If you’ve faced redundancy in the last few years, you’re far from alone. The COVID-19 pandemic was a period of intense job instability for many of the world’s workers; at home in the UK, the redundancy rate rose to a record high in the first few months of the crisis.
Every industry was impacted in some way, but Big Tech, in particular, caught the global limelight after hiring en masse — responding to the public’s new reliance on technology when working from home — and subsequently laying off excess workers in huge swathes when the bubble burst.
But the world of tech extends far beyond U.S.-based giants like Amazon, Meta and Apple. This got us thinking: from the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 to 2024, which tech companies around the world have been responsible for the biggest layoff events regarding the number of employees who lost their jobs?
To find out, BusinessFinancing.co.uk analysed figures from Layoffs.fyi to isolate the biggest tech company layoff events since 2020 per country and per continent based on the number of employees laid off.
KEY FINDINGS
- Intel‘s August 2024 layoff of 15,000 employees is the biggest in tech since 2020, followed closely by Google‘s layoff of 12.000 employees in January 2023.
- When considering the number of employees laid off, six of the biggest layoff events in tech since 2020 were made by American companies.
- Swedish company Ericsson saw the biggest layoff event of any European tech company when it laid off 8,500 employees in February 2023.
- In the UK, Getir made the biggest layoff in August 2023 when it laid off 2,500 workers.
Mapped: The Tech Companies That Have Had the Biggest Layoffs Since 2020
Our map below reveals the local tech companies in 50 countries that have let the most people go in a single layoff event since 2020.
UPDATE August 2024:
These are the biggest layoff events in tech since 2020 when considering the number of employees laid off:
| Company | Number of Employees Laid Off | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Intel | 15,000 | August 2024 |
| 12,000 | January 2023 | |
| Meta | 11,000 | September 2022 |
| Microsoft | 10,000 | January 2023 |
| Amazon | 10,000 | November 2022 |
The Biggest North American Layoff Events in Tech Were by U.S. Companies
Our graphic below of North American tech companies with the biggest layoffs since 2020 is made up entirely of U.S.-based Big Tech firms.
Major layoffs in Big Tech followed a period of intense hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, for example, hired 30,300 employees in the first nine months of 2022 before the major layoff event of early 2023. Amazon hired more than half a million additional employees between September 2019 and September 2022 before laying off 10,000 workers in November 2022, an event that impacted 3% of its workforce and ranks as the fourth-largest in our ranking above.
Google was responsible for the biggest layoff event on the map, when 12,000 global employees (or 6% of its workforce) were let go in January 2023. Commenting on the impact of the event, CEO Sundar Pichai later said: “This is difficult for any company to go through … At Google, we really haven’t had a moment quite like that in 25 years.”
The Biggest South American Layoff Events in Tech Were by Brazilian Companies
Brazilian firms dominate when ranking the top South American tech companies by the number of employees laid off in layoff events. Card machine company Stone leads: in December 2020, the São Paulo-based firm announced it was to lay off 1,300 workers (or 20% of its workforce) as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, promising its laid-off workers an extended health plan, food assistance, technology and a LinkedIn Premium subscription to help them find a new job.
After that, three other Brazilian firms laid off 500 employees apiece in single layoff events. For courier delivery firm Loggi, however, that translated to a 15% reduction in its workforce. Meanwhile, three separate layoff events by the real estate unicorn company Loft make the ranking, the most significant of which saw 384 workers laid off in May 2022. The company’s co-founder Mate Pencz announced that many of these layoffs were in the credit area following the firm’s purchase of CredHome.
Sweden’s Ericsson Firm Responsible for the Biggest Layoff Event of Any European Tech Company
The largest tech layoff event in Europe was made by Swedish telecommunications firm Ericsson, which laid off 8,500 workers in February 2022. The layoff — which dropped approximately 8% of the firm’s global workforce — was part of a plan to cut $860 million in costs. Two German companies rank next, each having laid off 8,000 employees in separate events. In doing so, the delivery startup Flink laid off 40% of its workforce. It ranks as the biggest layoff event by any food delivery startup company.
Speaking of food delivery companies, Getir is the UK’s top tech firm ranked by the number of employees laid off in a single event: 2,500 in August 2023. Having gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, the firm saw an increase in competition when big-name brands like Tesco and Sainsbury’s began to offer their own quick delivery services. As of April 2024, the firm is expected to withdraw entirely from the UK market. UK fashion firm Farfetch places ninth thanks to a February 2024 layoff of 2,000 employees.
