139,000 Jobs Vanish Across Top Tech Companies. How Much Longer Can Tech Workers Survive The Cutthroat Industry? 

The year 2024 turns out to be a tough one for technology workers globally. As reported, more than 139,000 were left unemployed in sweeping cuts by many companies within the industry. International big shots from the tech industry cutting jobs include Intel, Dell, Cisco, Samsung, IBM, Microsoft, and Apple, which reportedly made massive layoffs. 

These companies are downsizing to save on dollar costs, restructuring their business operations, or positioning themselves for a reality where automation and AI take on much of the tasks that humans once did.

This layoff wave is not only about quantities. It’s also a marker of significant change in the tech industry. The tech world appears to be ever-expanding with new apps, gadgets, and services, but things are much more complicated than that. 

The curtain hides how tech companies are suffering under skyrocketing costs and even low demand, fueled by other countries’ stiff competition for capturing the globe’s attention. They rush to incorporate newer technologies, like AI but cut jobs available to individuals.

History behind 2024 Layoffs

Let’s step back a few years to help understand what is unfolding in 2024. Many tech-industry companies grew rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic. With millions working from home and lockdowns in effect due to the pandemic, demand for their services went through the roof for organisations such as Zoom and Meta (previously Facebook) and Amazon. 

During this period, most of these high-tech companies took in thousands of new employees who were necessary to match the rates at which these firms were growing. Meta almost doubled its workforce, and Amazon took in over 500,000 workers in 2020.

However, as soon as this pandemic declined, all these services slowed down. The people returned to the offices and businesses realized that they were having too many people in their teams. Therefore, in 2022 and 2023, tech companies started laying off employees. In total, 428,449 tech workers lost jobs. 

That is when someone began to feel that something was changing in the tech sector. And by the beginning of 2024, the situation could not have worsened. When inflation rose, interest rates began to climb, and economies worldwide were slowing down, it became quite a burden on tech companies to further reduce costs. And that is what made the wave of layoffs today happen.

Tech Layoffs in 2024

Nearly half a million employees have lost their jobs at 451 tech companies through October 2024. Here are the largest ones:

• Intel: Cuts 15,000 jobs or 15% of its workforce.
• Cisco: Loses 6,000 jobs or 7% of its global workers.
• Dell: Gained a reduction of its workforce by 12,500 employees or 10% of its total workforce.
• IBM: Cut 1,000 jobs, and Qualcomm let go of 226 workers.
• Other companies, such as Apple and Microsoft, have also made major job cuts announcements.

Those startups and smaller tech companies are not immune either. For example, Luminar, a firm developing sensors for self-driving vehicles, cut 30% of its workforce. A company such as Drata-backer Salesforce is also reported to have positive growth but laid off its workers.

Not to be left behind is the gaming industry. Backed by Microsoft, Activision Blizzard had to cut hundreds of jobs this year. It’s evident that job cuts are touching every corner of the tech world, from hardware to software and from startups to industry giants.

Why are these layoffs happening?

There are several reasons people point to as to why the high-tech industry is having such massive layoffs in 2024. These are interrelated in themselves and, taken together, depict a total story of an industry in transition.

The world economy is not in a good position. The inflation level remains much high-higher than what is usually seen as prices rise faster. Additionally, interest rates have increased to unsustainable levels, making borrowed capital even costlier for most firms. As such, most firms engaging in technology are increasingly struggling to sustain their profits.

For example, Intel recently revealed that it requires saving $10 billion in costs by 2025 and thus needs to cut hundreds of jobs. The same thing is taking place with other firms, including Cisco and Dell, which also need to save money, therefore, cut jobs.

A continually rising share of downsizing is due to the intensifying use of automation and artificial intelligence in the tech sector. 

A steadily increasing share of work that was previously done by humans, including customer services, data analysis, and even some programming, is now being done by AI. In this manner, companies can get more done with fewer workers.

