Tech companies laid off more in 2022 than at the height of the pandemic

Tech companies are laying off employees at a faster pace than at any time during the pandemic in 2020, according to a survey by the website Layoffs.fyi.

Collectively, the companies cut more than 150,000 jobs in 2022, the website says. In comparison, during the most critical moment of the pandemic, between March and December 2020, there were 80,000 layoffs. In 2021, there were 15,000 resignations.

The site’s estimates, which are not official, take into account the dismissal of more than 20,000 employees that the giants Meta and Amazon carried out last year. The number also includes layoffs from smaller companies.

For years, tech companies have aggressively grown their workforce amid rising revenues and stock values. Many of these companies have benefited from digitalization during the pandemic.

Now those same companies are laying off employees, implementing hiring freezes, amid cost-cutting moves as the US economy deteriorates.

Despite the high volume of dismissals, another survey, by the recruitment service ZipRecruiter, points out that 79% of dismissed employees found new jobs within three months.

With information from Valor Econômico