The Scoop #12: Layoffs Upon Layoffs
The Scoop #12: Layoffs Upon Layoffs
13 tech-related layoffs the past week: and counting. What is happening, why, and how long will this last?
The Scoop is a bonus series, covering patterns and trends I’ve heard within big tech and high-growth startups. Send me tips over a DM on Twitter or one on LinkedIn. I treat tips as anonymous.
It’s been one of the most eventful weeks in the tech market since starting the newsletter - but in a bad way. Layoff after layoff announcement came in at companies where hundreds of people - some of them in tech - were laid off. I’ve been talking with well over a dozen people in tech who were let go, most of them sharing stories of how all this came out of the blue, and feelings of disbelief and shock.
This issue attempts to take stock at some of the bigger layoffs, and answer how we got here, and what to expect. We cover:
Monday: layoffs at Klarna. In a surprise to employees, Klarna laid off ~700 employees, about 10% of staff. Exclusive details from inside the layoffs, how it affected tech workers, and what could have been done better according to staff.
Tuesday: layoffs at instant delivery services. Gorillas, Getir and Zapp all executed layoffs almost at the same time, and are all scaling back their ambitions.
Wednesday: layoffs at Bolt. Months after their competitor Fast went bankrupt, one-click checkout service Bolt executed large layoffs, letting go of many software engineers and tech people. Details.
More layoffs with tech people let go. It’s been a whirlwind of layoffs across companies and continents. A summary of 8 more companies which laid off staff just the past week.
Hiring freezes. More companies are hitting the brakes and doing what is hoped to not have to lay people off later.
What happened and what will happen next? Why the surge in layoffs this week? What does this indicate for the future? What are companies likely to have to lay people off, which ones are “safe havens” in this sense and why?
The start of a down-up-down-up market? Opinions from a Head of Recruitment and a CTO.