Factbox: US, Canadian companies kick off 2024 with layoffs

BlackBerry

15/05/2024 10:55

(Adds Walmart)
       May 15 (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.
    While hopes of a soft landing have grown in recent months,
companies continue to be cautious as the outlook on rate cuts by
the Federal Reserve remains uncertain. 
    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, a few hundred at
healthcare units One Medical and Amazon Pharmacy. It also
announced layoffs at Amazon Web Services (AWS) impacting several
hundred roles in sales, marketing, and global services and a few
hundred roles in the physical stores technology team. 
    
    * Layoffs at Alphabet  GOOGL.O  include dozens at the
division for developing new technology X Lab, hundreds in the
advertising sales team, hundreds across teams, including the
hardware team responsible for Pixel, Nest and Fitbit, and a
majority in the 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 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 workforce by about
6%, or 400 employees, with a majority 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 workforce.
    
    * Canada's BlackBerry  BB.TO  plans more layoffs, in
addition to about 200 job cuts in the prior quarter. 
    
    * Satellite radio company SiriusXM  SIRI.O  plans to reduce
workforce by about 3%, or about 160 roles.
     
    * Bumble  BMBL.O  is set to eliminate 350 jobs or about 30%
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.
    
    * 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.
    
    * Paramount Global  PARA.O  is planning to conduct an
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.
    
    * Citigroup  C.N  is planning to reduce its headcount by
20,000 people over the next two years. It has announced plans to
slash 716 roles in New York towards that target.
    
    * Investment banking giant Morgan Stanley  MS.N  is planning
to cut hundreds of jobs in its wealth management unit, a person
familiar with the matter told Reuters, adding that the cuts will
impact less than 1% of the division's employees. 
    
    * Exchange operator Nasdaq  NDAQ.O  plans to slash hundreds
of jobs as it integrates fintech firm Adenza into its business. 
    
    * Asset manager BlackRock  BLK.N  is set to cut about 3% of
its workforce but expects a larger headcount by the end of 2024.
    

    CONSUMER AND RETAIL
    * The world's largest retailer Walmart  WMT.N  plans to cut
hundreds of jobs at its corporate headquarters and relocate a
majority of its U.S. and Canada-based remote workforce to three
offices.
    
    * 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, closing five stores.
    
    * Levi Strauss & Co  LEVI.N  is planning to slash 10%-15% of
global corporate jobs.
    
    * Hershey's  HSY.N  restructuring plan will impact less than
5% of its workforce. 
    
    * Nike  NKE.N  will cut about 2% of its total workforce, or
more than 1,600 jobs, as the sportswear giant looks to cut costs
after flagging weaker profits this year.
    
    
    HEALTH
    * Novavax  NVAX.O  is cutting about 12% of 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 to
cut costs. 
    
    
    NATURAL RESOURCES
    * U.S. miner Piedmont Lithium  PLL.O  cuts 27% of workforce
in the cost-cutting plan. 
    
    * Canadian oil and gas pipeline firm TC Energy  TRP.TO  has
laid off some of its workers as part of a previously announced
plan to integrate its natural gas pipeline units.
    
    * Canada-based crude pipeline operator Enbridge  ENB.TO 
said it would reduce its workforce by 650 jobs, or 5%, in a bid
to cut costs.
    
    AUTOMAKERS
        Electric automaker Tesla  TSLA.O  will 
    lay off
     more than 10% of its global workforce, an internal memo
seen by Reuters on Monday shows, as it grapples with falling
sales amid an intensifying price war for electric vehicles.
  

 (Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala, Harshita Mary Varghese,
Samrhitha Arunasalam, Arsheeya Bajwa, Priyanka.G, Jaspreet
Singh, Mehnaz Yasmin, Tanay Dhumal and Anirudh Saligrama in
Bengaluru; Editing by Arpan Varghese, Anil D'Silva, Shinjini
Ganguli, Maju Samuel and Shweta Agarwal)
 ((Zaheer.Kachwala@thomsonreuters.com))