Round of layoffs in technology companies
There is a phase of layoffs happening all over the world. Big tech companies have set a record for layoffs in August 2024. Be it Apple or Intel, Cisco or IBM. In the month of August, 27,000 people were shown the exit door in the name of cost-cutting in 40 leading tech companies. If we look at the beginning of the year, there were a lot of such news where thousands of people from tech companies lost their jobs in one night.
A report shows that tech companies have laid off 1,36,000 people so far. This situation of tech companies across the world is worrying and the turmoil in the sector raises many questions related to job security of employees.
AI is taking jobs away from Apple employees
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The technology company Apple has shown the exit to hundreds of employees of the company. The company has laid off about 100 people from the service department. This includes employees and some engineers of the Apple Books and Apple Bookstore app. AI has played a major role in this layoff of the company. The company now plans to convert the Apple Books app business into AI. It is reported that the Apple News division is also in danger due to the entry of AI.
This is not the first round of layoffs by Apple, earlier the company had laid off 600 employees from its Special Projects Group, while in January it had shut down the 121-person AI team in San Diego. As per the old report, Apple had 1 lakh 61 thousand employees. The post-downsizing data is yet to be made public.
Intel fired for more savings
The American chip manufacturing company Intel is going through a tough time, with its employees suffering direct consequences by losing their jobs. The company reduced the number of employees by 15% in order to reduce costs. As a result, 15,000 people had to lose their jobs. The company took this decision due to the huge drop in revenue in the second quarter and the fear that the business will not take off in the future.
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said in a memo sent to laid-off employees: “We plan to achieve $10 billion in cost savings by 2025, and this will require us to reduce our workforce by approximately 15,000 employees, or 15 percent of our workforce.” It is included.
Cisco plans to advance in cybersecurity
Networking equipment manufacturer Cisco is also among the tech companies making layoffs. According to the statement released by Cisco, the company will be laying off approximately 6,000 employees or 7% of its global workforce. This was the second round of layoffs at the company this year. The company’s goal behind this layoff is to reduce its expenses and focus on cybersecurity and AI.
Prior to the August layoffs, Cisco had announced investments in AI startups Cohere, Mistral and Scale in June. According to the company’s filing, Cisco will invest $1 billion in the three AI companies. The company expects to save between $700 million and $800 million by the first quarter of fiscal 2025 after reducing its workforce.
Dell Technology cuts 10% of its workforce
Dell Technologies is making changes to its sales force, with thousands of employees having lost their jobs so far. The company has laid off 10 percent of its workforce, or 12,500 employees. The layoffs at Dell are part of a broader restructuring to prioritize investment in artificial intelligence and new-age IT solutions.
Like most tech companies, Dell also wants to shift its focus to Artificial Intelligence (AI). The statement issued by sales executives Bill Scannell and John Byrne said the company plans to further improve its operations so it can make more profits and invest in the right direction.
Jobs lost in the US-China trade war
In August 2024, the American technology company IBM announced the closure of its research operations in China. More than a thousand people lost their jobs due to this announcement. However, the company said in a statement: “IBM will now prioritize serving private enterprises and selected multinational companies in the Chinese market.”
This move by the company is also influenced by the current geopolitical tension between the United States and China. Recently, the trade war between China and the United States has hit multinational companies hard, and now IBM is also included in this chain.
Infineon’s revenue was lower than expected
Jochen Hanbach, CEO of German chipmaker Infineon, announced in early August that the company would lay off 1,400 employees and also relocate 1,400 employees to countries with lower labor costs. According to the report, the company made this decision after failing to achieve satisfactory revenue in the third quarter.
The company earned 3.7 billion euros in the April-June quarter, well below its forecast of 3.8 billion euros. This figure is 9 percent less than the previous year. CEO Jochen Hanbeck blames the company’s weak sales on global economic conditions.
GoPro and ShareChat also made the cut
Action camera maker GoPro will cut its workforce by 15% as part of a restructuring plan, under which 140 employees will lose their jobs. The purpose of these layoffs is to reduce operating expenses by $50 million from the estimated expenditure for fiscal year 2024. While Bengaluru-based social media company Sharechat reduced its workforce by 5% in August 2024. Around 30-40 people were affected by this.
Brave made cuts due to the financial crisis
Brave, a search and web browser startup, has laid off 27 employees across all its divisions. The company had 191 employees, of which the new company eliminated 14 percent of the workforce. Brave had also reduced its workforce by 9% in October 2023 due to the economic crisis.
