Latest news with #Layoffs.fyi
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Intel, Microsoft Lead Tech Layoffs Slowdown
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) drove the bulk of tech-sector cuts in 2025 as industry-wide layoffs decelerated for the second straight year. Through May, 137 tech firms have eliminated 62,114 positionson pace for 145,080 total by year-end, down from 152,922 in 2024 and far below 264,220 in 2023, per Intel's April announcement to trim 20% of its workforce under new CEO Lip-Bu Tan accounted for roughly 22,000 cutsover one-third of the year's totalaimed at flattening management layers and rebuilding an engineering-centric culture. In mid-May, Microsoft slashed about 3% of its global head count, or roughly 6,000 roles, as it restructures to stay agile. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 6 Warning Signs with INTC. Other notable reductions include Meta Platforms' (NASDAQ:META) February plan to eliminate 3,600 low-performer roles (about 5% of its staff), Workday's 8.5% cut (1,750 jobs) to sharpen operational efficiency, Salesforce's 1,000 layoffs alongside new AI hires, and Autodesk's 9% reduction (1,350 positions) to pivot its go-to-market model. HP (NYSE:HPQ) and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) also shed up to 2,000 and 2,500 roles respectively in ongoing restructuring efforts. Investors should care because slower-cut momentum signals that tech firms may have largely addressed overstaffing, potentially paving the way for stabilization in operating margins and a renewed focus on strategic hiring. With Q3 earnings on the horizon, markets will watch whether remaining headcount adjustments shift from belt-tightening to targeted expansion in AI and cloud divisions. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Intel, Microsoft Lead Tech Layoffs Slowdown
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) drove the bulk of tech-sector cuts in 2025 as industry-wide layoffs decelerated for the second straight year. Through May, 137 tech firms have eliminated 62,114 positionson pace for 145,080 total by year-end, down from 152,922 in 2024 and far below 264,220 in 2023, per Intel's April announcement to trim 20% of its workforce under new CEO Lip-Bu Tan accounted for roughly 22,000 cutsover one-third of the year's totalaimed at flattening management layers and rebuilding an engineering-centric culture. In mid-May, Microsoft slashed about 3% of its global head count, or roughly 6,000 roles, as it restructures to stay agile. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 6 Warning Signs with INTC. Other notable reductions include Meta Platforms' (NASDAQ:META) February plan to eliminate 3,600 low-performer roles (about 5% of its staff), Workday's 8.5% cut (1,750 jobs) to sharpen operational efficiency, Salesforce's 1,000 layoffs alongside new AI hires, and Autodesk's 9% reduction (1,350 positions) to pivot its go-to-market model. HP (NYSE:HPQ) and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) also shed up to 2,000 and 2,500 roles respectively in ongoing restructuring efforts. Investors should care because slower-cut momentum signals that tech firms may have largely addressed overstaffing, potentially paving the way for stabilization in operating margins and a renewed focus on strategic hiring. With Q3 earnings on the horizon, markets will watch whether remaining headcount adjustments shift from belt-tightening to targeted expansion in AI and cloud divisions. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Forbes
5 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
What Recent Tech Layoffs Reveal About The 2025 Job Market
In April alone, more than 23,000 tech workers lost their jobs. Klarna, Duolingo, Cisco, and Amazon all made sweeping cuts – but not in the areas you might expect. While some teams are shrinking, others are growing. The 2025 job market isn't collapsing – it's restructuring. These layoffs aren't just about cost-cutting. They're a signal of how the workplace is shifting: automation is accelerating, skill demands are evolving, and job security is increasingly tied to how adaptable you are. Here's what the recent tech layoffs reveal – and what you can do about it. The current wave of layoffs isn't a simple result of poor earnings or pandemic aftershocks. Companies are streamlining to shift investment into AI and automation. Klarna