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Today, 28 seconds agoRichard LawlerMicrosofts performance-based cuts have started.Following up on an earlier report, Business Insider reports some Microsoft employees have been let go with letters citing your job performance has not met minimum performance standards and expectations for your position, and several reported receiving no severance.Asked about the plan earlier this month, Microsoft spokesperson Frank Shaw said, ...When people are not performing, we take the appropriate action.Microsoft's performance-based job cuts begin, termination letters show: Ousted workers lose healthcare, and some say they get no severance[businessinsider.com]Jan 14Alex HeathZuckerberg says Meta will lay off more low-performersImage: Nick Barclay / The VergeMeta will soon lay off more low-performers across the company, according to an internal memo from CEO Mark Zuckerberg that was shared by a source at the company.Ive decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low-performers faster, Zuckerberg says in the memo, which you can read in full below. We typically manage out people who arent meeting expectations over the course of a year, but now were going to do more extensive performance-based cuts during this cycle with the intention of backfilling these roles in 2025.Read Article >Oct 16, 2024Meta is laying off employees at WhatsApp, Instagram, and moreIllustration by The Verge | Photo by Tom Williams via Getty ImagesMeta has begun laying off employees across various departments, including WhatsApp, Instagram, and Reality Labs, according to people familiar with the matter. Rather than a mass, companywide layoff, these smaller cuts seem to coincide with reorganizations of specific teams.Some Meta employees have started posting that theyve been laid off. Among them is Jane Manchun Wong, who gained notoriety for reporting on unannounced features coming to apps before joining the Threads team in 2023.Read Article >Aug 28, 2024Jess WeatherbedBrave has laid off around 15 percent of its employees.The web browser and search startup confirmed to TechCrunch that 27 roles have been axed, but provided no explanation for the cuts.Thats a significant number for a company the size of Brave just 191 staffers according to a Pitchbook estimate. The move also follows Brave laying off 9 percent of its workforce in October last year.Brave lays off 27 employees | TechCrunch[TechCrunch]Aug 28, 2024Jess WeatherbedApple is cutting jobs across its Books and News appsIllustration by Kristen Radtke / The VergeApple has eliminated about 100 jobs across its digital services group according to Bloomberg, as part of a shift in priorities for the division. The majority of those laid off reportedly worked within the team that runs the Apple Books app and Apple Bookstore, with the remaining cuts made to some engineering roles and services like Apple News.According to Bloomberg, the layoffs arent a sign that Apple is shifting its focus away from services like Apple Books, and the Books app is still expected to receive future updates for new features. While the services division which includes things like Apple TV Plus, Apple News, and Apple Music has been a revenue driver for Apple in recent years, the company reportedly doesnt consider Apple books to be a major part of the lineup. Read Article >Aug 6, 2024Joanna NeliusDell is creating a new sales team to focus on AI.The companys restructure mostly affects sales and managerial staff. Some outlets have reported, based on sources, that the layoffs will cut more than 10,000 jobs, but an analyst told SiliconAngle a number that high seems unlikely.Dell isnt the only tech company handing out pink-slips; Intel announced last week its laying off over 15,000 employees.Dell Layoffs Hit Sales Team With New Unit Focused on AI[Bloomberg]Jul 10, 2024Richard LawlerIntuit fires 1,800 employees to hire 1,800 employees and focus on AI.Last spring, Business Insider noted that Intuit was unusual among its peers because it hadnt done mass layoffs.Following shutdowns of the Mint app and MailChimp-owned TinyLetter, CEO Sasan Goodarzi today announced layoffs, saying they include approximately 1,050 employees leaving the company who are not meeting expectations. as it accelerates investing in data and AI like its Assist bot.Investing in our future - Intuit Blog[Intuit Blog]Jun 11, 2024Wes DavisBest Buy is laying off more employees as it reckons with falling salesImage: Best BuyBest Buy carried out another round of layoffs and job restructurings last week, with the company cutting some of its sales staff and reducing the pay for others, according to current and former employees who spoke with The Verge. Multiple people said their new pay will be much lower due to the changes.The layoffs appeared to have mostly targeted in-home sales roles called designers, who would go to customers homes to help identify products that would work in their space. Its not clear how many were let go, but designers who werent laid off have been moved into a different, largely in-store role. Also, pay scales for a similar, existing in-store consultant position were revamped.Read Article >Jun 4, 2024Richard LawlerMicrosoft layoffs hit HoloLens, Azure cloud teamsImage: The VergeOn Monday, Microsoft announced layoffs reportedly affecting around 1,000 employees. As reported previously by CNBC, the mixed reality department working on HoloLens 2 is one of the areas affected. Separately, Business Insider reported that Azure for Operators and Mission Engineering has also seen cuts of hundreds of employees.Microsoft spokesperson