Bay Area tech layoffs soared to their highest quarterly total in over a year, an ominous sign the crucial sector’s wrenching cutbacks have yet to run their course.
Tech companies revealed plans to chop well over 7,000 jobs in the Bay Area during the April-through-June period of this year, according to this news organization’s compilation of official notices that employers sent to the state labor agency.
In the first quarter of 2023, tech companies disclosed plans to slash 10,154 jobs in the Bay Area, which was the worst three-month period since the tech industry began its current quest to jettison workers in a quest for efficiency and an improved bottom line.
The tech industry’s layoffs have continued in recent days.
During the final two weeks of June alone, tech companies notified the state Employment Development Department of their respective decisions to cut more than 500 jobs, a review of recent layoff notices shows.
Here are the details of the latest layoffs in the tech industry, based on WARN notices sent to the state:
- Lacework, a cloud and software security company, 180 job cuts in Mountain View
- Moxion Power, a green energy and battery firm, 101 layoffs in Richmond
- Planet Labs PBC, a global imaging tech company, 98 staff reductions in San Francisco
- Lockheed Martin Space, a satellite technology and defense contractor, 68 job cuts in Sunnyvale
- AT&T, a telecommunications titan, 56 layoffs in San Ramon
- Thought Stream, a software company doing business as Bluescape, 35 staff reductions in Redwood City
All of the layoffs were described as permanent. The Thought Stream job cuts arose from the company’s decision to permanently close a Redwood City facility.
As the coronavirus erupted worldwide in 2020, wide-ranging business shutdowns prompted countless people to work from home or other remote locations. The shift away from the office unleashed a demand for services and hardware.
Now, more people have returned to work on-site, in stores and at restaurants, a trend that has caused demand for tech services and products to cool greatly.
As a result, tech companies are seeking ways to trim expenses, rein in staffing levels and reduce their corporate footprints. That has caused layoffs to spike.
In 2022, 2023, and the first half of 2024, tech companies revealed plans to eliminate more than 44,900 jobs in the Bay Area, the analysis of WARN notices sent to the state shows.
The 44,900 tech layoffs in the Bay Area consist of about 10,300 job cuts in 2022, nearly 21,600 layoffs in 2023 and about 13,000 staffing reductions by the high-tech sector during the first half of 2024, according to the WARN letters on file with the state EDD.