announced cuts to its customer experience and marketing departments shortly after revealing a major AI chatbot rollout. Cisco trimmed 4,000 roles to focus on AI-enabled networking. Duolingo, despite strong growth, cut staff as it leans into automated content generation. According to tech job losses in April 2025 marked the second-highest monthly total since early 2023. These aren't panic layoffs – they're part of a realignment toward a leaner, AI-augmented future. If you dig into the affected departments, a clear pattern emerges. Customer support, operations, and marketing teams are taking the brunt of cuts – especially where automation is viable. Generalist and mid-level roles, particularly those without tech specialisation, are proving vulnerable. Internal functions like HR, recruiting, and learning and development are also being consolidated or outsourced in many organisations. The pressure is greatest on roles that don't directly contribute to AI products or data infrastructure – or can be replaced by them. This doesn't mean you need to be a coder to stay employed. But it does mean you need to understand how your role interacts with emerging tech. The same companies issuing layoffs are aggressively hiring in other departments. Salesforce has opened dozens of new roles in AI product strategy, for instance. Even Amazon, after recent cuts, is recruiting for machine learning engineers and data architects. As Jack Kelly notes in Forbes, AI-driven productivity gains are enabling companies to achieve more with fewer employees, leading to a reduced demand for entry and mid-level roles. Jobs aren't disappearing – but they are moving up the skill chain. Tech layoffs are rising — but they reveal a broader shift in where opportunity lies. Despite headlines, many parts of the job market remain active – and even booming. AI and machine learning roles continue to grow, with engineers and product managers in high demand. Cybersecurity and compliance are also thriving, particularly in finance and healthcare. Data and cloud infrastructure roles – like DevOps engineers and data analysts – are seeing consistent hiring. And consulting giants like McKinsey and Deloitte are scaling digital transformation and AI advisory teams. Even public sector and nonprofit tech teams are expanding – especially in climate, healthcare, and education tech. LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky has highlighted how jobs are evolving faster than ever, noting that 'even if you're not looking to change your job, your job is likely changing on you.' His point reflects a broader trend in the 2025 job market: the most secure careers are those that combine domain expertise with adaptability and emerging tech literacy – particularly AI. If you're in a role that feels at risk – or just uncertain – the smartest move is to upskill in a direction the market is already heading. Take Rachel, a mid-level marketing manager affected by a recent restructure. Rather than chasing the same title, she completed a six-week prompt engineering course and began freelancing on generative AI campaigns. Within months, she landed a role leading AI content strategy at a fintech startup. Her path reflects a broader trend: roles that blend business insight with emerging tech are in high demand. If you're in marketing, explore AI content tools or data-driven growth roles. For those in operations or support, learning automation platforms or customer analytics can offer a competitive edge. HR professionals can gain traction in tech recruitment or people analytics. Platforms like Coursera, edX, and Google Career Certificates offer affordable routes into these growing areas. McKinsey's 2024 Technology Trends Outlooksupports this shift, noting a 111% year-on-year increase in generative AI job postings and underscoring the value of 'fusion' roles that pair technical fluency with business acumen. In a 2025 job market shaped by AI, your most valuable assets are adaptability and a skill set aligned with where your industry is going – not where it's been. If you're job hunting, don't limit yourself to your current title. Ask yourself what parts of your role can't be automated. Identify adjacent skills that are gaining demand. And scan for sectors still investing in talent. Because the future of work won't belong to those who never face disruption. It will belong to those who know how to pivot through it.
