A Wave of Massive Job Layoffs Gains Momentum

A Wave of Massive Job Layoffs Gains Momentum
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A wave of massive layoffs that hit dozens of US companies toward the end of 2022 shows no sign of slowing down into 2023. 

Shopify is the latest to announce cuts. The e-commerce company informed employees and shareholders on May 4 that it is slashing 20% of its workforce and selling off its logistics business. 

“This is a consequential and hard week,” Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke said in a memo to staffers. “It’s the right thing for Shopify but it negatively affects many team members who we admire and love working with.” 

The layoffs come after news this week that Morgan Stanley is reportedly cutting 3,000 by the end of the quarter.

These companies join a large number of major corporations that have made significant cuts in the new year: Tech companies, including Meta and Google, and finance behemoths, like Goldman Sachs, announced massive layoffs in the first weeks of 2023 amid a continued economic downturn and stagnating sales.

The downsizing followed significant reductions that companies including Meta and Twitter made last year. 

The layoffs have primarily affected the tech sector, which is now hemorrhaging employees at a faster rate than at any point during the pandemic, the Journal reported. According to data cited by the Journal from Layoffs.fyi, a site tracking layoffs since the start of the pandemic, tech companies slashed more than 187,000 in 2023 alone — compared to 80,000 in March to December 2020 and 15,000 in 2021. 

But it’s not just tech companies that are cutting costs, with the major job reductions that have come from the Gap, along with FedEx, Dow, and Wayfair.

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