Employee Layoff Statistics By Industry, Region And Company
Updated · Sep 26, 2024
WHAT WE HAVE ON THIS PAGE
- Introduction
- Editor’s Choice
- Recent Layoff Trends
- General Employee Layoff Statistics
- Tech Employees Laid Off Analyses
- By Industry
- Top Companies Monthly Layoffs Statistics
- Tech Companies Layoffs Statistics
- Indian Tech Companies Layoff Statistics
- Tech Employee Layoff Statistics By Region
- Monthly Number of Layoffs in the US
- Tech Giants Segment Employee Layoffs
- Pharmaceutical Employee Layoff Statistics By Company
- Gaming Employee Layoff Statistics By Company
- Reasons For Layoffs
- Impact of Layoffs
- Conclusion
Introduction
Employee Layoff Statistics: Employee layoffs are a common cost-cutting measure used by businesses during economic challenges or other external factors. Layoffs can be permanent or temporary, and they always negatively impact employees. This article includes recent trends and facts from insights gathered in 2023 and 2024. Let’s delve into key statistics to get a clearer picture of the topic.
Editor’s Choice
- As of 2024, AI (Artificial Intelligence) in tech companies is going to replace around 8,000 jobs.
- Employee Layoff Statistics claimed that expected headcount reductions by 2024 will reach up to 92%.
- According to Employee Layoff Statistics, in 2033, the global retail industry laid off 32 thousand employees.
- As per one layoff tracker, in the 1st quarter of 2024, up to 270 tech companies have laid off 70,000 employees globally.
- Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has already announced that 2023 was the ‘year of efficiency’ as the stock increased by 200% and 21,000 employees were laid off.
- In the first quarter of 2023, the technological industries recorded higher layoffs, as 167.4 employees lost their jobs in major companies such as Google, Meta, Microsoft, and IBM.
- At the beginning of 2023, there were only 168,000 employee layoffs globally.
- In the United States of America, nearly 40% of people were terminated from their jobs at least once in 2023.
- On the other hand, in the last two years, 28% of Americans have been laid off gradually.
- Whereas layoff anxiety has been faced by 48% of Americans in 2023.
- In the USA, employee layoffs escalated by 3% and reached their highest level in the last 11 months, with 84,638 job cuts in 2024 to date.
- In 2023, more than 800 American tech companies have terminated more than 285,481+ employees.
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Recent Layoff Trends
- Tech Industry Hit Hard: The tech industry has witnessed significant layoffs in recent times. In 2023 alone, over 191,000 U.S. tech workers lost their jobs, and the trend continues in 2024, with over 47,000 layoffs already reported.
- 2023 Layoffs: Layoffs. FYI, a website tracking tech layoffs reports a staggering total of 262,595 employees laid off by 1,187 tech companies in 2023.
- January 2024: Just in the first month of 2024, 91 tech companies laid off 24,564 employees, highlighting the ongoing impact.
- S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS): The BLS provides data on “mass layoffs,” which are defined as job cuts involving at least 50 employees within 5 weeks.
- \FYI: This website offers a real-time tracker specifically focused on tech industry layoffs, listing affected companies and employee counts.
- News and Industry Reports: Major news outlets and industry publications often report on significant layoff events, providing context and analysis.
General Employee Layoff Statistics
- At Google, the maximum number of extensive layoffs initiated is expected from several departments, such as YouTube teams, hardware, voice assistants, and advertising sales.
- As of 2023, tech industries such as Silicon Valley and other global offices have shredded more than 27,000 employees.
- Employee Layoff Statistics show that, in the first four months of 2024, Google has laid off hundreds of employees. In 2023, almost 12,000 Google employees were asked to leave in a mass cull.
- In the 1st quarter of 2024, Cult.fit or Cure.fit implemented its first round of employee layoffs, estimating between 130 and 150 employees.
- Tata Steel has announced that 2 of its blast furnaces will be closed by the end of 2024, reducing 2800 jobs.
- Based on performance evaluations, Flipkart has announced a 5 to 7 percent employee reduction in 2024.
