After enduring the brutal wave of layoffs in 2023, global growth has slowed down, including in the United States, and large multinational corporations continue to announce further layoff plans this year.

Media reports indicate that Goldman Sachs plans to lay off between 1,300 and 1,800 people worldwide during its annual review process, eliminating underperformers, which is expected to affect 3% to 4% of its total workforce. This move by Goldman Sachs is far from an isolated case. As of the end of August, dozens of companies and institutions, ranging from tech giants like Tesla, Google, and Microsoft, to financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and BlackRock, and consumer companies like Nike, Sony, and Dell, have announced layoff plans.

A survey conducted by ResumeBuilder at the end of last year, which polled 900 business leaders, showed that nearly 40% of them anticipated continued layoffs this year. Half of the respondents indicated that concerns about an economic recession were a potential cause for layoffs. Another major factor mentioned by the respondents was artificial intelligence (AI). Approximately 40% of the respondents stated that they would lay off employees while replacing some of their work with AI.

Observers have noted that although the U.S. economic growth data for the second quarter of this year was better than the first quarter, the slowdown in economic growth compared to the second half of last year remains evident, especially with the deceleration of personal real disposable income growth to 1%, implying that the future consumption capacity of Americans will be affected. Regarding the high interest rates in the United States, Federal Reserve Chairman Powell "dove" in his speech at the Jackson Hole Global Central Bank Annual Meeting, stating: "The time has come to adjust policies."

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Tech companies are the hardest hit.

At the beginning of this year, Google fired hundreds of employees from its central engineering department and hardware team on January 10, including those from the voice assistant business line. In an email to the affected employees, the company encouraged them to apply for other vacancies at Google before April 9 if they wished to continue working there. Prior to this, the tech giant had already laid off thousands of people in 2023, with the first wave of layoffs in January cutting 6% of its global workforce (approximately 12,000 people at the time).

Apple, Tesla, Amazon, and Microsoft, also known as the "U.S. stock market's Big Seven," have also been very active. Apple officially shut down its ten-year-long electric vehicle project in February. At the time, industry insiders speculated that some employees from this business might be transferred to generative AI businesses, but most related employees would be laid off. In August, Apple announced that it would lay off 100 service team employees, affecting services such as Apple Books, Apple Bookstore, and Apple News. By the end of August, Apple had laid off more than 700 employees in its autonomous driving, display, and service departments.

Tesla CEO Musk sent a memo to employees at midnight on April 14, U.S. Western time, notifying them of the company's plan to reduce its global workforce by more than 10% within the year. In the memo, Musk mentioned "duplication of roles and job functions in certain areas" as the reason behind the layoffs. Following this, on April 29, Musk sent another email stating that Tesla needed to further reduce its workforce. He also announced the departure of two executives, and since the layoffs began in April, six Tesla executives have left the company this year.

In 2023, Amazon laid off 18,000 employees worldwide, marking the largest layoff in the company's history. Entering this year, Amazon showed no signs of slowing down. In early April, according to media reports, Amazon laid off hundreds of employees from its cloud division, Amazon Web Services, with the layoffs mainly involving employees from the sales and marketing team and those providing technical services for brick-and-mortar retail stores. Even earlier, on March 26, Amazon announced that it would lay off hundreds of employees from its Prime Video and MGM Studios divisions.

Microsoft also reduced its workforce in the gaming sector by 1,900 people this year. In late January, nearly three months after Microsoft's acquisition of video game company Activision Blizzard, it announced layoffs in its gaming division, primarily affecting Activision Blizzard employees. Last year, Microsoft's layoffs were also among the highest in the Big Seven, first announcing 10,000 layoffs, and then an additional 1,000 positions in sales and customer service teams.Similarly aggressive in their approach are established tech giants like Intel. According to media reports last week, citing sources familiar with the matter, Intel plans to lay off 15% of its workforce by the end of this year in response to a decline in second-quarter earnings. Media statistics show that Intel's layoffs last year already reached 5%, reducing its global employee count to around 124,000. However, Intel still faces the issue of declining demand for personal computer processors. The market estimates that these layoffs will save Intel $10 billion in costs by 2025.

IBM also clearly announced a layoff plan at the beginning of the year. According to media reports citing sources, IBM's Chief Communications Officer, Jonathan Adashek, informed employees on March 12th that the company would continue with layoffs. In January of this year, during a conference call to discuss financial results, the company also announced broader layoff actions. Adashek stated: "In the fourth-quarter earnings report last year, IBM disclosed a workforce rebalancing plan." However, he mentioned that the proportion of affected personnel is only in the single digits of IBM's total global workforce.

This rebalancing primarily takes into account the impact of AI. In May last year, IBM's CEO, Arvind Krishna, indicated that the company expects to halt hiring for positions that could be replaced by AI, especially in human resources and other non-consumer-facing departments. He believes that "within five years, 30% of employees will be replaced by AI and automation."

According to media reports last week, Dell is focusing on AI products and is currently undergoing layoffs targeting its sales team; the planned number of layoffs is not yet clear.

Among other tech companies, eBay is also implementing a layoff plan this year, expecting to lay off 1,000 employees. In a memo dated January 23rd, the company's CEO, Jamie Iannone, stated that layoffs are necessary because the company's overall headcount and expenses have exceeded business growth, affecting approximately 9% of the company's employees.

The networking company Cisco has announced two rounds of layoffs this year. In February, the company announced a 5% reduction, or 4,000 employees, stating that it is restructuring in response to a decline in industry-wide corporate technology spending, with the entire process expected to span the first half of the year. Recently, on August 14th, Cisco indicated in a document that it would further reduce its global workforce by 7% due to declining sales and revenue. Market estimates suggest that the scale of layoffs will again reach 4,000, possibly because Cisco will shift its focus to cybersecurity and AI development.

