These Massive Companies Are Laying Off Hundreds of Employees

Economic conditions or business restructurings are often to blame for mass layoffs. Shifting market dynamics and worldwide trends can also result in companies letting a certain percentage of their employees go.

Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, also hinted that more layoffs would likely occur later on in 2024. While everyone from employees in ad sales to workers in core engineering were cut, Google hasn’t necessarily pinpointed why these cuts are necessary. They’ve simply explained they’re looking to invest in major priorities, so layoffs must occur.

This adjustment will lead to a workforce reduction, though the exact number of layoffs hasn’t been disclosed. Despite the cutbacks, a “large majority” of its over 500 call center employees will remain unaffected.

Since this, about 180 employees have been let go from the company as they work to iron out financial challenges. The restructuring of many departments and their entire workforce has led to these layoffs in about every department.

CEO Jason Citron emphasized the necessity of these layoffs to maintain Discord’s agility and innovation capabilities in a fiercely competitive tech landscape. This realignment is crucial for optimizing team structures and focusing on core product enhancements.

Most of these layoffs were relegated to the sales and advertising departments at TikTok. Tech companies, and particularly social media companies, often must find a balance in a quickly changing marketing landscape. These changes can sometimes lead to job cuts, as we see here.

This move, affecting around 530 employees, is expected to help Snap focus on creating more impactful user experiences and foster a more cohesive corporate culture. The layoffs are a significant step in restructuring the organization towards achieving long-term strategic goals.

Lyft also cut 250 job openings it previously had as it works to continue to restructure. According to the company, these cuts will allow them to focus on Lyft’s core services.

The restructuring reflects a strategic shift towards enhancing core content and product offerings to better serve a global audience.

According to Niraj Shah, the online retailer’s CEO and co-founder, this move will help the entire company cut costs while they focus on their core priorities. Already, it is projected that Wayfair will save over $280 million each year as a result of these job cuts.

This decision is geared towards achieving a sustainable operational scale and reflects a strategic reassessment of Twitch’s growth and future potential. The layoffs highlight the company’s focus on maintaining financial health and continuing to innovate in the streaming space.

Jamie Iannone, Ebay’s CEO, explained that staff sizes grew faster than the business itself did. As a result, these job cuts needed to happen to slash expenses.

This restructuring will also involve canceling some game projects to focus resources on more promising areas.

Recently, companies in the financial industry have cut jobs as they try to adapt to changing market conditions. Economic worries also often lead these types of corporations to lay off a portion of their staff.

“Nike’s always at our best when we’re on the offense. The actions that we’re taking put us in the position to right-size our organization to get after our biggest growth opportunities as interest in sport, health and wellness have never been stronger,” the company told USA TODAY. “While these changes will impact approximately 2% of our total workforce, we are grateful for the contributions made by all Nike teammates.”

As a result of this changing trend, Gap announced in late 2023 that they planned to lay off 1,800 workers. However, their layoffs differ from other companies, in that most of the employees who were let go were corporate layoffs. Many were from Gap headquarters.

Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, emphasized that these changes are crucial for integrating and optimizing operations across both entities. The layoffs are seen as essential to maintaining competitive advantage and focusing on key growth areas in the gaming industry.

Macy’s says these job cuts will help the company continue to adapt to the changing trends in the retail environment — an environment that continues to be very competitive.

This recalibration reflects a strategic shift to better align the company’s talent pool with its evolving business needs and long-term goals. Salesforce aims to maintain its leadership in the CRM space by focusing on innovation and customer success.

In 2024, Tyson Foods announced it would continue to lay off many more. This led to about 10% of Tyson Food corporate jobs being cut, and 15% of the company’s senior leadership roles being let go.

These workers all worked at five different Walmart warehouses that dealt with online orders. No other job was affected. As a result, the company said they would work to assist those who had their jobs cut and would allow them to possibly explore other positions at different locations.

This strategic shift is a substantial decision and the affected individuals will receive notifications regarding the forthcoming steps early next week. Vice Media is transitioning to a “studio model,” signifying a fundamental change in its approach to content creation. The key aspects of Vice Media’s current situation include the planned layoffs impacting its workforce, the cessation of new content on Vice.com, and the shift towards a studio model for content production.

Approximately 1,700 out of the current 16,700 employees may be affected by these layoffs, marking the third round since mid-2022. Despite increased sales and production, Rivian reported a $5.4 billion loss in 2023, emphasizing the challenges posed by high interest rates and geopolitical uncertainty. Scaringe stressed the necessity of purposeful changes for Rivian’s future stability.

Seven stores have already shut down, and administrators state that the current store portfolio mix is unsustainable. The focus will shift to the brand’s products, online sales, and wholesale strategies to achieve financial stability. Employees affected by these changes will apply for redundancy payments through the government-backed service. The situation has raised concerns, particularly for long-term staff members.

Despite the difficulty of reducing the workforce, it’s a necessary step for companies like Forvia to adapt and thrive in the rapidly growing EV market. As Forvia undergoes this transformation, there’s a crucial need to invest in retraining and supporting affected employees. By doing so, the company can contribute to a cleaner and more sustainable future in the burgeoning EV sector.

Specifically, 1,750 jobs in research and development will be eliminated, and the Smart Mobility business area will be dissolved, integrated into other automotive units. While the exact number of layoffs in Germany is yet to be confirmed, expectations point to over 1,000 job cuts across 30 different locations. This move reflects Continental’s strategic efforts to streamline its operations and adapt to evolving industry dynamics.

Despite the layoffs, Cisco reported robust fiscal second-quarter results, surpassing expectations with adjusted earnings per share at 87 cents (compared to the anticipated 84 cents) and revenue reaching $12.79 billion (surpassing the expected $12.71 billion). Despite a 6% year-over-year decline in revenue and decreased net income, Cisco is actively finalizing its $28 billion acquisition of monitoring and security software maker Splunk, anticipating closure in the first or early second quarter of the current year.

CEO Bob Bakish stated that this restructuring is part of a strategy to realign resources with the most impactful areas of their business, including CBS, Paramount+, and Nickelodeon, ensuring sustained growth and competitiveness in the multimedia landscape.

Tech, media, and retail sectors are notably revising their workforce strategies to cope with technological advancements and changing consumer expectations.

Companies will need to remain agile and forward-thinking to thrive in this dynamic environment, suggesting a transformative period ahead in the global job market.