- Employee Layoff Statistics further stated that Frontdesk Company dismissed nearly 200 employees in 2024 just after a brief 2-minute Google Meet call. Later, it was known that Jesse DePinto (CEO) made a sudden decision to adjust to the bankruptcy.
- According to the Wall Street Journal, Salesforce recently announced that by 2024, the company will lay off around 700 employees, while in 2023, the company reduced by approximately 8,000 employees.
- Meanwhile, from 2024 to the present, Swiggy has laid off approximately 400 employees, which is around 6% of its total employee base.
- In January 2024, the widely used messaging platform Discord successfully laid off 170 employees, which is nearly 17% of its total workforce.
- Indian aviation company SpiceJet has planned to lay off 15% of its workforce in 2024. The company is experiencing financial turbulence, which has resulted in delayed employee salaries in 2023.
- The nearly 9% employee layoff in Morgan Stanley’s management division was reduced in China to roughly 15 employees.
- Paytm Payment Bank (Indian digital payment giant) reduced 20% of its workforce from its banking unit.
- On May 1, 2024, Unilever announced a plan to eliminate 76,500 jobs globally to trim positions on a global scale.
- By 2024, Vodafone is considering relocating or eliminating 2,000 jobs to achieve a cost-saving strategy aimed at $33.65 billion by the next two years. In contrast, the German company laid off 900 employees in the last two years.
- In 2024, Apple canceled its electric car project and shifted its focus to tech innovations, thus needing to eliminate 1,400 employees.
Tech Employees Laid Off Analyses
(Reference: statista.com)
- A report published by Statista claimed that globally, the total number of tech employees laid off in the 1st quarter of 2023 was 168,398.
- Furthermore, the other quarterly numbers of tech employees laid off were Q2 (56,872), Q3 (24,873), and Q4 (23,588).
- While there were 52,424 employees were laid off worldwide in the 1st quarter of 2024
By Industry
(Source: benzinga.com)
- A Statista report analysis depicted that in 2033, the global retail industry laid off 32 thousand employees.
- In addition, the consumer and hardware sectors have witnessed more than 30K and 24K employee layoffs, respectively.
- In the first quarter of 2023, the technological industries recorded higher layoffs, as 167.4 employees lost their jobs in major companies such as Google, Meta, Microsoft, and IBM.
- Employee Layoff Statistics further elaborates that total job dismissals in healthcare industries made up a 10.5% share in 2023.
- In Software as a Service (Saas) industry accounted for 10.1% of layoffs share.
- Moreover, the finance industry amounted to 9.5% job cuts in 2023.
- The least affected sectors were education, robotics, and social sectors, with only 0.7% of employee layoffs.
Top Companies Monthly Layoffs Statistics
(Source: intellizence.com)
- Under Employee Layoff Statistics, the total number of laid-off employees in Tesla was approximately 6020 by April 2024. Meanwhile, the number of cut-out jobs in California and Texas is 3,332 and 2,688, respectively.
- In April, other companies employees laid off were Bristol Myers Squibb (740), Southwest Airlines (2000), Nike (740), Tesla (10% of the workforce), Apple (600), Quaker Oat (500), and Hartford Public Schools (400).
- Furthermore, in March 2024, other companies with several employee layoffs were Dell Technologies (6000), Stellantis (2500), Vodafone Germany (366), Metro Bank (1000), PwC Australia (366), Spruce (21% of the workforce), Alshaya Group (2000), and Lumentum (750).
- February: Expedia (1500), Northrop Grumman (1000), Sony (900), Continental AG (7150), Cisco Systems (4000), ThyssenKrupp AG (2370), Nike (1600), Bell Media (4800), Estee Lauder (3100), Ford (2700), Miele (2,700), UPS (12,00), Deutsche Bank(3500), American Airline (656), and Okta (400).
- January: Microsoft (1900), Lloyds Banking Group(1600), Valeo (1150), eBay (1000), Corning Inc. (1000), Salesforce (700), Tata Steel (2800), Macy’s (2000), Wayfair (1650), Bosch (1200), Citi Group (20,000), Google (1000), Unity Software (1800), GDI Integrated Facilities Services (1867), Twitch (500), and Telefonica (3421).
