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April is shaping up to be yet another brutal month for job cuts in the technology sector. But the announcements may not have the immediate effect that many companies are hoping for. Here’s the latest on the situation.<\/p>\n
While Microsoft hasn\u2019t announced another round of layoffs, the Windows giant is planning job reductions of another kind. <\/p>\n
As Fast Company<\/em> reported yesterday, the Redmond, Washington, company is expected to offer buyouts to 7% of its U.S. workforce by the end of June. A buyout is when a company offers an employee a financial incentive to resign.<\/p>\n Buyout helps companies avoid being forced to choose which employees to let go, while still reducing their workforce and achieving their goal of lowering operational costs. <\/p>\n An employee who accepts the buyout loses their job, but generally gets a significant financial incentive for the voluntary move. Buyouts typically target employees who are closer to retirement age.<\/p>\n As for the reason for the buyouts, it\u2019s the same reason driving most of the tech industry\u2019s recent layoffs: the drive to cut labor costs so more money can be spent on building out the huge data centers needed for AI training and services.<\/p>\n While Microsoft is giving some of its employees the option of voluntary buyouts, Meta isn\u2019t providing its employees an option at all. <\/p>\n Yesterday, the company told its employees that it will lay off about 8,000 of them\u2014roughly 10% of its workforce\u2014on May 20. An additional 6,000 currently open roles will not be filled.<\/p>\n Meta\u2019s latest layoff comes after the company has committed $135 billion in capital expenditure to its latest round of AI initiatives. <\/p>\n Much of that expenditure will go to building massive data centers that the company needs to run its AI systems. As Fast Company<\/em> reported yesterday, Meta says the job cuts aim to boost efficiency while also offsetting its \u201cheavy spending on artificial intelligence.\u201d<\/p>\n Also yesterday, shoe giant Nike announced it was laying off<\/a> around 2% of its workforce, or about 1,400 employees. While the company is primarily known as a maker of apparel and footwear, the job cuts will mostly hit Nike\u2019s technology roles.<\/p>\n But while Nike\u2019s job cuts will primarily target its tech workforce, the company is one of the few to not suggest that AI is behind the layoffs. <\/p>\n Instead, Nike says the job cuts are part of its \u201cWin Now\u201d strategy, which aims to modernize its manufacturing, merge parts of its supply chain, and reshape its technology division.<\/p>\n Nike\u2019s layoffs will reportedly impact employees globally, including in North America.<\/p>\n The trifecta of tech job cuts announced yesterday aren\u2019t the only ones in April. <\/p>\n On April 14, Snapchat maker Snap Inc. announced it would cut 16% of its global workforce. As CNBC reported<\/a>, that equates to about 1,000 jobs, while another 300 currently empty roles will remain unfilled.<\/p>\n The primary driver behind the job cuts is the desire to cut costs by leveraging AI instead of a human workforce. <\/p>\n \u201cWe believe that rapid advancements in artificial intelligence enable our teams to reduce repetitive work, increase velocity, and better support our community, partners, and advertisers,\u201d CEO Evan Spiegel wrote in a letter announcing the job cuts.<\/p>\n Finally, earlier this month, on April 7, wearable camera maker GoPro announced that it planned to lay off 145 workers. But while that may seem small in comparison to the other companies on this list, it represents a staggering 23% of the company\u2019s workforce.<\/p>\nMeta to lay off 10% of its workforce<\/h2>\n
Nike announces 1,400 tech job layoffs<\/h2>\n
Snap to lay off 16% of its global workforce<\/h2>\n
GoPro to reduce its workforce by 23%<\/h2>\n