Craig Cincotta said in a statement emailed to The Verge, Earlier today, we announced a restructuring of Microsofts Mixed Reality organization. We remain fully committed to the Department of Defenses IVAS program and will continue to deliver cutting-edge technology to support our soldiers. In addition, we will continue to invest in W365 to reach the broader Mixed Reality hardware ecosystem. We will continue to sell HoloLens 2 while supporting existing HoloLens 2 customers and partners.Read Article >May 7, 2024Ash ParrishandTom WarrenMicrosoft shuts down Bethesda studios behind Redfall and Hi-Fi RushImage: The VergeIn an email to staff sent this morning, head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty announced the closure of several game studios, including Redfall developer Arkane Austin, Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog Games, and more. According to the email, as first reported by IGN, Booty wrote the reason for the closures was due to a reprioritization of titles and resources. Some staff at the affected studios will be relocated while other studios will completely shut down.Redfall developer Arkane will close with some members of the team joining other studios to work on projects across Bethesda, says Booty. Redfalls previous update will be its last as Microsoft is ending all development on the game. Servers will remain online for players to enjoy and we will provide make-good offers to players who purchased the Hero DLC, says Booty.Read Article >May 1, 2024Richard LawlerMore Google layoffs.As previously reported in Alex Heaths Command Line newsletter, layoffs at the $2 trillion company have cut at least 200 employees in the Core engineering group, according to CNBC.That division handles building the technical foundation behind Googles flagship products, protecting our users online safety, and maintaining our global IT infrastructure. Some roles moved to India or Mexico, and includes at least 50 in Googles Sunnyvale offices.Google lays off hundreds of 'Core' employees, moves some positions to India and Mexico[CNBC]Apr 17, 2024Jess WeatherbedGTA 6, BioShock publisher Take-Two to lay off hundreds and cut projectsThe company expects to complete its downsizing efforts by the end of this year. Image: Take-Two InteractiveTake-Two Interactive, the gaming company behind franchises like Grand Theft Auto, NBA 2K, and BioShock, has announced cost-cutting measures that will lay off approximately five percent of its global workforce and scrap several projects already in development.The company said in an SEC filing published on Tuesday that it is streamlining its organizational structure, which will eliminate headcount and reduce future hiring needs. Take-Two says it will incur charges of up to $200 million to enact its cost reduction program, which aims to save the company over $165 million per year. The downsizing efforts are expected to be largely complete by December 31st, 2024.Read Article >Apr 6, 2024Amrita KhalidBest Buy Geek Squad employees report mass layoffsFormer employees of Best Buys in-house tech support and repair team Geek Squad say there were mass layoffs this week, 404 Media reports. A former Geek Squad agent tells the outlet that they received an email on Tuesday about a work from home event the following day regarding a company change.Our leadership gave individual calls stating we were being let go for the simple fact that the company couldnt afford to pay us, more or less. It was extremely short notice and devastating, an ex-Geek Squad worker told 404 Media.Read Article >Apr 3, 2024Wes DavisAmazon lays off hundreds in the AWS physical store technology team.The layoff comes after reports that the company is doing away with its Just Walk Out cashierless retail tech at its large format stores. GeekWire reports AWS VP Dilip Kumar cited the change in emails about the cuts internally.As CNBC notes, Amazon has laid off more people since 2022 than at any point in its history. This year, thats included Twitch and Amazon Health.Amazon cuts hundreds of jobs in cloud computing unit[CNBC]Feb 28, 2024Emma RothEA is the latest gaming company to lay off workers.Just one day after PlayStation laid off 900 employees (which followed layoffs from Activision Blizzard, Riot Games, Discord, Unity, and others), EA announced on Wednesday that its cutting 5 percent of workers, which amounts to around 670 roles.The game publisher also said that its moving away from development of future licensed IP that we do not believe will be successful in our changing industry, allowing it to focus on its own IP, sports, and online communities.Continuing to evolve our business and teams[Electronic Arts]Feb 23, 2024Emilia DavidWhy are we expected to do the coding Olympics for every company that wants to interview you?Wired writes about how tech job interviews have gotten even more demanding after the series of layoffs that rocked the industry these past few years:Emails reviewed by Wired showed that in one interview for an engineering role at Netflix, a technical recruiter requested that a job candidate submit a three-page project evaluation within 48 hoursall before the first round of interviews.A Netflix spokesperson said the process is different for each role and otherwise declined to comment.A similar email at Snap outlined a six-part interview process for a potential engineering candidate, with each part lasting an hour. A company spokesperson says its interview process hasnt changed as a result of labor market changes.Tech Job Interviews Are Out of Control[WIRED]Feb 13, 2024Emma RothMozilla is laying off around 60 workers and