The tech sector is having a big 2024. Nvidia just crushed earnings expectations. The AI boom remains in full swing. The tech-heavy Nasdaq index is up more than 8 percent year-to-date.
The U.S. economy is also doing surprisingly well, adding 353,000 jobs in January, well ahead of economists’ forecasts. Hotter-than-expected inflation data may also keep the Fed from cutting rates as soon as the market expects, a sign that the economy remains strong enough to support higher interest rates for longer. It’s a different story for tech workers, though.
“The layoffs to the start of 2024 signal a dramatic shift in the tech industry,” said Jeff Shulman, professor at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business. “We’re going to continue to see layoffs happen as the future of work has changed, as the future of technology has changed, and as investors appetite for risk and growth versus profitability has dramatically changed as well.”
The number of tech sector layoffs in 2024 has been outpacing the number of terminations in 2023. So far, about 42,324 tech employees were let go in 2024, according to Layoffs.fyi, which tracks layoffs in the tech industry. That averages out to more than 780 layoffs each day in 2024. In 2023, nearly 263,000 tech employees got laid off, averaging about 720 firings each day that year.
There are several factors behind the churn. Artificial intelligence is at the forefront. Companies need to free up cash to invest in the chips and servers that power the AI models behind these new technologies. There’s also the stock market effect. Companies that conducted layoffs haven’t been punished for it, either by investors or on their bottom lines.
Watch the video above to find out more about why tech workers may be poised to endure another rough year of layoffs, and why the surprising strength of the U.S. economy may not be coming to their rescue.
Chapters:
0:00 — Intro
2:26 — Hiring and firing
4:24 — The AI effect
7:15 — The end of cushy tech jobs?
9:50 — What’s next?
Produced by Anuz Thapa
Edited by Michael Hoyt
Narration by Jordan Smith
Graphics by Jason Reginato and Christina Locopo
Supervising Producer Jeff Morganteen
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Why Widespread Tech Layoffs Keep Happening Despite A Strong U.S. Economy
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AI has almost no effect. It's just that you don't need many people to have a good product.
The economy is not strong.
Check the jobs created and how much they pay. You can't live anywhere with those salaries.
That is not a strong economy.
Class action lawsuit… and this law "hired and fired at will" needs to go.
cause the US economy looks strong as you said "on paper" only.. but is not the reality
Those CEOs are even more corrupt than politicians.
"We're going to part ways." "I'm going to stop you right there." Really baffling where the entitled brat mantra is coming from.
Travel and pretend you never worked there because you are married…
Let me get this straight. These tech companies net profits were 3.4 trillion in 2021, yet they're laying off workers. This is all about greed and the Wall Street push for quarterly gains. Okay, this is the continuation of hollowing out the middle class. Sure, their goal is zero employees, because the profits.
Ex google employee here, I was part of the recent layoffs and this bites hard. I am grateful that I kept some savings about; $600k and I am looking for ways to invest this into the stock market to generate good dividends to supplement for my monthly expenses.
Thank you AI 😂. They built it, just to themselves fired !😂
Big Tech CEO are Psychos who import Oversea "specialist" to destroy America, Canada, etc.
Google is dumb. People who worked Antarctica, Military, Cargo ships, people who worked overseas for two years, etc. They came home and could not access gmail account because December 1, 2023 deletion. Now, they can't login or get access to bank statement. Google had to layoff it employee after failure to back up Gmail data. Google forgot to back up everything. How do they access to bank account if they can't get in gmail account? This is billion dollar loss from Google company. They are in big trouble.
The big tech com pany like Face book, Goo gle, Micro soft & Ap ple is the worst plague ever in history not even in the in ter net. These big tech company is run by the rubb ish crea tures 👎
Goodby jobs😂😂😂
ByeDoneOmics
Man i am glad i got my cdl instead of learning coding and ai. Trade jobs are so much safer than tech jobs
lmao why even talk about "strong jobs market" and list numbers when those are garbage menial labor jobs like mcdonalds
and part time jobs paying peanuts, meanwhile good jobs are going to beef up ceo and board compensation.
