From Amazon to Microsoft, the year 2023 witnessed shocking mass layoffs. Thousands of employees were fired without any notice as companies downsized their workforces. The layoffs which had initially begun to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic evolved into an unsettling trend in 2023.
From IT firms to banking sectors, thousands of employees were laid off in jaw-dropping numbers. While the rationales behind these layoffs vary from company to company, here’s a list of some of the biggest layoffs in 2023:
Amazon: The e-commerce giant laid off at least 27,000 people this year. This was the second largest in the company’s history. Employees from across departments received pink slips. However, the unofficial number of layoffs may rise as the company reportedly conducted several rounds of workforce reduction throughout the year.
Accenture: The IT firm hogged the limelight this year for laying off at least 19,000 employees. In its statement, the company said that it was a move to reduce expenses and navigate through a challenging economic climate.
Google: Google’s parent company Alphabet announced the layoff of 12000 employees in the first month of January of 2023 itself. Following a substantial slowdown in revenue growth, the company downsized its workforce and implemented job cuts.
Microsoft: One of the biggest layoff was announced by Microsoft which included layoff of 10,000 employees, which constituted at least 5% of the workforce of the company. Announcing the layoff, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that the layoffs were part of a cost-cutting effort.
Meta: The layoffs by Meta affected at least 11,000 employees globally. The workforce reduction marked the beginning of Mark Zuckerberg’s ‘year of efficiency’ plan to navigate economic uncertainties.
X (Twitter): As soon as the World’s richest man Elon Musk took over X, he announced the layoff of over 6000 employees, representing 80% of the company’s workforce. Even the company’s Indian CEO Parag Agrawal was ousted.
Like this, the year 2023 happened to be a turbulent year in several sectors with major companies laying off over 2 lakh employees collectively. The layoffs were largely due to economic slowdown, restricting plans, and other reasons.