The American economy is doing well and hundreds of thousands of jobs are being created every month. In a stunning burst of hiring to start the year, the country added 353,000 jobs in January, with the highest interest rates in two decades, introduced in part by the US Federal Reserve to cool hiring and spending. be pushed aside. The unemployment rate is hovering around 3.7%, just above a half-century low. At the same time, layoffs will continue in almost every sector in 2024 as companies adapt to a changing economy.
The job losses in the technology and retail sectors are the result of a huge surge in workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic – as people spent more time and money online. Now many companies are reducing workforces to reduce costs.
The high-profile job cuts appear to be continuing apace, but the companies that have made big hires, especially the big tech companies, are still much larger than they were a few years ago, before they started expanding their workforces. On Thursday, Electronic Arts announced nearly 700 job cuts.
There have been a number of job losses here in recent months.
Apparel and fashion layoffs
Nike
Nike is cutting 2% of its global workforce, or just over 1,600 jobs, as the athletic apparel giant looks to cut costs and reinvest its savings in what it sees as big growth areas such as sports, health and wellness. Nike, based in Beaverton, Oregon, had approximately 84,000 employees as of May 31, 2023, according to its annual report.
Estee Lauder
Estee Lauder is cutting 3% to 5% of its global workforce. The downsizing, which will affect as many as 3,100 employees, will be implemented in July, Estee Lauder said. According to the latest regulatory filings, the company had 62,000 employees worldwide.
REI
REI is laying off 357 employees, mostly at the outdoor retailer’s headquarters and distribution centers. In a letter to employees, CEO Eric Artz noted that “the outdoor retail industry has seen four quarters of decline – and that trend has worsened.” to the company in the fourth quarter, and difficult conditions are expected in 2024.
Levi’s
Levi Strauss & Co. is cutting its global workforce by 10% to 15% in the first half of the year – as part of a two-year restructuring plan that aims to cut costs and simplify its operations, the denim giant said. The layoffs on the same day Levi’s unveiled a proposed 10-year extension of the naming rights to Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, in a $170 million deal.
Getting fired from gaming
Sony
Sony will cut around 900 jobs in its PlayStation division, or about 8% of its global workforce, citing industry changes as the reason for the restructuring. “The industry has changed tremendously and we need to future-proof ourselves to prepare the company for what lies ahead,” said Jim Ryan, CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, in a blog post. The job losses will take place in the Americas, Japan, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. In London, the PlayStation Studio is closing completely.
Electronic art
Electronic Arts is cutting about 5% of its workforce, or about 670 employees. The video game maker said in a filing with the regulator that its board of directors has approved a restructuring plan that includes the layoffs as well as the closure of some offices or facilities. The Redwood City, California-based company had 13,400 employees worldwide as of March 31, 2023, according to a filing. CEO Andrew Wilson said the layoffs will be largely completed by early next quarter.
Microsoft
Microsoft is laying off about 1,900 employees in its gaming division, according to an internal company memo. The job cuts – which represent a reduction of about 8% of Microsoft’s 22,000-employee gaming workforce – come just over three months after the tech giant completed its $69 billion purchase of video game maker Activision Blizzard.
Riot games
Video game developer Riot Games, which is behind the popular multiplayer battle game “League of Legends,” is cutting 11% of its staff. The company, owned by Chinese tech giant Tencent, said 530 jobs were being cut.
Nervous twitch
Amazon-owned Twitch is cutting more than 500 jobs in an effort to cut costs. The video streaming platform’s CEO, Dan Clancy, said in an email to employees that even with cost savings and increasing efficiencies, the platform is “still significantly larger than necessary given the size of our business.”
Dismissed during packaging and delivery
UPS
UPS is cutting 12,000 jobs and hinted that its Coyote freight brokerage would be put up for sale. The Teamsters voted in September to approve a tentative contract agreement with UPS, including wage increases for full-time and part-time union workers and the creation of 7,500 full-time jobs. The job eliminations are expected to occur among management positions and contractors, the company said.
Media layoffs
Shame
Vice Media plans to lay off several hundred employees and stop publishing material on the Vice.com website, the company’s CEO said in a memo to employees. Vice filed for bankruptcy last year before being sold for $350 million to a consortium led by Fortress Investment Group. New York-based Vice was once a brash media company aimed at younger audiences and was valued at $5.7 billion in 2017.
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times said it was laying off at least 115 employees — more than 20% of its newsroom — one of the largest staff cuts in the paper’s 143-year history. The announcement came after the LA Times Guild left its job to protest the pending layoffs, the institution’s first-ever newsroom work stoppage.
Fired on social media
Snap
The owner of Snapchat is cutting about 10% of its global workforce, or about 530 employees, the latest tech company to announce layoffs. Snap Inc. said in a filing with the regulator that it currently estimates $55 million to $75 million in costs, primarily for severance and related costs. She expects that the majority of costs will be incurred in the first quarter.
TikTok
TikTok said it will lay off dozens of employees in its advertising and sales division. A company spokesperson confirmed that the social media platform is cutting 60 jobs. TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, gave no reason for the layoffs.
Retail layoffs
eBay
Online retailer eBay Inc. will cut about 1,000 jobs, or an estimated 9% of its full-time workforce, as employee numbers and costs outpace company growth in a slowing economy.
Honestly
Online furniture retailer Wayfair is cutting about 1,650 jobs, or 13% of its global workforce. The restructuring is intended to reduce team size across the company and reduce seniority in certain roles, with the company planning to “rebuild with custom leveling” this year, according to CEO and co-founder Niraj Shah.
Macy’s
Macy’s is laying off approximately 3.5% of its total workforce, which amounts to approximately 2,350 employees. The iconic department store is also closing five locations in Arlington, Virginia; San Leandro, California; Lihue, Hawaii; Simi Valley, California; and Tallahassee, Florida.
Technology layoffs
Cisco
Internet networking pioneer Cisco Systems is laying off more than 4,000 employees, about 5% of the company’s workforce. The purge follows Cisco’s cutbacks in late 2022, which saw the loss of 5,000 employees, and ahead of its $28 billion acquisition of Splunk, a deal that management now expects to close by April 30.
Googling
Google said it was laying off hundreds of employees working on its hardware, voice assistant and engineering teams. The cuts follow pledges from executives at Google and parent company Alphabet to reduce costs. A year ago, Google said it would lay off 12,000 employees, or about 6% of its workforce.
Amazon
Amazon-owned online audiobook and podcast service Audible is laying off about 5% of its workforce. In a memo to employees, Audible CEO Bob Carrigan said the company is in good shape but faces an “increasingly challenging landscape.” In addition, Amazon’s Prime Video and MGM Studios division is cutting hundreds of employees as it cuts back on underperforming areas.