Layoffs in the technology industry have accelerated, with major US chipmaker, Intel, and communications giant, Cisco, cutting close to 21,000 jobs in a new wave of sackings this month, bringing the total of tech layoffs in 2024 to nearly 133,000.
Cisco announced last week that it would restructure, resulting in a 7% reduction of its global workforce. This marks the second significant layoff round for the company this year, following its elimination of 4,000 jobs in February.
Meanwhile, Intel disclosed earlier this month that it plans to cut approximately 15,000 employees, representing 15% of its global workforce of 110,000. Intel CEO, Pat Gelsinger, explained the decision in a note to employees, stating, “Simply put, we must align our cost structure with our new operating model and fundamentally change the way we operate.”
Gelsinger added that the company’s revenues had not met expectations, particularly as Intel has yet to fully capitalise on key trends like artificial intelligence (AI). He noted that bolder actions were necessary to address the company’s high costs and low margins, especially given the challenging financial outlook for the second half of 2024.
According to, Layoffs.fyi a tracker monitoring tech sector job cuts, 132,932 jobs have been slashed across 404 companies as of last Sunday. At this pace, layoffs in 2024 are expected to surpass 2022’s total of 165,269 job cuts, but may fall short of the 264,220 layoffs recorded in 2023. Hardware companies, in particular, have been hit hard this year, with layoffs in this sector surpassing 24,700, compared to 24,459 in all of 2023.
Other tech giants, including Microsoft and Apple, have also announced layoffs. Microsoft plans to cut up to 1,500 workers from its Azure cloud operations, while Apple recently laid off 614 employees after closing its connected car and smartwatch projects.
Meta has also been trimming its workforce, cutting 50 vice president positions after eliminating 21,000 jobs in previous rounds of layoffs over the past two years. PayPal, Snap, and eBay are among other tech companies that have also made job cuts this year as the industry grapples with changing market dynamics and economic pressures.