For example, when Cisco invests huge sums into AI and cybersecurity, it only helps automate many tasks that once called for human employees. In other words, the company has reduced headcount in areas that are now less crucial, such as older styles of networking equipment.

Similarly, Dell has also started to focus more on the business involving cloud computing and AI, which has even led to job cuts elsewhere. More companies would take up the technologies as their mainstream products, and further reductions of jobs would be expected shortly.

As discussed above, many of the tech companies, in their quest to maintain the back-end demand that happened by default due to the pandemic, went on a hiring spree, and now that the latter is through, they have realised that it was a bit too much.

For example, the Meta platform, formerly called Facebook, nearly doubled its workforce during the pandemic but now is cutting thousands of jobs as it slows down demand for its services. 

Amazon and Google are in the same boat; after hiring too many workers during the pandemic, they’re cutting back.

The tech world today is more competitive than ever. Companies are no longer competing with each other but with startups and other companies from the rest of the world. For example, China’s Huawei and Tencent companies are increasingly flourishing and taking market shares away from American companies such as Apple and Google.

This competition forces companies to work more efficiently, often at the cost of layoff. According to a statement by the company IBM, to gain more in the competitive field, it needs to cut down its number of employees. This is the case with most of the companies.

What Is Happening to the Laid-Off Workers?

The situation for those workers who have lost their jobs is not easy. Many of them cannot find new jobs under the current circumstances since current hiring in the technology sector is considerably lower than before. In some cases, companies have even declined further hiring due to having to cut costs completely.

The job market is very unforgiving in some areas, especially sales, marketing, and customer services since these positions have been most prevalent in instances of automation and AI. For example, Cisco has downsized most of its sales and marketing employees since the former automates most of its sales processes.

In addition to financial difficulties, many jobless individuals suffer from psychological impairment. For most people, termination can be stressful, mainly because one feels unsafe and anxious, especially if one has been working with the same company for years.

But not least, “silent layoffs” have become the new normal, wherein companies quietly reduce their workforce and keep this fact away from the public. Thus, a worker does not get a hint of losing their job. Now, thinking ahead is a very difficult task.

The Future of Tech Jobs

So now, the question arises, what everyone wants to know- Will the tech jobs business continue to boom? Yes. Despite the scary news of layoffs, there are still good reasons for believing that the tech industry will play a significant role in future employment – though just different from what it is now.

More and more organizations will adopt AI and automation, creating an increased demand for workers who are able to develop and maintain these technologies. Jobs in AI, machine learning, and cybersecurity are supposed to grow at the same time that other jobs in tech begin to decline.

For example, Dell has recently been focusing much on cloud computing and cybersecurity, thus retrenching in other parts of the business but creating other pathways for the employees that can be gainfully employed with the relevant skill set.

Cisco, for instance, heavily invests in AI and cybersecurity while axing jobs in other lines; hence, the firm hires in those areas.

Upskilling will become a competency tool for workers who want to be competitive in tech; this means such people will learn new competencies like AI, data science, and other cloud computing skills.

Many firms are currently training their workforce on ways to upskill. For example, IBM has a program that trains its workers to expand new skills in AI and cybersecurity. Similarly, Microsoft and Amazon are investing in education on skills and training for their workers.

Another trend that probably will grow is the growth of the gig economy and freelancing. As companies are getting more focused on cost-cutting, they may hire many workers at contract or freelance levels rather than regular, full-time workers. This can give workers flexibility but more uncertain job security.

This week’s tech layoffs of 2024

More than 139,000 workers spread over 451 companies have been dealt a shock they will never forget. In such reasons for layoffs as economic and general automation and AI rising – here, the current situation is even challenging for many people while still opening opportunities for those who can adapt and upskill.

The industry will evolve, and so will the jobs, but that does not mean there is no demand for workers with the right skill set. That is to say, what the future holds is unpredictable, but one thing is clear: the tech industry is here to stay, and it is going to be a huge factor of the world’s economy in years to come.