BRUTAL JOB CUTS JANUARY: More than 55,000 tech workers are being laid off as Microsoft, Google, and others make deep cuts

• Microsoft, Google, and Salesforce have all announced layoffs this year.
• Companies indicated they're reversing course after previously over-hiring.
• All told, some 55,300 employees from more than a 154 tech companies have been affected this year.

Barely three weeks into the new year, tens of thousands of Big Tech employees are staring down the barrel of unemployment. 

Microsoft said it's letting go of 10,000 workers over the next few months, while Google will let go of 12,000 employees. Amazon meanwhile has begun its biggest cuts ever, with plans to lay off 18,000 this year.

All told, more than 55,300 employees from more than a 154 tech companies have been affected by layoffs in 2023, according to Layoffs.fyi, a layoff tracking site.

To justify the job losses, CEOs like Google's Sundar Pichai and Salesforce's Marc Benioff have repeated the refrain of a slowing economy, framing the layoffs as a necessary backtrack after the over-hiring of two years ago. 

Pichai told employees on Friday that Google had "hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today," echoing Benioff's message earlier this month to Salesforce staff that "we hired too many people leading into this economic downturn we're now facing, and I take responsibility for that." 

2023's cuts were foreshadowed at the end of last year, as some giants began slashing numbers.

Twitter's massive layoffs followed its own theme, with Elon Musk marking his takeover of the platform in October with cuts to thousands of employees.

Others like Meta, Coinbase, and Robinhood also laid off workers last year, with Meta announcing in November that it plans to let go of more than 11,000 employees. 

The domino-style wave of layoffs across the industry has also presented another narrative — one of a perhaps more calculated effort by companies looking to cut costs not just by reducing headcount, but also by putting pressure on bonuses and wages.

Insider previously reported that Microsoft, for instance, is offering 30% less to prospective hires and that Snap is taking longer for its yearly assessment of its own compensation.  

The layoffs foreshadow more cuts and potential pay reductions in store for workers this year. After all, it's only January. 

Read Insider's coverage of the latest wave of tech layoffs: 

Google is laying off around 12,000 workers as tech giants continue to slash jobs. Read CEO Sundar Pichai's email to staff.

Microsoft employees are bracing for more layoffs

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Microsoft held an invite-only Sting concert for execs in Davos the day before the company announced layoffs of 10,000 employees

Read the emails Amazon's HR and retail bosses sent to employees as its largest layoff in company history starts

An average 1,600 tech workers have been laid off every day of 2023 so far

Salesforce says it's cutting about 10% of its employees and closing some offices