The year 2024 has not been kind to the job market, with several companies announcing layoffs in the first 10 days of the year already. The reasons for these layoffs vary, but most companies cite the need to cut costs and streamline operations.
Here are some of the most significant layoffs announced as of January 9, 2024.
BlackRock
One of the most significant layoffs in 2024 could be carried out by BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager. The investment firm reportedly plans to lay off almost 600 of its employees, which amounts to 3% of its global workforce.
The layoffs have not been officially announced yet, but this could happen “in the coming days,” Fox Business reports. Citing a source familiar with the matter, Fox Business writes that, internally, the layoffs are being described as “routine.”
Dualigno
Duolingo Inc., the company behind one of the world’s most popular language-learning apps, has recently “offboarded” around 10% of its contractors, a spokesperson told Bloomberg on January 8.
“We just no longer need as many people to do the type of work some of these contractors were doing. Part of that could be attributed to AI,” said the spokesperson.
As Bloomberg highlights, the move is indicative of the broader trend in the industry, where companies are increasingly relying on AI tools to automate various tasks that were traditionally handled by human workers.
Xerox
Xerox, the American multinational document management corporation, announced last week that it will cut its workforce by 15%.
The cuts will take place as part of “a new operating model and organizational structure to further the company’s Reinvention,” Xerox writes in a press release announcing the move.
Unity
On January 8, popular game engine maker Unity announced its plans to lay off 1,800 employees, or about 25% of its workforce.
In the Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the software company writes that it’s making the move “as it restructures and refocuses on its core business, and to position itself for long-term and profitable growth.”
NuScale Power
Another company that announced layoffs on January 8 is NuScale Power, a nuclear power company based in Portland, Oregon — the “industry-leading provider of proprietary and innovative advanced small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear technology,” as the company describes itself.
Citing the need to reduce costs and streamline operations, NuScale said it will terminate 154 full-time employees, or about 28% of its full-time workforce.
The cuts are “projected to result in approximately $50-60 million in annualized savings,” NuScale writes in a press release announcing the cuts.
Lazada
Lazada, the Southeast Asian e-commerce giant owned by Alibaba, has also reportedly retrenched workers from January 3 to 5. The cuts were made “suddenly” and affected about 100 employees, according to Channel News Asia.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, Tech in Asia reports that the company is expected to cut up to 30% of its workforce across different markets.
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Telefonica
Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica plans to lay off about 5,100 employees by 2026, the company told unions, Reuters reported in December 2023, citing a UGT union spokesperson.
According to the spokesperson, Spain’s largest telecommunications company, which has around 21,000 employees in Spain and over 103,000 globally, has “based the decision on productivity, organization and technical reasons.”
Thermo Fisher Scientific
An American biotechnology product development company, Thermo Fisher Scientific will close its Petaluma facility in California as the ten-year lease on it expires in February, cutting 74 jobs.
According to a spokesperson, the company decided not to renew the lease due to its “ongoing effort” to “continuously evaluate its global operations to identify opportunities to improve efficiency and effectiveness in meeting our customers’ needs.”
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own, not those of Impakter.com — In the Featured Photo: Dualingo app. Featured Photo Credit: Ajay Suresh/CC BY 2.0 DEED.
