Tech Industry Hit By Mass Layoffs: Intel, Cisco, IBM, And Apple Cut Over 27,000 Jobs

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Tech companies in August 2024 continued their wave of job cuts with over 27,000 employees from more than 40 companies. This includes major names like Intel, IBM and Cisco facing layoffs. This adds to the growing total of the year with over 136,000 tech workers laid off by 422 companies so far. Here's a closer look at the major tech layoffs that took place in August.

1. Intel: Intel is set to lay off 15,000 employees, accounting for over 15 per cent of its workforce as part of a 10 billion dollars cost-cutting plan for 2025. The decision comes after a disappointing second-quarter earnings report. Between 2020 and 2023, Intel's annual revenue dropped by 24 billion dollars. CEO Pat Gelsinger said, “Intel’s revenue growth shortfall is attributed to high costs and low margins, despite our leadership in the CPU chip revolution 25 years ago."

2. Cisco Systems: Cisco Systems is cutting around 6,000 jobs, about 7 per cent of its global workforce as the company refocuses on AI and cybersecurity. This marks the second major round of layoffs for Cisco this year. This marks the company’s second significant round of layoffs this year, with CEO Chuck Robbins commenting that, “Cisco is optimistic about rebounding demand for our networking equipment.”

3. IBM: IBM has decided to close its research and development operations in China which resulted in over 1,000 layoffs. The company stated that it will now focus on serving private enterprises and select multinational companies within the Chinese market.

4. Infineon: German chipmaker has announced the layoff of 1,400 employees and plans to relocate another 1,400 jobs to countries with lower labor costs. CEO Jochen Hanebeck explained the move, stating, "The slow recovery in target markets is due to prolonged weak economic momentum and excess inventory levels."

5. GoPro: The action camera manufacturer is laying off approximately 140 employees, or 15 per cent of its workforce, as part of an effort to reduce operating costs by 50 million dollars.

6. Apple: Apple has laid off around 100 employees from its services group which includes teams from the Apple Books app and Apple Bookstore. Earlier this year, the company cut 600 jobs from its Special Projects Group and closed a 121-person AI team in San Diego in January.

7. Dell Technologies: It has been reported that the company may have laid off around 12,500 employees which accounts for 10 per cent of its global workforce. However, the company has not yet confirmed these layoffs.