Recessie raakt tech-banen infographic
Graphic shows U.S. jobless figures since January 2022.
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BUSINESS

Recessie raakt tech-banen

By Duncan Mil

January 5, 2023 - The global technology industry is shedding tens of thousands of jobs amid a downturn in advertising revenues and slowing sales as the cost of living crisis bites.

E-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc’s layoffs will now increase to more than 18,000 roles as part of a workforce reduction it previously disclosed, Chief Executive Andy Jassy said on Wednesday.

The layoffs, starting on January 18, will broadly impact the company’s e-commerce and human resources organizations, Jassy said. The cuts amount to six per cent of Amazon’s roughly 300,000-person corporate workforce.

According to Layoffs.fyi, a website that tracks tech companies’ job cuts, 1,018 tech companies laid off 153,678 employees in 2022.

Cable TV network AMC is to cut about 20 per cent of its U.S. workforce, as it announced Chief Executive Officer Christina Spade had stepped down less than three months into the role, Reuters reported.

While Kraken, the cryptocurrency exchange, said it would cut its global workforce by 30 per cent, or about 1,100 employees, citing harsh market conditions that have crippled demand for digital assets this year.

In November, Meta Platforms Inc, the parent of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, said it would cut 13 per cent of its workforce, or more than 11,000 employees, in one of the most extensive tech layoffs of 2022.

“Zuckerberg finally read the room and took action”, which was a “step in the right direction,” said Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities at the time.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 05/01/2023; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: Getty Images
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