Several prominent technology companies have announced either hiring freezes or significant cuts in workforce this week, as the industry continues to grapple with difficult economic conditions.
Social media giant is said to be cutting half of its workforce on Friday, as new owner Elon Musk attempts to prune costs at his new company.
Musk emailed employees to say they would be told via email whether they were to lose their jobs, and many employees had already been locked out of their company emails by Thursday evening. Twitter is now facing a class-action lawsuit from former employees who claim they weren’t given enough notice under U.S. federal law that they’d lose their jobs.
But Twitter was not the only company announcing cuts this week. On Thursday, online payments firm Stripe announced it was laying off around 14% of its staff.
In an email to staff, CEO Patrick Collinson gave a stark and detailed explanation for the cuts. He said the looming recession, higher interest rates, tighter investment budgets, energy price fluctuations and less startup funding meant the cuts were necessary. He added that these factors meant “that 2022 represents the beginning of a different economic climate.”
Also on Thursday, CNBC reported that ride-hailing app Lyft would cut 13% of its workforce as CEO Logan Green and John Zimmer referenced “a probable recession sometime in the next year” in an email to employees. Lyft shares have fallen almost 68% so far this year, and its market cap is now under $5 billion.
Amazon also announced this week it will freeze any corporate hiring. “We’re facing an unusual macro-economic environment, and want to balance our hiring and investments with being thoughtful about this economy,” Beth Galetti, Senior Vice President of People Experience and Technology at Amazon wrote in a statement.