Over 81,000 American workers lost their jobs in January due to major layoffs carried out by some of the biggest companies in the US, including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Salesforce. The rise in inflation and fears of a potential recession has caused more than 120 US companies to implement massive job cuts in the past year.
In January, the largest cuts were made by Amazon, which let go of 18,000 employees after their November layoffs, due to the uncertain economy after the rapid growth during the Covid-19 pandemic. Google, part of Alphabet, also announced plans to eliminate 12,000 jobs globally. Microsoft, too, reduced its workforce by 10,000 employees amid the changing business landscape.
Other tech firms, including NetApp, PayPal, Salesforce, and HubSpot, also carried out layoffs due to macroeconomic challenges and reduced consumer spending. The financial sector was also impacted, with Capital One and Goldman Sachs cutting headcounts by 1,100 and 3,200, respectively.
Cryptocurrency companies like Crypto.com, Gemini, and Coinbase also laid off employees. The trend of job cuts carried on into February with Rivian, FedEx, and DraftKings announcing staff reductions, while Pinterest and Impossible Foods let go of a portion of their workers.
The number of job cuts in the US has reached 125,000 since June, according to Forbes’ layoff tracker.
