Tech Industry Kicked Off 2024 With Layoffs

The tech industry, which has experienced some volatility over the last few years, kicked off 2024 with employee layoffs.

Amazon announced layoffs of hundreds of employees from its streaming platform Twitch and its Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios business units.

Twitch CEO Dan Clancy announced the news in an internal memo, which he later published on Twitch’s blog. In the memo, Clancy states, “We’ve been working to build a more sustainable business so that Twitch will be here for the long run.” Last year, Twitch worked on cost control measures, and “it has become clear that our organization is still meaningfully larger than it needs to be given the size of our business.”

Mike Hopkins, senior vice president of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, advised in an internal letter that Amazon has “identified opportunities to reduce or discontinue investments in certain areas while increasing our investment and focus on content and product initiatives that deliver the most impact.”

Amazon is working with its impacted employees to offer job placement support, transitional benefits, and a separation payment, depending on country regulations.

Google is also laying off hundreds of employees globally from key product lines such as Google Assistant, FitBit, and Pixel. The current changes also include the departure of FitBit’s founders James Park and Eric Friedman.

The layoffs in Google’s product lines are at least partly a result of the shifting momentum toward investments in artificial intelligence. This is in line with Google’s strategy to integrate AI into more of its products.

In an effort to reduce the impact, Google is looking to move several of the affected employees into new roles. A spokesperson said Google is “responsibly investing in [the] company’s biggest priorities and the significant opportunities ahead.”

Beyond Google and Amazon, a number of other companies have also announced layoffs. Unity Software, a video game developer, is cutting approximately 25% of its workforce. Xerox Holdings targets to cut 15% of its workforce and Duolingo announced a 10% reduction in its contractors and will attempt to use AI to replace some of the work.