Tech Layoffs Soar In Early 2023 And Continue 2022's Bloody Trend - FintechMode

The ongoing impact of COVID-19 and inflation took a toll on the tech industry throughout 2022. Hundreds of companies were forced to lay off employees or shut down altogether. That trend continues in early 2023, with nearly 20,000 people out of a job in the first ten days of the year.

More Tech Layoffs Globally

No one will be surprised to learn tech companies still struggle in early 2023. The global financial landscape remains pretty uncertain and shows no immediate improvement. Inflation is still a real problem and a new surge in COVID-19 infections has many people worried. As such, companies across the technology industry will have a hard time ahead of them.

Early 2023 hasn’t been kind to many tech firms, either. There have been over 18,000 layoffs so far, and the year is only nine days old. More importantly, these rounds occurred across over three dozen companies, which is problematic. Although many companies lay off 10% of their staff – or less – the trend continues to affect many industries. 

Last year, most of the layoffs occurred in crypto, finance, and fintech. This year, there is an influx of data, healthcare, transportation, security, HR, manufacturing, hardware, consumer, and retail segments. However, the “biggest” layoffs still occur in crypto. Huobi let go 275 people, whereas SuperRare will fire 30% of its staff, and Genesis let go 60 people. So it remains rough going for the crypto industry. 

It is also worth noting the SF Bay Area is under tremendous pressure. As a hotbed for tech startups, it is prone to more layoffs than anywhere else. Early 2023 has culled staff for Scale AI, WalkMe, Carbon Health, CreateMe, Mojo Vision, Twitter, and Everlane, to name a few. However, San Diego’s Cue laid off more people – 388 in one go – to counter that trend. Overall, things do not look too great for the technology sector.

2022 Was A Bloody Year

Although the layoffs.fyi site may not have tracked all global tech layoffs in 2022, it paints a bleak picture. Its tracked firing rounds confirm over 154,000 people lost their job last year. That may seem insignificant globally, but it is still problematic. Moreover, the trend seems to accelerate, confirming the tech industry offers no long-term job security these days. 

Especially November and December 2023 proved troublesome. November had the highest monthly layoffs for 2022, at over 51,800. That means one-third of all jobs lost in 2022 took place in that month alone. Interestingly, those layoffs occurred across 216 companies, which is also the highest number for last year. 

Contrarily, December 2022 saw far fewer layoffs, at “just” 9,817. However, those jobs were lost across 123 companies. That means many smaller tech firms have had to reduce their staff, as the pressure has gotten to them. January 2023 shows a hefty increase in layoffs (almost double that of December) across “just” 18 companies.