Bay Area Tech Layoffs Soar to Highest Pace in Over a Year: Report

Tech layoffs in the Bay Area surged in the past three months, reaching the highest quarterly totals in over a year. According to The Mercury News, this trend signals ongoing cutbacks in a sector crucial to the region's economy.

Bay Area Tech Layoffs

Between April and June this year, tech companies announced plans to eliminate more than 7,000 jobs in the Bay Area. This data, compiled from official notices sent to the state labor agency, paints a bleak picture of the industry's workforce.

According to The Mercury News, 7,062 tech layoffs occurred in the second quarter of 2024, the highest number for a three-month period since the January-to-March segment of 2023.

During that period, tech companies had planned to cut 10,154 jobs, marking it the worst quarter since the industry began its current wave of workforce reductions. This trend reflects ongoing efforts by tech firms to increase efficiency and improve their bottom lines. Layoffs have continued into recent days.

In the last two weeks of June alone, tech companies informed the state EDD of their decisions to eliminate over 500 jobs. This ongoing trend underscores the instability within the sector. Various companies and their respective job cuts are included in details of recent layoffs based on WARN notices sent to the state.

Lacework, a cloud and software security company, is cutting 180 jobs in Mountain View. Moxion Power, a green energy and battery firm, is laying off 101 employees in Richmond.

Planet Labs PBC, a global imaging tech company, is reducing its staff by 98 in San Francisco. Lockheed Martin Space is cutting 68 jobs in Sunnyvale. On the other hand, AT&T is laying off 56 employees in San Ramon.

Thought Stream, operating as Bluescape, is also cutting 35 jobs in Redwood City. The company's decision to close a facility there permanently prompted these cuts.

44,900 Tech Layoffs

These permanent layoffs reflect the harsh reality many tech sector employees face. Over the past few years, the industry has seen substantial job cuts, with tech companies planning to eliminate more than 44,900 positions in the Bay Area from 2022 to the first half of 2024.

The 44,900 tech layoffs in the Bay Area are comprised of around 10,300 job cuts in 2022, almost 21,600 cuts in 2023, and about 13,000 layoffs in the first half of this year, according to the WARN notices filed with the state EDD.

This ongoing trend of layoffs highlights the challenges facing the tech industry in maintaining its workforce amid efforts to streamline operations and cut costs.

These job cuts are part of a broader nationwide pattern affecting the tech industry. Companies are continuously adjusting to economic pressures, market demands, and the need to remain competitive.