Job losses

U.S. firms cut staff as rates rise, consumer spending drops

Tech companies are trimming staff and slowing hiring as they face higher interest rates and sluggish consumer spending in the U.S. and a strong dollar abroad.

The tech industry shed 9,587 jobs in October, the highest monthly total since November 2020, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., a consulting firm that tallies job cuts announced or confirmed by companies across telecom, electronics, hardware manufacturing and software development.

In recent earnings reports, Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., Microsoft Corp. and others fell short of projections, sending shares plunging and shaving hundreds of billions of dollars from their market valuations. Meta, for instance, has lost more than 67 per cent of its value so far this year.

Here’s a running list of who’s cutting jobs and pulling back on hiring.

Amazon

The e-commerce titan plans to cut about 10,000 jobs. The layoffs will likely target Amazon’s devices group, responsible for the Echo smart speakers and Alexa digital assistant, as well as the retail divisions and human resources, Bloomberg News reported.

In November, Amazon halted “new incremental” hiring across its corporate workforce.

Apple

The iPhone maker has paused hiring for many jobs outside of research and development, an escalation of its plan to reduce budgets heading into next year, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The break generally doesn’t apply to teams working on future devices and long-term initiatives, but it affects some corporate functions and standard hardware and software engineering roles.

Chime

The digital-banking startup Chime Financial Inc. is cutting 12 per cent of its staff, or 160 people. A spokesperson said the company remains well-capitalized and the move will position it for “sustained success.”

Cisco

Cisco Systems is beginning a restructuring plan that will affect about five per cent of employees. The company says it will incur pretax charges of about $600 million (U.S.) for severance, termination and other costs. The employees will be given a chance to move to other jobs within the company, chief financial officer Scott Herren said in an interview.

“This is not about reducing our workforce — in fact we’ll have roughly the same number of employees at the end of this fiscal year as we had when we started,” Herren said. Cisco had more than 83,000 employees as of July 30.

Galaxy Digital

Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd., the crypto financial services firm founded by billionaire Michael Novogratz, is considering eliminating as much as 20 per cent of its workforce. The plan may still be changed and the final number could be in a range of 15 per cent to 20 per cent, according to people familiar with the matter. Galaxy’s shares have plummeted more than 80 per cent this year, part of a rout for cryptocurrencies.

HP

HP Inc. will cut as many as 6,000 jobs over the next three years as declining demand for personal computers cuts into profit. In addition to reducing its workforce by about 10 per cent, the company will reduce its real estate footprint.

Intel

Intel Corp. is cutting jobs and slowing spending on new plants in an effort to save $3 billion next year, the chipmaker said. The hope is to save as much as $10 billion by 2025, a plan that went over well with investors, who sent the shares up more than 10 per cent on Oct. 28. Bloomberg News reported earlier that the head count reduction could number in the thousands.

Lyft

Lyft Inc.’s cost-saving efforts include divesting its vehicle service business. It’s eliminating13 per cent of staff, or about 683 people. The company had already said it would freeze hiring in the U.S. until at least next year. It’s now facing even stiffer headwinds.

Meta

The Facebook parent is cutting 11,000 jobs, the first major round of layoffs in the social media company’s history. Meta’s stock has plunged this year, and the company is trying to pare costs following several quarters of disappointing earnings and a slide in revenue. The reductions equal about 13 per cent of the workforce, and Meta will extend its hiring freeze through the first quarter.

Peloton

Peloton Interactive Inc. laid off 500 employees globally, or about 12 per cent of the workforce, in October. It was the fourth time this year the company has cut staff. Along with other expense reduction measures, Peloton said the move will help it reach the breakeven point on cash flow by the end of fiscal 2023.

Stripe

Payments company Stripe Inc., one of the world’s most valuable startups, is cutting more than 1,000 jobs. The 14 per cent staff reduction will return its head count to almost 7,000 — its total in February. Cofounders Patrick and John Collison told staff they need to trim expenses more broadly as they prepare for “leaner times.”

Twitter

The upheaval at Twitter has more to do with its recent buyout — and the accompanying debt — than economic concerns. But the company has suffered some of the deepest cuts of its peers right now. Elon Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion, eliminated about 3,700 jobs by email. Musk also reversed the company’s work-from-anywhere policy, asking remaining employees to report to offices.