Factbox: US, Canadian companies kick off 2024 with layoffs

Aurora Innovation

12/02/2024 18:03

(Adds data in paragraphs 2 and 3)
       Feb 12 (Reuters) - Companies in the United States and
Canada have kicked off 2024 with thousands of job cuts across
sectors, signaling that the spate of layoffs seen in 2023 could
persist as they scramble to rein in costs in an uncertain
economy.
    While job cut announcements in the United States more than
doubled month-on-month to 82,307 in January, they were down 20%
from a year earlier, according to a report released by
Challenger, Gray & Christmas earlier in February.
    The technology sector, which accounted for the highest
number of layoffs across industries, has seen 34,000 job cuts in
141 firms so far this year, according to tracking website
Layoffs.fyi. 
    
    Here is a snapshot of job cuts announced so far in 2024: 

    TECHNOLOGY
    * Amazon's  AMZN.O  job cuts include less than 5% of
employees at Buy with Prime unit, 5% at audiobook and podcast
division Audible, several hundred in streaming and studio
operations, 35% at streaming unit Twitch and a few hundred at
healthcare units One Medical and Amazon Pharmacy.
    
    * Layoffs at Alphabet  GOOGL.O  include dozens at division
for developing new technology X Lab, hundreds in advertising
sales team, hundreds across teams, including hardware team
responsible for Pixel, Nest and Fitbit, and a majority in
augmented reality team.
    
    * Microsoft  MSFT.O  is cutting around 1,900 jobs at gaming
divisions Activision Blizzard and Xbox.
    
    * IBM  IBM.N  plans to lay off some employees in 2024, but
will hire more for AI-centered roles.
    
    * E-commerce firm eBay  EBAY.O  plans to cut about 1,000
roles, or around 9% of its current workforce.
    
    * Videogame software provider Unity Software  U.N  to cut
about 25% of workforce, or 1,800 jobs.
    
    * DocuSign  DOCU.O  plans to reduce its current workforce by
about 6%, or 400 employees, with majority of layoffs in its
sales and marketing organizations.
    
    * Snap  SNAP.N  plans to cut around 528 jobs, or 10% of its
global workforce.
    
    * Salesforce  CRM.N  is laying off about 700 employees, or
roughly 1% of its global workforce.
    
    * Network giant Cisco  CSCO.O  is planning to restructure
its business which will include laying off thousands of
employees.
    
    * Autonomous vehicle technology company Aurora Innovation
 AUR.O  lays off 3% of its workforce. 

    
    MEDIA
    * Walt Disney's  DIS.N  Pixar Animation Studios is set to
cut jobs as the studio has completed production on some shows
and has more staff than it needs.
    
    * Comcast-owned  CMCSA.O  British media group Sky plans to
cut about 1,000 jobs across its businesses this year.
    
    * The Los Angeles Times plans to lay off 94 journalists who
belong to the newspaper's union.
    
    * Paramount Global  PARA.O  is planning to conduct
unspecified number of layoffs.
    
    * Business Insider plans to lay off around 8% of its staff. 
    
    * Bell Canada  BCE.TO  plans to slash 4,800 jobs.  
    

    FINANCIAL SERVICES
    * PayPal Holdings  PYPL.O  is planning to cut about 2,500
jobs, or 9% of its global workforce this year. 

    * Payments firm Block Inc  SQ.N  has started to cut
unspecified jobs as part of its previously disclosed plans.
    
    * Citigroup  C.N  is planning to reduce its headcount by
20,000 people over the next two years. 
    
    * Exchange operator Nasdaq  NDAQ.O  plans to slash hundreds
of jobs as it integrates fintech firm Adenza into its business. 
    
    * World's largest asset manager BlackRock  BLK.N  is set to
cut about 3% of its current workforce, though it expects to have
a larger headcount by the end of 2024.
    

    CONSUMER AND RETAIL
    * Cosmetics giant Estee Lauder  EL.N  plans to cut 3% to 5%
of its global workforce.
    
    * Wayfair  W.N  plans to lay off 1,650 employees, or about
13% of its workforce.
    
    * U.S. department store chain Macy's  M.N  is cutting 2,350
jobs and closing five stores.
    
    * Levi Strauss & Co  LEVI.N  is planning to slash 10% to 15%
of global corporate jobs.
    
    * Hershey  HSY.N  is planning a restructuring plan that will
impact less than 5% of its workforce. 
    
    
    HEALTH
    * Novavax  NVAX.O  is cutting about 12% of total workforce.
    
  
    MANUFACTURING
    * Defense contractor Lockheed Martin  LMT.N  is planning to
cut 1% of its jobs. 
    
    * United Parcel Service  UPS.N  plans to cut 12,000 jobs in
a bid to cut $1 billion costs after a bumpy year. 
    
    
    NATURAL RESOURCES
    * U.S. miner Piedmont Lithium  PLL.O  cuts 27% of its
workforce as part of a cost-cutting plan. 

 (Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala, Harshita Mary Varghese,
Samrhitha Arunasalam, Arsheeya Bajwa, Priyanka.G and Jaspreet
Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Arpan Varghese, Anil D'Silva and
Shinjini Ganguli)
 ((Zaheer.Kachwala@thomsonreuters.com))