amid mass layoffs
Twitter is facing a class action lawsuit over its ongoing mass layoffs today, which could likely cut its workforce in half. According to Bloomberg, employees filed a class action lawsuit against the company in San Francisco federal court, arguing that Twitter’s actions run afoul of the US Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. Under the labor law, companies with 100 or more employees are required to notify them of mass layoffs 60 days in advance.
The New York Times reported earlier that Twitter will begin layoffs on Friday and that around half of the company’s staff members will lose their jobs. In an email seen by The Washington Post, Twitter said that the layoffs are “unfortunately necessary to ensure the company’s success moving forward.” The company also told employees to stay at home today and to wait for an email. If they get one in their Twitter account, their job is safe. But if they receive the email in their personal account, that means they’re being let go. Some people are reporting on the social network that they already got locked out of their work emails and had been removed from company Slack.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to issue an order forcing Twitter to obey the WARN Act. They also want the court to prohibit the company from soliciting employees to sign away their right to litigate. Shannon Liss-Riordan, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said they filed the complaint “in an attempt to make sure that employees are aware that they should not sign away their rights and that they have an avenue for pursuing their rights.”
Liss-Riordan was also the lawyer who handled the lawsuit against Tesla in June over layoffs that cut 10 percent of the automaker’s workforce. Similar to this complaint, the plaintiffs back then argued that Tesla violated the WARN Act. Company chief Elon Musk, who took over Twitter a week ago, called the lawsuit “trivial” in a talk with Bloomberg Editor-In-Chief John Micklethwait. The court had also sided with the company and ruled that employees should negotiate with Tesla in a closed-door arbitration instead.
Layoffs coming to Motorola, might impact the Moto Z and Moto Mods
Motorola’s smartphone business has been a story with a ton of ups and downs. They helped to really spark the Android craze with the Verizon Motorola Droid, but subsequently lost a lot of ground to HTC and then Samsung. That eventually turned into a sale to Google and the promising but underwhelming Moto X line, […]
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HTC hit with layoffs in the US, putting their American smartphone business in doubt
Anybody who’s been in the Android scene since its inception has no doubt had some experience with one of HTC’s products. They lead the early charge into the mainstream smartphone market, and they’ve dabbled in just about everything from under Google’s umbrella. Despite that great history, it’s no secret that HTC isn’t doing so well […]
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Snap announces more layoffs amid content struggles
Snap has just laid off 22 employees, a sign that the company is continuing to struggle with slow user growth. The staff cuts affected teams across the company, but the content team was particularly hard hit. According to The Information, Snap's conte…
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LeEco layoffs affect 325 employees, pauses U.S. expansion amid financial crisis
It could be months before we see what’s next for LeEco. It might even be 2018 by the time we see anything new. With its cash spent and little revenue coming in, the company announced today its expansion in the United States is on hold indefinitely. Hundreds of employees have been laid off while the […]
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Weekly Rewind: New MacBooks, Twitter layoffs, and Airbnb’s NYC struggle
In the tech world, a lot happens in a week. So much news goes on that it’s almost impossible for mere mortals with real lives to keep track of everything. That’s why we’ve compiled a quick and dirty list of the top 10 tech stories from this week.
The post Weekly Rewind: New MacBooks, Twitter layoffs, and Airbnb’s NYC struggle appeared first on Digital Trends.
Twitter’s returning CEO is reportedly planning layoffs
Twitter's 'new' permanent CEO only took the reins five days ago, but he already appears bent on cleaning house. Sources for both the New York Times and Recode understand that Jack Dorsey is planning layoffs that could start as soon as October 13th…
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