Tech layoffs in the spotlight again as 2024 kicks off with Xerox job cuts

By James Rogers and Nicole Lyn Pesce

The printer and copier maker announced plans to cut 15% of its workforce Wednesday

Tech layoffs are in the spotlight once again after Xerox Holdings Corp. announced plans to cut 15% of its workforce Wednesday.

Based on employee numbers disclosed in recent filings, Xerox (XRX) is expected to cut more than 3,000 jobs as the printer and copier maker implements a new operating model and organizational structure.

Related: Xerox targets cutting more than 3,000 jobs as part of reorganization, and stock extends losing streak

A host of tech companies - including Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. (META), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) - announced job cuts in 2023. Last year saw 1,183 tech companies lay off 261,997 employees globally, according to data compiled by the website Layoffs.fyi. That was up significantly from 2022, when 1,064 tech companies laid off 164,969 employees, according to the website.

"Massive layoffs are coming in 2024 has been a breakout query in Google searches in the past seven days, surging over 5,000% in that period, while "massive layoffs 2024" has also seen a more than 2,500% increase in searches in the past week. "Tech layoffs" has also been trending.

Related: Tech layoffs exceed 240,000 so far in 2023, more than 50% higher than in all of 2022

Xerox shares ended Wednesday's session down 12.2%, outpacing the S&P 500 index's SPX decline of 0.8%.

Tomi Kilgore contributed.

-James Rogers -Nicole Lyn Pesce

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01-03-24 1742ET

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