Report: 2022 Tech Layoffs Exceed Pandemic Job Cuts

Tech layoffs in 2022 were nearly double those seen in the sector during the pandemic.

According to Layoffs.fyi — a website that tracks layoffs in the industry — tech companies eliminated more than 153,000 jobs in 2022, compared to 80,000 between March and December of 2020 and 15,000 in 2021.

San Francisco internet entrepreneur Roger Lee created the tracker after COVID began, telling The Wall Street Journal Tuesday (Jan. 3) he saw it “as a side project to create awareness around all of these tech layoffs, in the hopes of helping laid-off employees find a home.”

The website’s findings show that retail and consumer were the two parts of the tech sector impacted the hardest last year, with around 40,000 total layoffs.

Meta, which cut more than 11,000 jobs last year, made up about half of the cuts in the consumer group, while Amazon, which has eliminated 10,000 positions, represented the same figure in the retail category.

Amazon has also indicated its layoffs aren’t over. Soon after the job cuts began CEO Andy Jassy told employees that the company’s leaders were still just midway through their yearly operating planning review.

“Leaders across the company are working with their teams and looking at their workforce levels, investments they want to make in the future, and prioritizing what matters most to customers and the long-term health of our businesses,” Jassy said in the message. “This year’s review is more difficult due to the fact that the economy remains in a challenging spot and we’ve hired rapidly the last several years.”

Rounding out the top five companies with the most tech layoffs last year were Booking.com (4,375 jobs), Cisco (4,100 jobs) and Twitter (3,700 jobs), Layoffs.fyi said.

Overall, 2022 was a rough year for the tech companies tracked by PYMNTS for our CE 100 Index, as we reported earlier this week.

“Inflation ran rampant this past year and the rate hikes pressured businesses and consumers alike, leading to Wall Street worries over spending, profits and slowing top-line growth, and how the great reopening might affect it all,” we wrote.

Among the pillars we track is the Eat group, where DoorDash ended 2022 with a 67.9% loss, after seeing triple-digit revenue percentage growth rates during the pandemic. Late last year, DoorDash said that it would lay off 1,250 staffers, or about 14% of its workforce.

Meanwhile, consumers are rethinking what’s essential and affordable even as they go back to in-store shopping. Shopify fell 75% as its growth slowed and it, too, announced layoffs.