by The US economy is booming and hundreds of thousands of jobs are being added every month. In a stunning start-of-the-year employment burst, the nation added 353,000 jobs in January, easing the highest interest rates in two decades that the US Federal Reserve imposed in part to ease hiring and spending. The unemployment rate is hovering at 3.7%, just above a half-century low. At the same time, layoffs continue to hit almost every sector in 2024 as companies adapt to a changing economy.
Job cuts in technology and retail follow a huge increase in hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic – when people spent more time and money online. Now, many companies are downsizing to help lower costs.
The high-profile job cuts seem to come steadily, but the companies that have gone on a big hiring spree, most of them big tech, are still much larger than they were a few years ago, before they started adding workforce. On Thursday, Electronic Arts announced nearly 700 job cuts.
This is where some of the job cuts have taken place in recent months.
Clothing & Fashion Layouts
Nike
Nike is cutting 2% of its global workforce, or just over 1,600 jobs, as the athletic wear giant aims to cut costs and reinvest its savings in high-growth areas such as sports, health and fitness. Beaverton, Oregon-based Nike employed about 84,000 workers on May 31, 2023 according to its annual report.
Estée Lauder
Estee Lauder is cutting 3% to 5% of its global workforce. The downsizing, which will affect up to 3,100 workers, will take place by July, Estee Lauder said. The company employed 62,000 workers worldwide, according to its most recent regulatory filing.
REI
REI is laying off 357 workers, mostly at the retailer’s outdoor headquarters and distribution centers. In a letter to employees, CEO Eric Artz noted that “outdoor specialty retail has declined by four quarters — and that trend is getting worse.” Although REI was able to do this better than last year, he said, this trend caught on. for the company in the fourth quarter, and difficult conditions are expected in 2024.
Levi on
Levi Strauss & Co is cutting its global corporate workforce by 10% to 15% in the first half of the year – as part of a two-year restructuring plan that seeks to cut costs and simplify its operations, the denim giant said. The layoffs on the same day Levi revealed a proposed 10-year extension of the naming rights to Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, in a $170 million deal.
Gaming layout
Sony
Sony will cut about 900 jobs in its PlayStation division, or about 8% of its global workforce, citing changes in the industry as the reason for the restructuring. “The industry has changed dramatically, and we must prepare ourselves in the future to prepare the business for what lies ahead,” Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan said in a blog post. The job cuts will take place in the Americas, Japan, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia Pacific region. In London, the PlayStation Studio will close completely.
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts is cutting about 5% of its workforce, or about 670 employees. The video game maker said in a regulatory filing that its board approved a restructuring plan that includes the layoffs, as well as closing some offices or facilities. The Redwood City, California-based company had 13,400 workers worldwide as of March 31, 2023, according to a filing. Chief executive Andrew Wilson said the layoffs would be largely complete 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 an 8% reduction in Microsoft’s 22,000-person gaming workforce – come just over three months since the tech giant completed its $69 billion purchase of video game maker Activision Blizzard.
Riot games
Video game developer Riot Games, behind the popular multiplayer battle game “League of Legends”, is cutting 11% of its staff. The company, which is owned by Chinese technology giant Tencent, said 530 jobs had been cut.
Twitch
Amazon-owned Twitch is cutting more than 500 jobs in an effort to save costs. The video-streaming platform’s CEO Dan Clancy said in an email to employees that the platform is “significantly more than it needs to be for the size of our business, even with cost reductions and increased efficiency.”
Packaging & Delivery Layoffs
UPS
UPS will cut 12,000 jobs and has indicated that its Coyote truckload brokerage business may 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. Job cuts are expected to include management roles and contractors, the company said.
Media Versions
Interest
Vice Media plans to lay off hundreds of employees and no longer publish content on its Vice.com website, the company’s CEO said in a memo to staff. Leas filed for bankruptcy last year before being sold for $350 million to a consortium led by the Fortress Investment Group. Once a swashbuckling media company aimed at a younger audience, New York-based Vice was valued at $5.7 billion in 2017.
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times said at least 115 employees – more than 20% of the newsroom – were being laid off in one of the biggest layoffs in the newspaper’s 143-year history. The announcement came after the LA Times Guild walked off the job to protest the impending layoffs, the union’s first-ever work stoppage in the institution’s newsroom.
Social Media Versions
Jump
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 regulatory filing that it currently estimates fees between $55 million and $75 million, primarily for severance and related costs. He expects most of the costs to be incurred in the first quarter.
TikTok
TikTok said it is shedding dozens of workers in its advertising and sales unit. A spokesperson for the company confirmed that the social media platform is cutting 60 jobs. TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, did not give a reason for the layoffs.
Retail Layoffs
eBay
Online retailer eBay Inc. will charge about 1,000 jobs, or an estimated 9% of its full-time workforce, saying headcount and costs are outpacing business growth in a slowing economy.
Way Way
Online furniture retailer Wayfair is cutting about 1,650 jobs, or 13% of its global workforce. The restructuring is set to reduce the number of teams across the company and reduce seniority in certain roles and the company plans to “rebuild with modified leveling” this year, said CEO and co-founder Niraj Shah.
Macy’s
Macy’s is laying off about 3.5% of its total workforce, which equates to about 2,350 employees. The iconic department store is closing five locations in Arlington, Virginia; San Leandro, California; Lihue, Hawaii; Simi Valley, California; and Tallahassee, Florida.
Technology Layout
Cisco
Internet networking pioneer Cisco Systems is laying off more than 4,000 employees, about 5% of the company’s workforce. The cleanup follows Cisco’s late 2022 cutbacks that shed 5,000 workers and ahead of its $28 billion acquisition of Splunk, a deal management expects to close by April 30.
Google said it was laying off hundreds of employees working on its hardware, voice support and engineering teams. The cuts follow a pledge from executives at Google and its parent company Alphabet to cut costs. A year ago, Google said it would lay off 12,000 employees or about 6% of its workforce.
Amazon
Amazon-owned online audio and podcast service Audible is laying off about 5% of its workforce. In a memo sent 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 unit is shedding hundreds of employees as it cuts back in areas that aren’t delivering.