Purposeful deception
Can't maximize profits anymore, been years of that, and rising profits = literal death of workers from overwork. Companies already screwed workers and increased profits immensely (with government help) by doing away with pensions and replacing with 401k with some pittance small match. YOU go save for retirement instead of us, is the mantra.
Tech isn't immune to market forces like the rest of the industries. Labor is variable cost which means you can make cuts to save money or hedge against a slow economy or negative factors like inflation. Tech hired too many workers thinking that they are high growth in which they can weather the economical storms. Very bad management and overspending.
😂 years of school for this
Massive layoffs in tech sector are occurring because it's mysteriously driving the SP500 to all time highs. Hasn't anyone noticed that the SP500 has reached record highs in such a short time, with all credit given to the Magnificent 7? Those 7 companies are Amazon, Google, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla. Concurrent with the massive layoffs that have occurred in the last 12 months, these 7 tech companies' stocks have inexplicably soared. So, by logic of the stock market, the layoffs are good! More layoffs result in higher stock value. Either that or the stock market is really just a scam. 😂
We live system where money can be printed but need not get the earning.
Where are all those people flaging their joy of being so happy to start working for one of these big tech on linkedin profiles
Stay away from big tech companies they are the worst toxic work environments. Period
Stop having kids
These are real humans with families mortgages and education loans. We have got to stop treating humans like machines! I’m sick of this bullsh!t.
A buddy had a "job" in tech. He mostly played ping pong, and took naps. It was a dream job, if you can call that a job.
Evil corporate america. Evil government. Liars. That sums up everything.
Aug 2023: "UPS Workers approve new contract with hard-fought pay and safety gains, ending strike threat."
Jan 2024: "UPS announces 12,000 job cuts."
"In my experience the public sharing of things like one's layoff, I think is partially due to the fact of the rise of social media."
EXCELLENT commentary CNBC, mainstream media always finds such insightful experts.
Layoffs are the results of poor management and poor recruitment. 🤔
initial stage of recession in US
Never be dependent on a job always have emergency nest and investments
That woman who got laid off, Britney Piatch makig a big fuzz about it. She didnt meet performance expectations so she has to go. Simple. Just because you work in an office doesnt mean you will always be there. And unless you are some sort of important person such as a director or CEO and not just an employee, you will get fired. It's like in any other trade job, you don't meet work performance expectations, you are bye bye. FIRED. I dont feel sorry for her honestly. You dont get fired for doing a great job.
So how is this government saying the economy is doing well. What lies are they saying. Because it’s lies and a bunch of lies. Has nothing to done change. The US ECONOMY IS NOT STRONG.
Don't forget how big these big tech companies are. Other huge companies that have lots of influence in their own industry like Disney, ExonMobile, PepsiCo, etc., aren't anywhere NEAR how big the biggest tech companies are in valuation. Big tech can use a reduction to come back down out of the clouds (pun intended) every once and while. However, it is too soon to tell what the layoffs will mean for the economy especially as companies in other industries are starting their layoffs. How much of a reshuffling of jobs will this mean (people leaving big tech, going to work for a bank, or other company in another industry that need tech workers). How many people get stuck (typically those over 40 struggle with the job search for IT work). Stuff like that is still an unknown right now. It's too soon to draw any conclusions on what this all means.
it should be evident to readers that when Establishment media says "economic gains", they aren't talking about the blue collar working middle class's living standards. "Democratic elections" is another joke: You might choose amongst globalist funded PUPPETS , NOT actual implementation of POLICIES affecting your life , NOR does the word "democracy" imply Constitutional RIGHTS , in fact state media driven mob rule brings the OPPOSITE , just as elections in Pakistan or North Korea do.
50% of the average workforce does not contribute meaningfully
Companies being cheap while rents keeps going up. We need rent control. Lower down the RENT
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