Nigerian Tech Companies Have Had the Biggest Layoffs Events in Africa
In November 2022, Nigerian online retailer Jumia laid off 900 employees in a single event — more than any other tech company in Africa. This event affected 20% of the firm’s workforce across 11 markets. It was enacted as part of a “streamlining effort” by the business, also known as the first technology company in Africa to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Two other Nigerian tech firms rank next: B2B e-commerce firm Alerzo (400 employees) and fintech brand Renmoney (391 employees).
In fourth place comes the Kenyan e-commerce platform Copia, which laid off 350 workers in July 2023 to reduce labour costs and maximise profits. Twiga, another Kenyan e-commerce platform, appears twice in the list with two separate layoff events, the most significant of which occurred in August 2023 when 283 employees — or a third of the firm’s workforce — were laid off. Twiga’s co-founder and CEO, Peter Njonjo, cited the declining purchasing power of customers and the increased cost of capital as reasons.
Five Israeli Tech Companies Have Had Major Layoff Events since 2020
Looking at tech companies based in the Middle East and Central Asia, Israeli firm SolarEdge comes top, having laid off 900 employees in January 2024. The move — which affected 16% of the company’s workforce — was made to reduce operating costs in light of reduced demand for its solar power technology. Playtika, another Israeli company, comes next with the most major of its three layoff events in our ranking (600 workers in December 2022), an event which saw 15% of staff lose their jobs.
After that comes UAE-based firm Careem’s layoff of 536 employees in May 2020, the earliest of the layoff events in our ranking. This Uber-owned rideshare company was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw business drop by 80%. Two years later, in May 2022, another UAE tech firm held a major layoff event: in a bid “to turn cash flow positive,” transit company SWVL laid off 400 workers — or one in three employees — proportionately across its several markets.
Six Indian Companies Have Made Major Layoffs since 2020
Next, we analysed the tech companies in the rest of Asia and Oceania that have had the biggest layoff events since 2020. Indian companies dominate the ranking, led by Byju’s, which laid off 2,500 employees — or 5% of its overall workforce — in one October 2022 event. The educational technology company commented it would “reevaluate” any employees who failed to find another job within 12 months and potentially rehire them. The firm laid off 1,500 more employees a few months later, in February 2023.
Also in October 2022, the Singapore-based crypto exchange company Crypto.com laid off 2,000 employees, the second-most major layoff event in this ranking. This came in the midst of the so-called Crypto Winter, the dramatic decline in the value of popular cryptocurrencies like LUNA. Insiders believe Crypto.com was hit harder than any other cryptocurrency exchange thanks to the CEO and founder’s “overambitious” expansion plans.
Tech Layoffs Going Forward
While the world’s attention may have focused primarily on the layoffs made by big-name U.S. companies, our analysis shows that tech firms worldwide have laid off hundreds or even thousands of employees since 2020. COVID-19 may have triggered the trend, but layoffs across the industry are continuing into 2024, a year after WHO declared an end to COVID-19 as a public health emergency.
Artificial intelligence is part of it. According to one estimate, 4,600 workers have been laid off by U.S. companies since May 2023 because of AI in some way. Some companies, like Swedish fintech firm Klarna, have announced hiring freezes as they explore ways of automating work with artificial intelligence, a technology Klarna already uses to replace the work of 700 full-time human workers.
Looking forward, here’s what the IMF predicts for the future of AI in the workplace: “In advanced economies, about 60 percent of jobs may be impacted by AI. Roughly half the exposed jobs may benefit from AI integration, enhancing productivity. For the other half, AI applications may execute key tasks currently performed by humans, which could lower labor demand, leading to lower wages and reduced hiring. In the most extreme cases, some of these jobs may disappear.”
Methodology
Our analysis is based on figures published on Layoffs.fyi, detailing major layoff announcements per country since 2020.
We isolated the biggest layoff announcement per country and the top 10 per continent, according to the number of employees announced as being laid off by a company in one event.
Where the information was available, ties on the total number of laid-off employees were separated by whichever layoff was equivalent to a larger percentage of the workforce.
Our data is correct as of March 2024.
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