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
GenAI, robotics may allow countries to 'fill void' of immigrant labour: Foxconn's Young Liu
The combination of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and robotics may allow governments to "fill the void" of immigrant labour, said the chief executive officer (CEO) of Hon Hai Precision Industry ( Foxconn ) on Tuesday. 'Most people want a high-paid job. But no one will be interested in a low-paying job. So the countries are eventually going to outsource such jobs to other low-GDP countries. Eventually, you will hit a limit,' said Young Liu , chairman & CEO of Foxconn, at the Computex 2025 event. 'Another way to solve that problem is to import people from the low-GDP country, similar to what has happened in Europe, the US, Japan, and now in Taiwan . But that creates some social problems. So we see a great potential of GenAI and robotics filling the void (of entry-level or immigrant workers),' he added. Foxconn joins a long list of companies fanning the fears that AI could replace or eliminate entry-level jobs at a wider-than-anticipated scale. According to the technology sector layoff tracker – – more than 50,000 tech employees have been laid off in 2025 so far, with over half of the jobs slashed across 26 firms in April alone, including Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and others. According to a survey by the World Economic Forum (WEF), 40% of employers expect to reduce their workforce where AI can automate tasks. 'Technology, overall, is projected to be the most disruptive force in the labour market, with trends in AI and information processing technology expected to create 11 million jobs, while simultaneously displacing 9 million others,' the NGO and think tank said in a recent report. Meanwhile, consultancy services firm PwC said last year that there is a 27% lower hiring growth in the roles that are more exposed to AI. 'This finding lends credence to the observation that, instead of replacing jobs, AI appears to be ushering in a period of more gradual employment growth in the most exposed sectors,' PwC said. Though this may ease 'acute worries about job security' among employees, it added. According to the PwC study, managers will need to focus on upskilling their current workforce for an AI-enabled future. 'This includes creating development opportunities, building trust and boosting transparency on how AI will affect the workplace,' it added.
Yomiuri Shimbun
17-05-2025
- Business
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Big Tech Takes a Harder Line against Worker Activism, Political Dissent
Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post From left, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Lauren Sánchez, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Tesla CEO Elon Musk attend Donald Trump's presidential inauguration on Jan. 20. Five years ago, Microsoft divested its stake in an Israeli facial recognition start-up after thousands of employees and activists protested the company's suspected role in surveilling Palestinian citizens. Last month, the cloud computing giant took a different strategy when two workers yelling about the company's role in the Israel-Gaza war disrupted an event featuring founder Bill Gates and chief executive Satya Nadella. The employees, part of a worker campaign pushing Microsoft to end contracts with the Israeli military, were fired soon after. Some of the tech industry's biggest corporations are cracking down on employees who criticize their policies, stifling worker activism that was once ubiquitous in Silicon Valley. The companies are rejecting worker petitions, firing employees who organize protests, and removing critical posts on internal message boards. Internet platforms are also warning employees against leaking to the media and firing workers who already have. The harder line is partly a reflection of a changed labor market in the tech sector. Mass layoffs, once rare for Silicon Valley giants, have become a routine part of workforce management. Since 2023, the tech industry has slashed more than half a million jobs, according to Job postings for key tech roles such as software developers have dropped at more than twice the rate of other office-based roles between 2023 and 2025, according to the data analytics firm Revelio Labs. This week, Microsoft announced a 3 percent cut to its global workforce, following similar moves by Meta, which laid off roughly 5 percent of its employees in February, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise is planning to save $350 million by 2027 through job cuts. 'It's different now; employers feel they can get away with stuff,' said William Fitzgerald, a former Google employee who is now a partner at the Worker Agency, an advocacy and communications firm. Tech companies' patience for political dissent among their workforce is also growing thin just as many CEOs are aligning themselves with President Donald Trump's administration. Top executives at Google, Meta and Amazon gave millions to Trump's inauguration committee and have privately courted the White House in meetings. Many of the companies have also introduced MAGA-friendly policies such as scrapping diversity initiatives and reversing long-standing content-moderation practices. Those sorts of shifts would normally fire up a Silicon Valley-based workforce known for its liberal views and activist spirit. But a tougher stance on whistleblowers and the poor job market in tech are discouraging employee activism. 