Layoffs in consumer companies are equally severe.

From retail giants to automotive companies, entertainment enterprises, electronics consumer companies, to oil giants and luxury goods companies, as revenues and sales stagnate or decline, layoffs in consumer companies across various industries are equally severe.

Among various consumer companies, entertainment seems to be a high-risk industry for layoffs, and past glories do not serve as a "get-out-of-jail-free card." For instance, on February 27th, Sony announced 900 layoffs, affecting the game development team at PlayStation Studios. In early February, Sony stated in its financial report that the PlayStation 5 console did not meet sales targets, leading to a sharp drop in stock prices and a temporary loss of about $10 billion in company value. According to the layoff plan, all PlayStation studios in London will be closed.

Disney's television division will also lay off 140 people this year, representing 2% of the employees at Disney Entertainment Television (DET). Sources reveal that the layoffs will impact National Geographic, the television station, and related marketing and publicity departments. Last year, Disney had already implemented multiple rounds of layoffs, cumulatively cutting 7,000 positions.Pixar Animation Studios, a subsidiary of Disney, is also implementing a layoff plan, with 175 employees to be laid off this year, accounting for about 14% of the total number of studio employees. As part of a large-scale restructuring, Pixar Studios laid off 75 people last year, and the scale of layoffs continues to expand this year, with a renewed focus on producing feature films.

Among retail giants in other industries, Nike plans to cut up to $2 billion in costs this year. Although the specific number of layoffs has not been disclosed, the cost-cutting plan also includes layoffs. The company announced the plan at the end of last year, stating that global consumer behavior has become more cautious, with slow sales growth, necessitating cost reduction. Following the announcement, the company's stock plummeted.

According to a report on August 19, General Motors has laid off more than 1,000 workers this year, accounting for 1.3% of its global workforce. The layoffs are mainly targeted at General Motors' software and service business. Over the past few years, General Motors has tried to make its cars more advanced by offering more connectivity options and driver-assist technologies, thereby expanding this business.

The cosmetics consumer giant Estée Lauder also announced in February that as part of a restructuring plan, it would cut up to 3,100 positions, representing 3% to 5% of its approximately 62,000 global employees. Another fashion company, Rent the Runway, is implementing a plan to lay off 10% of its workforce within the year as part of a corporate restructuring.

Under Armour announced in its quarterly financial report on May 16 that it would lay off employees, with the exact number unknown, but the associated severance pay amounts to $22 million.

GoPro, a long-struggling action camera manufacturer, stated in a recent filing that it would fire 15% of its 925 current employees. The company reported a net loss of nearly $48 million for the quarter ending in June, exacerbating consecutive losses. The company had already laid off 4% of its workforce in March.

Even some established consumer companies are not immune to layoffs, albeit on a more limited scale. For example, luxury retailer Burberry is expected to lay off several hundred employees. The news of the layoffs was communicated to company staff during a Zoom meeting at the end of June.

According to a report on August 29, oil giant Shell will cut 20% of its oil and gas exploration and development employees. Sources say that Shell plans to further reduce costs in high-profit businesses, with departments such as exploration and oil well development facing layoffs on a global scale, affecting hundreds of people.

Some companies' layoffs will mainly affect managerial-level employees. For example, logistics giant UPS stated in a January earnings call that its layoffs this year will affect 14% of the company's 85,000 managers, or 12,000 people, and will save the company $1 billion by 2024. The company had previously reduced its workforce by about 7% in June 2023, and a month prior, the company announced that its second-quarter revenue had dropped by 24% compared to the previous year.

Financial institutions are not immune either.Goldman Sachs plans to lay off between 1,300 and 1,800 employees globally as part of its annual talent assessment process, which is expected to affect 3-4% of its workforce. This round of layoffs is anticipated to span across all departments, with some teams experiencing a greater impact. The process has already begun and will continue into the fall. As of the end of last year, Goldman Sachs had a total of approximately 45,300 employees. Typically, the firm lays off between 2% and 7% of its staff annually. Goldman Sachs spokesperson Tony Fratto stated that their annual talent assessment is normal, standard, and routine, with nothing unusual about it. Previously, Goldman Sachs had paused its layoff plans during the pandemic and then resumed in 2022, reducing only a few hundred employees, which was at the lower end of the historical range. However, in January 2023, the firm significantly cut about 3,200 positions, representing approximately 6% of its workforce, and implemented further layoffs later in the year.

Morgan Stanley's layoffs have been more of a "targeted strike." In February of this year, the bank announced that it would eliminate hundreds of positions in its wealth management division, representing about 1% of that team. In recent months, the bank's wealth management division has seen a slowdown in earnings, with net new assets declining by about 8% compared to a year ago. This round of layoffs is also the first major move by the new CEO, Ted Pick, who took over from James Gorman on January 1st of this year.

In contrast, Citigroup's layoffs are quite substantial. As part of a restructuring reform plan, Citigroup announced in January that it would cut 20,000 jobs, reducing the bank's global workforce to 180,000. During a conference call on the financial results for that month, the bank stated that the layoffs could save up to $2.5 billion in costs following a "very disappointing" performance in the last quarter of the previous year.

BlackRock also plans to cut 3% of its workforce within the year. The firm's CEO, Larry Fink, stated that the layoffs would affect about 600 of its approximately 20,000 employees. However, at the same time, BlackRock intends to expand in other areas to support its growth in overseas markets. In a memo, BlackRock's leadership wrote: "As we prepare for 2024 and this year's very exciting but very different situation, each department has formulated plans to reallocate resources."