As per Trueup Report Layoff 2023, there are 1,992 laid off at tech companies with 428,335 people impacted (1,187 people per day).
In 2023, the companies laid off employees because of Overestimation of Demand, new technology generative AI, breach of the ethical code, global macroeconomic conditions, and based on annual performance reviews. Details as below.
Overestimation of Demand
MoS IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that the overestimation of demand led to post-COVID job cuts. He stated, “If we look at the tech space, layoffs occurred post-Covid. It happened to companies like Google, Microsoft, Meta, and even smaller startups. When the world was emerging from COVID-19, everyone believed that the digital and digitization boom would be a permanent phenomenon. People thought that remote work would become a permanent setup.”
He further said, “Some companies may have overestimated the demand and consumption of digital products, leading to resizing and rightsizing of organizations.”
New Technology Generative AI
The companies globally are now sacking employees due to the Generative AI. Recently, Paytm announced the layoff of over 1000 employees amid cost-cutting measures.
“We are transforming our operations with AI-powered automation, eliminating repetitive tasks and roles to drive efficiency across growth and costs, resulting in a slight reduction in our workforce within operations and marketing”, the spokesperson said.
This week, Google announced its advancement in artificial intelligence may result in restructuring the ad sales department, which may impact employees from the ad sales unit at Google.
The advancement and introduction of new AI-based tools will automatically suggest and create new ads that perform well for customers.
As a result, the company plans to automate certain jobs in the ad sales and customer service department. Google ad sales unit consists of 30,000 people and AI advancement has risked the jobs of the employees.
Slow Business
This year Byju’s announced layoffs for many employees. Earlier, this year Byju’s employee Akansha Khemka from Kolkata burst into tears in a video message company is forcing her to resign and threatening to withhold her salary beyond August 1. She has been seeking support from the government for saving employees from a ‘toxic’ work culture.
Breach of Ethical Code
Tata Steel has sacked 35 employees for breach of the ethical code. Tata Steel chairman N Chandrasekaran said, “The company has made significant acquisitions in the last few years and initiated a drive for an open culture.”
“Employee can express his or her concerns. It could be sexual harassment or a practice they noticed at the company. We are encouraging people to record their grievances”, he added.
“A combination of these factors led to a higher number of complaints. We received 875 complaints last fiscal, and 158 were related to whistleblowers, 48 were regarding safety, and 669 on HR and other behavioural issues”, N Chandrasekaran added while addressing shareholders at Tata Steel’s annual general meeting.
Annual Performance Reviews
L&T Technology has sacked 200 employees. The company spokesperson said, “We conduct annual performance reviews as a standard process to assess the capabilities of our workforce every year and act appropriately based on skill sets and performance.”
“This is essential for the maintenance of our high standards of service delivery”, the spokesperson further said.
Similarly, recently PhysicsWallah (PW) has sacked nearly 120 employees due to a performance review. Satish Khengre, Chief Human Resources Officer at PhysicsWallah said, “At PW, we regularly assess performance through mid-term and end-term cycles.”
“For the cycle ending in October, less than 0.8 percent of our workforce, ranging from 70 to 120 individuals with performance concerns—may be asked to transition”, Satish Khengre added.
“Our primary focus remains on fostering a dynamic, high-performing team. We plan to hire an additional 1,000 employees in the next six months, reinforcing our commitment to growth”, Satish Khengre said.
The world’s leading digital skills provider, enabling learners across the globe, Simplilearn laid off 200 employees due to poor performance.
The layoffs at Simplilearn have impacted employees from the sales, marketing, and operation teams. However, layoffs have been sudden.
Barclays is planning to cut 1500- 2,000 jobs amid cost-cutting measures. The bank had previously made efforts to reduce expenses in recent years. This reduction included the reduction of bonuses and jobs in its retail and investment banking businesses.
Global Macroeconomic Conditions
Recently, Intel is laying off 235 employees. The company spokesperson said, “Intel is working to accelerate its strategy while reducing costs through multiple initiatives, including some business and function-specific workplace reductions across the company.”
In 2023, On the other hand, IT majors like; Snap, Microsoft, Twitter, TikTok, and Google have either laid off employees or frozen new hires due to global macroeconomic conditions.
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