Over 20,000 tech employees have been laid off in 2024, as reported by layoffs.fyi.
Big Tech companies are focusing heavily on AI, leading to a hiring boom in this sector and layoffs in other areas.
Google, under CEO Sundar Pichai, is redirecting investments towards AI, leading to job cuts.
Other tech giants like Microsoft and Amazon are also investing heavily in AI, impacting their workforce dynamics.
Non-tech sectors are also experiencing job cuts as companies pivot towards AI-driven strategies.
The year 2024 has marked a significant shift in the technology industry’s employment landscape. According to layoffs.fyi, over 20,000 tech workers have already faced layoffs this year. This trend is primarily driven by the increasing focus of Big Tech companies on artificial intelligence (AI). Firms like Google are reallocating resources and investments towards AI, leading to job cuts in other areas.
Dan Ives from Wedbush Securities highlights the contrasting scenarios in the tech world: while AI sectors witness a hiring frenzy, other segments brace for layoffs. Google CEO Sundar Pichai has also warned of more job cuts as the company intensifies its investment in AI. This move, as seen with Google’s job reductions earlier this month, is in response to the growing competition, particularly from Microsoft’s integration of ChatGPT into Bing and Amazon’s aggressive AI investments.
Tech layoffs 2024 bleed into other areas
The broader impact of this shift is not limited to the tech industry. Companies outside the tech sector are also trimming their workforce to focus more on AI-driven business strategies. Examples include Vroom, an online used-car marketplace, planning to cut about 800 jobs to concentrate on AI services, and Duolingo reducing its contractor workforce for AI-driven content creation. These developments suggest a major realignment in job dynamics across various sectors, underlining the growing influence of AI in the global business landscape.