Tech Companies Layoffs Statistics
(Source: ttgtmedia.com)
- As of 2024, more than 75,000 tech employees had been laid off globally. In 2023, worldwide tech industries had successfully eliminated 240,000 technical employees.
- Dell Technologies has announced that it will cut 6,650 employees by April 2024, in addition to Amazon’s cloud division, which will eliminate 100 job roles.
- IBM’s CEO expects that in the coming five years, 30% of back-office roles will be replaced by AI and automation, resulting in 3,900 layoffs.
- In February, one day, the biggest tech layoff was observed in Cisco System, which is a 5% employee cut-off of 4,100 jobs in April 2024 globally.
- Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has already announced that 2023 was the ‘year of efficiency’ as the stock increased by 200% and 21,000 employees were laid off.
- In April 2024, American company Cisco has planned to eliminate up to 4,100 employees in San Francisco.
- Employee Layoff Statistics show that Sony Ericson reduced its workforce by 8,500 employees in the Americas and Asia; overall, layoffs will be approximately 8% of the total.
- AI-driven writing tool Grammarly has implemented 230 employee layoffs, and in the United States, almost 82 employees are impacted.
- On the other hand, in 2024, Instacart announced 250 employees lay off 7% of the workforce.
- In April 2024, the layoff recently observed in Microsoft was 10,000 employees. In the gaming segment, such as Xbox and Activision Blizzard, the company has eliminated around 1,900 out of 22,000 employees within the first four months of 2024.
- In April 2024, Amazon had already started its first round of employee layoffs, which accounted for 27,150. The cuts mostly affected the MGM Studios and Prime Video segments, with several hundred employees losing their jobs.
- In April 2024, the largest layoffs of big companies were Accenture (19,000), Google (12,000), Philips (10,000), Salesforce (8,000), Micron (7,200), Booking.com (4,375), and Twitter (3,940).
Indian Tech Companies Layoff Statistics
(Source: .moneycontrol.com)
- Based on Employee Layoff Statistics in 2023, around 14 India Startup companies have terminated approximately 2,100 employees in the first three weeks.
- Highest employee layoffs in Indian startups were Sharechat (600), Swiggy (380), Medibuddy (200), Ola (200), Moglix (200), and Skit ai (115).
- The companies with the fewest layoffs were Dunzo (90), Harappa (65-75), LEAD (60), Bounce (40-50), Robel Foods (50), Relevel (40), Upscalio (40), and Hubilo (35).
Tech Employee Layoff Statistics By Region
(Source: resumegenius.com)
- The above graph explains the number of tech employees laid off within different regions of the United States of America from January 1 to December 31, 2023.
- The maximum number of employee layoffs was seen in the Western region, 169K from 56.63% of companies, followed by the Northeast region, 41K (22.50% of companies).
- Whereas, other region-wise employee layoffs and shares of companies were in the Midwest region (41K and 11.63%) and Southern region (24K and 9.25%).
By Cities
(Source: resumegenius.com)
- According to a report published by Resume Genius, more than 800 American tech companies terminated more than 285,000 employees in 2023.
- By 2023, the top three cities of the U.S. that have laid off employees from several companies are followed by San Francisco (103,118+ and 274), Seattle (43,795+ and 19), and New York City (36,173+ and 133).
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Monthly Number of Layoffs in the US
2023, Month | Number of Layoffs |
January | 89,522+ |
February | 33,353+ |
March | 36,953+ |
April | 18,331+ |
May | 35,573+ |
June | 9,210+ |
July | 13,010+ |
August | 22,803+ |
September | 9,215+ |
October | 10,196+ |
November 2023 | 6,355+ |
December 2023 | 3,626+ |
- Employee Layoff Statistics also elaborates that in 2023, Twitter had the maximum number of layoffs in the Software engineering segment, with 23.7%.
- In the same year, employee layoff shares in other Twitter segments were Marketing ( 12.7%), P.R., communications, and strategy (9.3%), Customer success (8%), H.R. and talent sourcing (4.7%), and the rest of the segments (41.7%).
- Lay off employees in Amazon: HR and talent sourcing (37.4%), Software engineering (28.8%), Program management (5.8%), Quality assurance (3.1%), Data science (2.7%), and others (22.2%).
