A number of United States (US) and Canadian companies, mostly in sectors such as technology and media, are starting 2024 by laying off employees. This step was taken in an effort to reduce costs amidst an uncertain economy. Quoting Reuters, Saturday (10/2/2024), here is an overview of the layoffs that have been announced so far in 2024: Sector Technology – Amazon, layoffs include less than 5% of employees at its Buy with Prime unit, 5% at its audiobook and podcast division Audible, several hundred at its streaming and studio operations, 35% at its streaming unit Twitch and several hundred at its healthcare units One Medical and Amazon Pharmacy. – Alphabet, cutting dozens of employees in its new technology development division X Lab, hundreds in its advertising sales team, hundreds across teams, including the hardware team responsible for Pixel, Nest, and Fitbit, and a majority in the augmented reality team. – Microsoft, cutting about 1,900 jobs in its Activision Blizzard and Xbox gaming divisions. – IBM, unveils new plans to lay off some employees by 2024, but will hire more for AI-centric roles. – eBay, plans to cut about 1,000 jobs, or about 9% of its current workforce. – Unity Software, preparing to cut about 25% of its workforce, or 1,800 jobs. – DocuSign, plans to reduce 6% of its current workforce or about 400 employees, with the majority of layoffs in its sales and marketing organization. – Snap, plans to cut about 528 jobs, or 10% of its global workforce. – Salesforce, laid off about 700 employees, or about 1% of its global workforce. – Cisco plans to restructure its business, including laying off thousands of employees. – Aurora Innovation, laid off 3% of its workforce. Read Also Profile of the Hung-A Cikarang Tire Factory which went Viral Due to the Layoff of Thousands of Employees Media Sector – Walt Disney’s, Pixar Animation Studios will cut jobs as the studio has finished production on several shows and has more staff than needed. – Comcast, British media group Sky plans to cut around 1,000 jobs across its businesses this year. – The Los Angeles Times plans to lay off 94 journalists who are members of the newspaper’s union. – Paramount Global, plans to carry out an unspecified number of layoffs. – Business Insider plans to lay off about 8% of its staff. – Bell Canada, plans to cut 4,800 jobs. Financial Services Sector – PayPal Holdings, plans to cut about 2,500 jobs, or 9% of its global workforce this year. – Block Inc, has begun cutting unspecified jobs as part of a previously disclosed plan. – Citigroup plans to reduce the number of employees by 20,000 people over the next two years. – Nasdaq, unveiled new plans to cut hundreds of jobs as it integrates fintech company Adenza into its business. – BlackRock, will cut about 3% of its current workforce, although it expects to have a larger headcount by the end of 2024. Consumer and Retail Sector – Estee Lauder, unveils new plans to cut 3% to 5% of its global workforce. – Wayfair, plans to lay off 1,650 employees or around 13% of its workforce. – US department store chain Macy’s, by cutting 2,350 jobs and closing five stores. – Levi Strauss & Co, plans to cut 10% to 15% of global corporate jobs. – Hershey, plans a restructuring that will impact less than 5% of its workforce.