'A decade ago, employees would discuss controversial political issues out in the open and on employee message boards and at all-hands meetings,' said Nu Wexler, a communications consultant who worked for Google, Twitter and Meta. Now, 'the companies have either strongly discouraged that or banned it.' Tesla fired staff program manager Matthew LaBrot in late April after he launched an anonymous website, Tesla Employees Against Elon, calling for Elon Musk to step down as CEO and blaming his 'personal brand' for the company's dismal recent results. LaBrot parked his Cybertruck, plastered with anti-Musk slogans, near a Tesla showroom, and within days, Tesla tracked him down and fired him. He said a Tesla HR representative told him he had been fired because he created a website using company resources that went against the 'company's prerogative.' Tesla didn't respond to a request for comment. Silicon Valley companies have 'set the precedent that you don't say anything or else you get fired,' LaBrot said. 'We are talking about the silencing of complaints and the fear that I will terminate you for whatever reason.' In the current Silicon Valley environment, even more mundane forms of employee criticism than LaBrot's have faded from view. After Google announced in February that it was abandoning its standing commitment not to use AI for weapons or surveillance, employees on the company's internal message boards were remarkably quiet, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. That was a contrast to seven years ago, when Google canceled a Defense Department contract to analyze drone footage with artificial intelligence after thousands of employees wrote to CEO Sundar Pichai complaining that developing combat-zone technology violated the company's long-standing values. In an interview in March, a Google employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation, said: 'We unintentionally wound up working for a defense contractor. Where is the petition?' Citing a non-disparagement agreement, Meta secured a judgment in March from an emergency arbiter banning a former employee from promoting her tell-all memoir in which she alleges sexual harassment and misogyny by Meta leaders. The arbitration case was one part of a multipronged strategy to discredit Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former global policy director for the company, and her 400-page memoir, 'Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism.' Meta staffers also preemptively sent reporters negative statements about Wynn-Williams and dispatched current and former employees to question the veracity of her book, downplayed some of her allegations, and elevated positive comments from other employees. 'I think tech companies have been extremely aggressive against whistleblowers and more and more so,' said Libby Liu, the CEO of Whistleblower Aid, which represented an earlier Meta whistleblower, Frances Haugen. 'That seems to be on trend.' Meta spokesman Dave Arnold earlier this year dismissed Wynn-Williams's book as 'a mix of out-of-date and previously reported claims about the company and false accusations about our executives,' adding: 'Whistleblower status protects communications to the government, not disgruntled activists trying to sell books.' Much of the recent shift in tech companies' posture toward employee dissent emerged in the wake of Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border attack against Israel. As Israel's retaliatory war in the Gaza Strip wore on, tech workers joined a wave of protests at universities condemning their institutions for working with and supporting the Israeli government and military. In February, Microsoft ushered out at least five employees protesting their employer's connections to Israel during an employee town hall where Nadella was speaking. The workers, who wore T-shirts reading 'Does Our Code Kill Kids, Satya?' were part of a worker-led campaign known as No Azure for Apartheid that has been calling on the company to cut ties with the Israeli government and support a ceasefire. The campaign is expected to hold a rally on Monday at the company's annual developer conference, Microsoft Build. Google last year fired more than 50 workers who it said participated in protests denouncing the company's cloud-computing deal with the Israeli government, several days after Pichai told employees in a companywide memo that they should not use the company as a 'personal platform' or 'fight over disruptive issues or debate politics.' 'This was a very clear case of employees disrupting and occupying workspaces, and making other employees feel threatened and unsafe,' said Courtenay Mencini, a Google spokesperson. 'By any standard, their behavior was completely unacceptable.' Growing public concern about the rise in AI coupled with intensifying industry competition also appears to be playing a role in stifling internal critiques. Last year, some OpenAI employees filed a whistleblower complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission alleging that the AI company illegally prohibited its employees from warning regulators about the safety risks of its technology through overly restrictive employment, severance and nondisclosure agreements. Some of those agreements required OpenAI staff members to get prior consent from the company if they wished to disclose information to federal authorities. AI researcher Timnit Gebru, who was fired as the co-lead of Google's ethical AI division in 2020 after criticizing the tech giant's approach to artificial intelligence in a research paper, said current employees have told her that Google is taking an even stronger hand in what researchers can publish on AI. A Google spokesperson said the company contributes openly to the research ecosystem with hundreds of papers every year. 'It's sad,' Gebru said. 'My sense is that people are not fighting back and that they're just kind of depressed about the situation and scared.'
