Factbox: Spate of job cuts continues unabated at Big Tech, media firms

Aurora Innovation

05/02/2024 16:17

(Adds layoffs at Snap)
       Feb 5 (Reuters) - Big Tech and media companies in the
United States continue to announce fresh job cuts, a sign that
the spate of layoffs seen in 2023 could persist as firms grapple
with economic uncertainty.
    Here are some of the job cuts announced by tech and media
companies. 
    AMAZON  AMZN.O  
    Jan. 18 - The Buy with Prime unit laying off less than 5% of
its employees.
    Jan. 11 - Audiobook and podcast division Audible laying off
5% of its workforce, according to a memo from the head of the
division.     
    Jan. 10 - Amazon set to lay off several hundred employees in
its streaming and studio operations, extending job cuts into
2024. 
    Jan. 9 - Streaming unit Twitch to cut 35% of its staff, or
about 500 workers, as reported by Bloomberg News. 
    
    ALPHABET  GOOGL.O  
    Jan. 22 - X Lab, Alphabet's division for developing new
technology, laying off dozens of workers and turning to outside
investors for funding.
    Jan. 16 - Google, part of Alphabet, laying off hundreds of
employees in its advertising sales team.    
    Jan. 11 - Google laying off hundreds of people across teams,
including the hardware team responsible for Pixel, Nest and
Fitbit, and the majority of those in the augmented reality team.

    SKY GROUP
    Jan. 30 - Comcast-owned  CMCSA.O  British media group Sky
plans to cut about 1,000 jobs across its businesses this year, a
source familiar with the development told Reuters, as it
transitions to internet-based services from traditional
satellite ones.
    
    SNAP  SNAP.N  
    Feb. 5 - Snap plans to cut around 528 jobs, or 10% of its
global workforce.
    
    SALESFORCE  CRM.N  
    Jan. 26 - Salesforce laying off about 700 employees, roughly
1% of its global workforce, according to the Wall Street
Journal.

    MICROSOFT  MSFT.O  
    Jan. 25 - Microsoft set to lay off 1,900 employees at
Activision Blizzard and Xbox.
    
    PARAMOUNT GLOBAL  PARA.O  
    Jan. 25 - Paramount Global plans an unspecified number of
layoffs, aims to become a leaner organization.

    BUSINESS INSIDER
    Jan. 25 - Business Insider plans to lay off around 8% of its
staff, according to CEO Barbara Peng.

    IBM  IBM.N  
    Jan. 24 - IBM plans to lay off some employees in 2024, but
will hire more for AI-centered roles, making it likely it will
end the year with its headcount unchanged.
    
    AURORA INNOVATION  AUR.O  
    Jan. 24 - Autonomous vehicle technology company Aurora
Innovation said it had cut 3% of its workforce as part of a
reorganization exercise.

    EBAY  EBAY.O  
    Jan. 23 - eBay plans to cut about 1,000 roles, or around 9%
of its current workforce.
    
    LOS ANGELES TIMES
    Jan. 23 - The Los Angeles Times plans to lay off 94
journalists who are members of the newspaper's union.

    WALT DISNEY  DIS.N  
    Jan. 11 - Pixar Animation Studios, part of Walt Disney, set
to cut jobs after completing production on some shows and having
more staff than needed.
    
    UNITY SOFTWARE  U.N  
    Jan. 8 - Videogame software provider Unity Software plans to
lay off approximately 25% of its workforce, to cut around 1,800
jobs.

 (Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala, Harshita Mary Varghese and
Priyanka.G in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai and Shinjini
Ganguli)
 ((Zaheer.Kachwala@thomsonreuters.com;))