Factbox-Big Tech, media firms start off 2024 with fresh U.S. job cuts

(Reuters) – Big Tech and media companies in the U.S. have kicked off 2024 with fresh plans to cut jobs, signaling the spate of layoffs seen last year will likely continue as firms navigate persistent economic uncertainty.

Here are some of the job cuts announced by tech and media companies in January.

Amazon

Jan. 18 – The Buy with Prime unit laying off less than 5% of its employees.

Jan. 11 – Audiobook and podcast division Audible laying off 5% of its workforce, according to a memo from the head of the division.

Jan. 10 – Amazon set to lay off several hundred employees in its streaming and studio operations, extending job cuts into 2024.

Jan. 9 – Streaming unit Twitch to cut 35% of its staff, or about 500 workers, as reported by Bloomberg News.

Alphabet

Jan. 22 – X Lab, Alphabet’s division for developing new technology, laying off dozens of workers and turning to outside investors for funding.

Jan. 16 – Google, part of Alphabet, laying off hundreds of employees in its advertising sales team.

Jan. 11 – Google laying off hundreds of people across teams, including the hardware team responsible for Pixel, Nest and Fitbit, and the majority of those in the augmented reality team.

Salesforce

Jan. 26 – Salesforce laying off about 700 employees, roughly 1% of its global workforce, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Microsoft

Jan. 25 – Microsoft set to lay off 1,900 employees at Activision Blizzard and Xbox.

Paramount Global

Jan. 25 – Paramount Global plans an unspecified number of layoffs, aims to become a leaner organization.

Business Insider

Jan. 25 – Business Insider plans to lay off around 8% of its staff, according to CEO Barbara Peng.

IBM

Jan. 24 – IBM plans to lay off some employees in 2024, but will hire more for AI-centered roles, likely ending the year with its headcount unchanged.

Aurora Innovation

Jan. 24 – Autonomous vehicle technology company Aurora Innovation said it had cut 3% of its workforce as part of a reorganization exercise.

eBay

Jan. 23 – eBay plans to cut about 1,000 roles, or around 9% of its current workforce.

Los Angeles Times

Jan. 23 – The Los Angeles Times plans to lay off 94 journalists who are members of the newspaper’s union.

Walt Disney

Jan. 11 – Pixar Animation Studios, part of Walt Disney, set to cut jobs after completing production on some shows and having more staff than needed.

Unity Software

Jan. 8 – Videogame software provider Unity Software plans to lay off approximately 25% of its workforce, to cut around 1,800 jobs.

(Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala, Harshita Mary Varghese and Priyanka.G in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)