The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted nearly every aspect of our lives and the way we work, and the tech sector is among one of the worst-hit fields. The industry, which was growing steadily before the pandemic hit, has seen record layoffs since 2020.
Nearly 60,000 tech jobs have been cut in the last month alone. Google's parent company Alphabet axed around 12,000 staff in January, while Microsoft announced it would be letting go of 10,000 workers.
The tech sector's mass layoffs come in the face of economic uncertainty, with digital advertisers spending less and consumers cutting back due to rising inflation. Using data collected by Layoffs.fyi, Visual Capitalist charted the biggest layoffs, so far, in the tech industry this decade.
Click image to enlarge
Via Visual Capitalist.
Google's recent layoff of 12,000 workers is the biggest cut seen in the last three years, followed by Meta, which slashed 11,000 jobs last November. While some may have expected 2020 to be the worst year for job losses, three of the five largest layoffs this decade took place in January 2023.
Check out more data visualizations here: