1 – Amazon: more than 18,000 employees
To begin with, the most important redundancy plan of the past twelve months is undoubtedly that of Amazon. It must be said that the group is also one of the main employers in the world alongside Foxconn, so that only 5% of its payroll is equivalent to more than 18,000 thanked positions. Among the teams impacted by this event, we find not only those who work in the store but also members of customer service.
Amazon has recently been led by Andy Jassy, previously head of the firm’s AWS department, which focuses on data and website hosting. The number one succeeds Jeff Bezos, who has now set out to conquer space with Blue Origin’s reusable rockets.
2 – Google: 12,000 employees
Your favorite search engine is not spared by the crisis either, with a total of 12,000 jobs deleted. If the figure is not surprising in view of those of the competition, it is however the preferred technique for choosing the employees to be “fired” which worries: some evoke the case of “The Hunger Games” fair. Alphabet was already renowned for its particularly selective recruitment process and this should not improve its reputation in this area…
3 – Meta: 11,000 employees
Unsurprisingly, Meta has also had to impose a wave of layoffs to counter a relatively haphazard positioning since its name change. The parent company of Messenger, Facebook, Instagram, VR Quest headsets and WhatsApp is now focusing on the virtual realitywhich clearly does not please all shareholders.
With this, the first social network in the world in terms of number of users must also deal with a massive decline. The youngest now prefer TikTok and Snapchat, even if Instagram and WhatsApp remain among the most popular apps on the App Store and on the Google Play Store.
Meta Quest helmet © Lemon squeezer
4 – Microsoft: 10,000 employees
This week, Microsoft fired 10,000 employees for several reasons. The main driver of decision, according to the direction, would be the reduction of the costs. Information that coincides with the effects of inflation, particularly felt in Europe and especially in Ireland where Redmond has its quarters. Despite everything, the developer ensures that he wants to continue investing, especially in artificial intelligence.
Microsoft is currently the third largest valuation on Wall Street, ahead of Alphabet but behind Apple and Saudi Aramco.
5 – Salesforce: 8,000 employees
The first CRM in market share, Salesforce, for its part had to part with 8,000 employees after a serious drop in the stock market. After having paid for the highest tower in San Francisco and nothing less than the professional messaging platform Slack, the group’s price has gone from more than 300 dollars on the NYSE at the end of 2021 to half less today.
HubSpotwhose value is about ten times less, was also losing momentum but still gained nearly fifteen points on the East Coast stock market in recent days.
6 – Uber: 6,700 employees
It was not in 2022, but during the momentum of the covid a little earlier: Uber thanked no less than 3,700 employees during the confinement period. Several prime markets such as France then caused the VTC app to lose millions of dollars over the period. Fortunately, countries more respectful of individual freedoms regarding quarantine have enabled the publisher to survive.
7 – Booking: 4,375 employees
For its part, Booking.com and its hotel reservations are also at the origin of many departures caused again by the coronavirus pandemic. The company, headquartered in Amsterdam, also offers to buy plane tickets and rent cars at the airport. Its main competitor, namely Airbnb, remains less popular but more favored by the youngest.
8 – Cisco: 4,100 employees
In eighth place in our ranking, we find the publisher of SAAS Cisco. Now also an expert in cybersecurity, the firm had to fire more than 4,000 employees in December. This represents 5% of its total workforce, but we also know that the company continues to recruit. The restructuring was approved by Chuck Robbins, CEO since John Chambers stepped down in May 2015.
9 – Twitter: 3,700 employees
Of course, how can we talk about major layoffs in 2022 without mentioning the case of Twitter. The social network, just acquired by Elon Musk, not only had to face an unprecedented wave of resignations following the arrival of the director of Tesla at its head, but also to the whims of this one. After taking power, the American billionaire indeed decided to wipe off the map many of his new collaborators before finally calling them back to the front…
10 – Better.com: 3,000 employees
Inactive in France, Better.com is a company specializing in mortgage loans in the United States. Last on our list, the ex-startup was worth four billion dollars in 2020 but will also have experienced a difficult period with in particular the postponement of the date of its IPO to March 2023.
