The tech industry's wave of layoffs shows no signs of slowing down as we enter the latter half of March 2024. Major players across the sector are still downsizing their workforces as economic headwinds persist. Here are the top 5 tech companies that made significant job cuts this month. Ericsson to lay off 1,200 as 5G demand slows Swedish telecom giant Ericsson announced on March 25 that it will lay off about 1,200 employees in its home country amid slowed demand for 5G network equipment. The cuts are part of a broader cost-saving plan for 2024 that also includes reducing consultants, streamlining processes, and trimming facilities. Ericsson cited expectations of a "challenging mobile networks market" this year with further volume contraction as customers remain cautious on spending. The company had nearly 100,000 employees globally at the end of 2023 after laying off 8,500 workers, or 8% of its workforce, last year to cut costs. Dell reduces workforce amid cost-cutting push Dell Technologies has trimmed its workforce as part of broader cost-cutting measures that also involved limiting external hiring and reorganising employees, the company disclosed in a March 25 filing. As of February 2, Dell's headcount stood at nearly 1,20,000, down from about 1,26,000 a year prior. The layoffs follow a period of sluggish demand for Dell's PCs that contributed to an 11% drop in Q4 revenue. While expecting its client solutions unit housing PCs to grow revenue this year, Dell cautioned about near-term challenges and rising input costs. Apple shutters microLED display project, dozens laid off In a move that marks the end of another costly R&D initiative (after the Apple Car division), Apple has ceased its internal efforts to develop microLED displays for a future Apple Watch model, according to a Bloomberg report on March 22. The displays, promising brighter and more vibrant visuals, proved too complex and expensive to pursue further. As a result, Apple has reorganized its display engineering teams and laid off several dozen employees across the United States and Asia. While some affected workers may find new roles internally, others face being let go with severance packages. IBM slashes marketing and communications staff In a roughly seven-minute meeting on March 12, IBM's chief communications officer Jonathan Adashek informed employees in the marketing and communications division of impending job cuts, according to a CNBC report citing a source familiar with the matter. The layoffs are part of IBM's latest "workforce rebalancing" efforts, following the company's announcement last August of plans to replace nearly 8,000 roles with AI technologies. IBM has stated it expects to end 2024 with a global workforce roughly the same size as it began the year. Turnitin cuts staff as CEO sees AI reducing headcount The plagiarism detection firm Turnitin laid off around 15 people earlier this year as part of organisational changes, TechCrunch reported on March 7. The cuts are noteworthy given CEO Chris Caren's comments last year that AI would enable Turnitin to reduce its engineering headcount by 20% within 18 months. Caren had stated that out of the company's few hundred engineers at the time, they would eventually "need 20% of those number of people" thanks to AI-driven efficiencies. Turnitin uses machine learning to scan for plagiarised content in student writings. Summing up, workforce reductions appear to be an inescapable reality for now. As if economic uncertainties weren't enough, employees now also face the looming threat of generative AI. The coming months will likely see more names join this undesirable list.