scaling back its Mastodon instance.In a memo obtained by TechCrunch, Mozilla said the company is making a strategic correction that will involve working through a much smaller team to participate in the Mastodon ecosystem. The company launched its mozilla.social instance last year.Additionally, Mozilla is shutting down Hubs, its virtual 3D platform initially launched in 2018. Mozilla says the platforms userbase isnt robust enough to justify continuing to dedicate resources during an unfavorable shift in demand. This shift comes just days after Mozilla appointed Laura Chambers as its interim CEO.Mozilla downsizes as it refocuses on Firefox and AI: Read the memo | TechCrunch[TechCrunch]Feb 13, 2024Emma RothParamount is cutting 800 jobs as it looks to grow revenue, while reducing costs.After rumors about layoffs emerged last month, Paramount CEO Bob Bakish announced that the company is laying off around 3 percent of staff. In a memo obtained by Deadline, Bakish tells employees the Super Bowl was a blockbuster event that showcased the full power of Paramount.Despite this, the future of Paramount remains unclear, as Deadline reports that media companies and private equity firms are looking into acquiring some or all of the entertainment giant. CNBC reported last year that Warner Bros. Discovery was in talks to merge with Paramount.Paramount Global Layoffs Begin; CEO Bob Bakish Tells 800 Departing Employees, Your Talents Have Helped Us Advance Our Mission[Deadline]Feb 8, 2024Amrita KhalidWarner Music Group to lay off 600 employees and close the Interval Presents podcast division.WMG CEO Robert Kyncl -- who thinks you could pay more for Spotify-- revealed the record label will lay off 10 percent of its workforce, or 600 employees. Its winding down the podcast division behind Rap Radar and Drink Champs, and IMGN Media. Its also in an exclusive process to sell Uproxx and HipHopDX.Earlier on Wednesday, WMG reported Q1 revenue of $1.75 billion its highest quarterly revenue since it went public, and net income of $193 million.Warner Music Group Just Had Its Biggest Quarter Ever. Now Its Reducing Staff by 10% to Invest More in Music[Billboard]Feb 6, 2024Sean HollisterAmazon Health, Corsair, DocuSign, Drizly and Glowforge are the latest tech layoffs. Amazon is cutting a few hundred roles from healthcare units. Its not Amazons first health cut. Corsair is permanently closing an entire Origin PC factory in Miami, laying off 55. DocuSign is cutting approx. 6 percent of its workforce or around 440 jobs. Drizly, Ubers defunct alcohol delivery service, is laying off 168 as its HQ closes for good. Glowforge, laser engraver maker, wouldnt say how many new layoffs, but has apparently lost half its staff since last summer.Feb 5, 2024Jacob KastrenakesSnap is cutting 10 percent of its staffIllustration by Alex Castro / The VergeSnap plans to lay off around 10 percent of its employees as the company continues to struggle with declines in the digital advertising market. The company had around 5,300 employees at the start of 2023. Snap previously cut 20 percent of its staff in 2022 and had a smaller cut of 3 percent in 2023.Snap has struggled to expand beyond its core social networking product. Its augmented reality glasses were never made widely available, and other hardware projects like a selfie drone were scrapped shortly after launch. Even products launched within Snapchat, like the TikTok-esque Spotlight and the Snapchat Plus subscription service, have failed to grow at the pace the company hoped for.Read Article >Feb 1, 2024Emma RothAlmost 30,000 workers in tech have been laid off this year.Thats according to data from tech layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi, which recorded 29,995 job cuts across 112 different companies in 2024. The data also includes the 150 layoffs at Zoom that just happened today, too.Jan 30, 2024Emma RothJack Dorseys Block is also cutting jobs.The company, which owns financial services like Cash App and Square, is laying off close to 1,000 employees, according to a report from Business Insider. Heres what Dorsey told employees in a memo seen by BI:Why is so much happening in one single day?... We decided it would be better to do at once rather than arbitrarily space them out, which didnt seem fair to the individuals or to the company When we know we need to take an action, we want to take it immediately, rather than let things linger on forever.Jack Dorsey's Block lays off 'large number' of staffers, adding to wave of tech-industry cuts[Insider]Jan 30, 2024Amrita KhalidAlphabet posted $307.4 billion in revenue for the 2023. It also spent $2.1 billion on layoffs.Alphabet generated 13 percent more revenue year over year in 2023, according to its fourth-quarter earnings report (PDF) released on Tuesday. You can follow along with execs on the call embedded below, thats just starting.The company also said that over the entire year, it spent $2.1 billion on employee-related severance for the layoffs it announced in January 2023. That doesnt account for the thousand people it let go earlier this month.Jan 30, 2024Emma RothPayPal is laying off 9 percent of its employees.CEO Alex Chriss told employees that PayPal is cutting existing jobs and open roles as part of an effort to right-size the company, according to a report from Bloomberg. The layoffs will reportedly impact around 2,500 workers.PayPal is far from the only company in the tech industry to get hit with layoffs this year. Microsoft, Google, eBay, and many others have also been affected.PayPal (PYPL) to Cut Around 2,500 Jobs as Rivals Snag Market Share[Bloomberg]
