Layoffs Are Becoming Common

Layoffs related to lower customer demand are just beginning and the short-term pain for those impacted and the hit to the consumer sentiment will be fast and ugly. Past discretionary income has become a tug of war between new non-discretionary inflation spending on food, gas, and other essentials vs. the little “treat yourself” moments for a $7 Starbucks or a night at the movies.

Over time these issues will sort themselves out when the supply and demand equilibrium evens out which is inevitable. The biggest reason it is so screwed up is because of externalities which are ALWAYS the root cause of marketplace disruption. If you don’t believe us – just ask Uncle Milt:

Announcements of layoffs, hiring freezes and rescinded job offers have roiled the tech industry and startup community for several months. Now companies across multiple sectors are making staff cuts as executives worry about a possible recession and weigh “all manner of adverse near-term effects on their businesses,” Puck writes. Despite those mounting signs of economic trouble, CNBC notes that overall employer demand for workers “remains extremely high” and that layoffs are “near historical lows.”

• This year’s layoffs have ushered in a new trend, reports The Wall Street Journal: announcing a job loss on social media. The reason is twofold — to share about the experience and also to network with recruiters.
• Some tips for navigating your career during uncertain times can be found here.

Firms that have announced layoffs since the beginning of July include:

• Canadian e-commerce platform Shopify is laying off about 1,000 employees, 10% of its workforce.
• New York City-based visual collaboration platform InVision announced layoffs and a CEO change in a LinkedIn post.
• Wearable-tech maker Whoop is laying off 15% of its 630-person workforce, while rowing-tech company Hydrow is cutting 35% of its staff. Both companies are based in Boston.
• Food tech startup Lunchbox has laid off 33% of its workforce.
• 7-Eleven has laid off around 880 corporate employees after its $21 billion acquisition of Speedway.
• Ford plans to cut as many as 8,000 jobs, mostly in its gas-fueled vehicle division, Bloomberg has said, citing anonymous sources.
• Asurion, a Nashville-based global tech services company, laid off 750 employees. It cut about 300 workers in November 2019.
• Healthtech firm Olive joined a growing list of Central Ohio companies making layoffs by cutting 450 jobs.
• LinkedIn members have posted about being laid off this week, at: online pharmacy Capsule, a New York City-based tech unicorn; Michigan-based internet security platform Censys; Utah-based Traeger Grills; online banker Varo, digital-collaboration startup Mural, AI sales platform People.ai, and hiring platform Workstream, all based in San Francisco.
• Other companies making layoffs this month: wireless giant T-Mobile, supply-chain tech platform Project44, Seattle real estate startup Flyhomes, and Near Intelligence Inc.
• Three applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy service providers announced cuts: Forta, 360 Behavioral Health, and Center for Autism & Related Disorders (CARD).
• Genetic testing firm Invitae laid off 1,000 employees – 40% of its workforce – and made numerous changes at the executive level.
• Video platform Vimeo CEO Anjali Sud announced 6% staff cuts in a LinkedIn post.
• OpenSea CEO cites “crypto winter” as NFT giant lays off 20% of staff.
• Victoria’s Secret laid off about 160 managers as part of a restructuring.
• Online mortgage banker loanDepot is laying off about 4,800 employees this year, a 42% cut to its workforce, which numbered 11,300 at the end of 2021.
• Tonal, a Peloton competitor in the connected workout equipment field, laid off 35% of its workforce as it eyes an initial public offering.
• ChowNow, a delivery and marketing service for restaurants, laid off about 100 workers ear just days after “instant” delivery startup Gopuff cut 1,500 of its global workforce and closed 76 U.S. warehouses. More recently, food-tech startup Lunchbox laid off 60 employees, a third of its workforce.
• Virtual events platform Hopin, a tech unicorn valued at $7.75 billion, laid off 29% of employees.
• Electric carmaker Rivian said it was cutting “hundreds” after conceding it “grew too fast.”
• Food-tech companies Sunday and Nextbite announced restructuring and layoffs.
• Healthcare companies OhioHealth and Alto cut staff.
• Next Insurance, a small business insurance provider, laid off 17% of its workforce.
• Video game retailer GameStop announced layoffs and also said chief financial officer Mike Recupero was leaving the company.
• Twitter laid off about one-third of its talent acquisition team.
• At the end of June, San Francisco was in the spotlight as layoffs were made by numerous tech companies: game developers Niantic and Unity, online newsletter platform Substack and real estate company HomeLight. Elsewhere, data storage provider Qumulo and Parallel Wireless also made cuts.

June’s more high-profile companies making cuts include:

• Tesla employees were subjected to two rounds of layoffs, one in mid-June and another two weeks later in which a California office was closed and 200 employees cut.
• Streaming giant Netflix laid off 300 employees in late June after cutting 150 a month earlier.
• Brokerage firms Redfin and Compass
• Online personal styling service Stitch Fix
• Cryptocurrency exchange platforms Coinbase, Gemini and Bitpanda
• Social audio platform Clubhouse