Fortnite parent company Epic Games in the spotlight as tech layoffs roll on

By James Rogers

More than 238,000 global technology-sector employees have been laid off since the beginning of 2023

Epic Games is the latest tech company in the layoffs spotlight, joining names like Cisco, Roku, Microsoft, Robinhood, LinkedIn, Spotify, Meta, Amazon, Dropbox, Electronic Arts, Palantir Technologies, Twilio, Zoom, eBay, Okta, Splunk, PayPal, IBM, SAP, Spotify, Alphabet, Intel, Coinbase and Salesforce.

More than 238,000 global technology-sector employees have been laid off since the start of 2023, according to data compiled by the website Layoffs.fyi.

Here's a look at the list of big names across a number of sectors that have been cutting back their workforces.

Epic Games

"Fortnite" parent company Epic Games Inc. announced on Sept. 28 it would be laying off 16% of its workforce, or 830 employees. About two-thirds of the layoffs were in teams outside of core development, the company said, in a statement released Thursday.

Cisco Systems

Networking giant Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) said it will lay off 350 employees in Silicon Valley in October, in its latest round of job cuts. The layoffs were revealed in a filing with California's Employment Development Department earlier in September.

Roku

In early September, streaming company Roku Inc. (ROKU) also announced plans to lay off 10% of its staff. According to its most recent annual filing, Roku had about 3,600 employees as of the end of 2022.

Related: Roku plans to lay off 10% of staff, boosts revenue outlook

Microsoft

Software giant Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) also returned to the layoffs spotlight in July.

The cuts targeted an unknown number of employees in customer service, support and sales, according to GeekWire. However, 276 workers in the Seattle area will lose their jobs, according to a filing with Washington state's Employment Security Department. The layoffs were in addition to the 10,000 job cuts the company announced earlier this year.

"Organizational and workforce adjustments are a necessary and regular part of managing our business," a Microsoft spokesperson said in an emailed statement in July. "We will continue to prioritize and invest in strategic growth areas for our future and in support of our customers and partners."

Robinhood

Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported that stock-trading app Robinhood Markets Inc. (HOOD) would be laying off around 7% of its full-time staff, or about 150 people. "We're ensuring operational excellence in how we work together on an ongoing basis," a Robinhood spokesperson told MarketWatch. "In some cases, this may mean teams make changes based on volume, workload, org design and more."

Related: Robinhood is laying off around 7% of staff, WSJ reports

Oracle

In June, Insider reported that Oracle Corp. (ORCL) laid off hundreds of employees, cut back open positions and rescinded job offers at its health unit. MarketWatch reached out to Oracle with a request for comment.

Spotify

In early June, Spotify Technology SA (SPOT) announced plans to lay off approximately 200 people, or 2% of the company's workforce. In a post, Sahar Elhabashi, head of Spotify's Podcast Business, said that the company was expanding its partnership efforts with leading podcasters from across the globe with "a tailored approach" optimized for each show and creator. "This fundamental pivot from a more uniform proposition will allow us to support the creator community better," she added. "However, doing so requires adapting; over the past few months, our senior leadership team has worked closely with HR to determine the optimal organization for this next chapter."

Alibaba

Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s (BABA) cloud unit also started cutting 7% of staff, Barron's reported in late May, citing a source familiar with the matter. News of the job cuts was first reported by Bloomberg.

Meta

Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. (META) also had its latest round of layoffs in late May, according to reports, marking the tech giant's third round of cuts this year. Meta declined to comment in response to a request from MarketWatch for confirmation of the latest layoffs. The company's second round of layoffs in April cut technical positions, according to LinkedIn posts. Meta is in the midst of cutting 21,000 jobs in 2023 as part of what CEO Mark Zuckerberg has described as a "year of efficiency" for the company.

"So far we've gone through two of the three waves of restructuring and layoffs that we had planned for this year -- in our recruiting and technical groups," Zuckerberg said during an April 26 conference call to discuss the company's first-quarter results.

Related: Oracle makes health unit layoffs, report says

In November, Meta announced that it would cut 11,000 employees, or about 13% of its workforce, in the first layoffs in the company's 18-year history. Zuckerberg took responsibility for the cuts, admitting to having expanded the company too quickly amid a pandemic-fueled surge in revenue.

LinkedIn

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)-owned LinkedIn announced plans to cut its workforce by more than 700 employees. The company is also getting rid of its local jobs app in China. "As we guide LinkedIn through this rapidly changing landscape, we are making changes to our Global Business Organization (GBO) and our China strategy that will result in a reduction of roles for 716 employees," wrote LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky, in an email to the company's employees that was also posted on the company's website.

Amazon

Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) made layoffs in Amazon Web Services and in its human-resources department, the company said in late April. "As you know, we recently made the difficult decision to eliminate some roles across Amazon globally, including within AWS," said Amazon Web Services CEO Adam Selipsky in a message sent to employees at the time. Conversations with affected employees have started and notification messages have been sent to all affected employees in the U.S., Canada and Costa Rica, he wrote. "In other regions, we are following local processes, which may include time for consultation with employee representative bodies and possibly result in longer timelines to communicate with impacted employees," he added.

Related: LinkedIn to lay off 700 workers and shut down its China app

In a message sent to employees in Amazon's People Experience and Technology unit, Beth Galetti, the company's senior vice president of PXT, said that additional roles were being eliminated within the PXT organization.

In March Amazon.com announced that it was eliminating another 9,000 jobs in addition to the 18,000 layoffs the company announced in January. In a memo to staff, Amazon Chief Executive Andy Jassy said the cuts would take place over the following few weeks and would primarily affect Amazon Web Services, People Experience and Technology Solutions, advertising and Twitch.

In a blog post, Dan Clancy, CEO of Amazon's Twitch subsidiary, said that just over 400 people would be laid off from the live-streaming service.

Dropbox

Online-storage company Dropbox Inc. (DBX) announced plans to cut 16% of its workforce, or about 500 employees. "While our business is profitable, our growth has been slowing," Dropbox CEO Drew Houston said in a late April letter to employees. "Part of this is due to the natural maturation of our existing businesses, but more recently, headwinds from the economic downturn have put pressure on our customers and, in turn, on our business."

Related: Amazon's stock dips 1% as another 9,000 layoffs announced

Electronic Arts

In late March, Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) announced its intention to slash 6% of its workforce. The videogame publisher is looking to cut costs, according to a note sent to employees at the end of March by CEO Andrew Wilson.

Related: Dropbox to cut 16% of staff, citing slowing growth and a need for AI-focused talent

According to EA's 10-K annual filing, the company had 12,900 employees as of March 31, 2022.

Related: EA laying off 6% of staff in cost-cutting push for videogame publisher

Other companies making layoffs in 2023 include Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR), Twilio Inc. (TWLO), Affirm Holdings Inc. (AFRM), Zoom Video Communications Inc. (ZM), eBay Inc. (EBAY), Dell Technologies Inc. (DELL) , Okta Inc. (OKTA), Splunk Inc. (SPLK), PayPal Holdings Inc. (PYPL), International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), SAP (SAP), Lam Research Corp. (LRCX), Google parent Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) (GOOG), Intel Corp. (INTC), Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN), Salesforce Inc. (CRM) and Kaltura Inc. (KLTR).

Tomi Kilgore, Mike Murphy, Anviksha Patel, Ciara Linnane, Levi Sumagaysay, Bill Peters, Jon Swartz and Emily Bary contributed.

-James Rogers

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09-29-23 0849ET

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