- Google: Software engineering (35.3%), Program management (16.7%), H.R. and talent sourcing (15.7%), Customer success (4.9%), Product management (3.9%), Marketing (2.9%), Sales (2.9%), and others (17.7%).
- Meta: H.R. and talent sourcing (29.8%), Software engineering (18.3%), Marketing (10.1%), P.R., communications, and strategy (4.8%), Data analysis and data science (4.3%), UX design (4.3%), and others (28.4%).
- Microsoft: H.R. and talent sourcing (39.4%), Software engineering (13.4%), Program management (7%), Cloud and data centers (6.3%), Marketing (3.5%), UX design (3.5%), and others (26.7%).
Pharmaceutical Employee Layoff Statistics By Company
(Reference: pharmaceuticalprocessingworld.com)
- In the 1st quarter of 2023, the leading employee layoff was observed in Grifals Company, resulting in 2300.
- Followed by next top number of layoffs captured by Pharmaceutical companies were Amgen (750), Takeda (186), Merck KCaA (133), Ferring (89), and BMS (48).
Gaming Employee Layoff Statistics By Company
(Reference: retrostylegames.com)
- In the gaming industry, Unity had the highest employee layoff rate, with around 900 globally by the end of 2023.
- 830 and 535 employee layoffs were made up by Epic and Amazon, respectively.
- Moreover, E.A. has made 375 layoffs, and Embracer had 296 layoffs in 2023.
Reasons For Layoffs
Several factors can lead to employee layoffs, including:
- Economic Downturns: When economies weaken, companies may resort to layoffs to reduce costs and survive.
- Industry Shifts: Rapid changes in technology or consumer preferences can disrupt entire industries, forcing companies to restructure and potentially lay off workers whose skills are no longer relevant.
- Company Restructuring: Internal changes in strategy, mergers, or acquisitions can sometimes lead to job cuts as companies streamline operations.
Impact of Layoffs
Employee layoffs have significant consequences
- Individual Impact: Job loss creates financial hardship, emotional stress, and uncertainty for the affected individuals and their families.
- Community Impact: Layoffs can negatively impact local communities, reducing consumer spending and potentially leading to a rise in unemployment.
- Company Impact: While layoffs might save companies money in the short term, they can also damage morale, disrupt teamwork, and hinder long-term growth.
Important Note: It’s crucial to remember that these statistics represent a general overview. Layoff numbers can fluctuate significantly depending on specific industries, economic conditions, and company situations.
Here are some additional points to consider:
- Severance Packages: Companies often offer severance packages to laid-off employees, providing some financial assistance during the job search.
- Government Assistance: Depending on the situation, laid-off workers may be eligible for unemployment benefits and other government programs.
- Job Search Resources: Numerous resources exist to help individuals navigate job loss, including career counseling, skills development programs, and online job boards.
Conclusion
While employee layoffs are a harsh reality, understanding the statistics and their underlying causes can provide valuable insight into the current economic climate and potential future trends. After the pandemic outbreak, many businesses across the world are still struggling, and thus the economy is slowly recovering. Thus, now it’s high time for job seekers to be aware of these challenges and to be prepared for such layoff challenges in the current job market. In any case, staying optimistic, updated with modern technology, and about the subject you are working on is important for enhancing every employee’s future.
Sources
FAQ.
Employers should give 60 days notice. During this period, employees salaries and other benefits must continue.
In recent times, experts have suggested that each employee must set aside three to six months
of living expenses while they are in a safe zone.
Employees in I.T., finance, marketing, product management, and quality assurance are more likely to be laid off.
For now, the safe segments in layoffs are Web developers, I.T. managers, information security analysts, and data administrators.
Maitrayee, after completing her graduation in Electrical Engineering, transitioned into the world of writing following a series of technical roles. She specializes in technology and Artificial Intelligence, bringing her experience as an Academic Research Analyst and Freelance Writer, with a focus on education and healthcare under the Australian system. From an early age, writing and painting have been her passions, leading her to pursue a full-time career in writing. In addition to her professional endeavors, Maitrayee also manages a YouTube channel dedicated to cooking.