Layoff Events

Ginkgo Bioworks, a synthetic biology company, laid off approximately 158 employees, representing about 13% of its workforce, in early 2024. The restructuring aimed to streamline operations and reduce costs amid broader economic pressures in the biotech industry. As a publicly traded firm, Ginkgo continues to focus on its core platforms while adjusting to market conditions.

African fintech leader Flutterwave laid off approximately 30 employees, representing about 3% of its workforce, in late June 2024. This strategic reduction followed the company's decision to sharpen its focus on its primary revenue drivers: enterprise services and remittances. As part of this realignment, roles linked to discontinued products, like the Barter platform shut down in March, were deemed redundant. The company, which had not conducted layoffs since its founding eight years prior, stated the move was necessary to improve operational efficiency and align resources with its long-term strategy, which includes preparing for a potential future IPO. Affected employees were offered severance packages including an average of three months' salary.

Trade Republic, a German neobroker and fintech company, is laying off dozens of employees as it shuts down its in-house customer service operations. The move involves closing its subsidiary, Trade Republic Service GmbH, effective immediately. While the company states it will relocate some expert roles to its banking entity, the majority of the customer service team—estimated to be at least 50 employees—are being let go. This restructuring, which outsources customer support to larger, specialized centers across Europe, comes amid recent criticism of the company's customer service performance and communication issues with clients. The layoffs reflect a strategic shift to streamline operations in the competitive fintech and online brokerage industry.

ReshaMandi, a B2B agritech marketplace specializing in silk and natural fibers, has laid off approximately 80% of its workforce due to a severe funding crisis. The company, which had raised about $70 million, failed to secure its Series B funding, leading to massive operational scaling. Burdened with over ₹300 crore in debt, it now faces court cases from lenders and vendors, with some creditors planning to push it into insolvency. This drastic downsizing, reported in June 2024, highlights the intense financial pressures in the tech startup sector, particularly for ventures struggling to transition beyond early funding stages.

Fintech company Bluevine is laying off approximately 20 employees in Israel, representing about 12% of its local workforce, as announced in June 2024. The company, which provides a digital banking platform for small businesses, stated the layoffs are part of adjustments to align with its business strategy and changing market needs. Despite the cuts, Bluevine emphasized that Israel remains its R&D center and that it continues to recruit for open positions there, maintaining confidence in its financial stability and long-term growth in the U.S. market.

Ginkgo Bioworks, a Boston-based synthetic biology company, is laying off at least 35% of its workforce, affecting approximately 400 employees out of around 1,200 total. This significant reduction, announced in an SEC filing in May 2024, comes as a direct response to a severe 53% year-over-year revenue drop in the first quarter and lowered annual projections. The life sciences firm, which grew rapidly during the pandemic, is taking decisive cost-cutting measures, including consolidating operations and reducing its real estate footprint. CEO Jason Kelly acknowledged the difficulty of the layoffs, stating the company remains well-capitalized but needed to adjust its labor costs by at least 25% to navigate the current financial challenges.

Emma Sleep, a Frankfurt-based mattress manufacturer, has laid off 200 employees, representing 18% of its global workforce of 1,120. CEO Dennis Schmoltzi attributed the job cuts to challenging market conditions, citing prolonged instability in the e-commerce and home furnishings sectors. The company has adjusted its outlook, planning for no growth this year, and is realigning its organizational structure accordingly. Additionally, the implementation of new operational and financial systems proved more complex than anticipated, creating further challenges. Despite the layoffs, Emma Sleep continues to hire for roles in sales and e-commerce. The company, which operates internationally and reported revenues approaching €900 million, is scaling back after a period of rapid expansion.

Moovit, the journey planning app owned by Intel's Mobileye, is laying off around 20-25 employees, representing approximately 10% of its 225-person workforce. The layoffs, announced in June 2024, are part of a restructuring to focus on the company's core business and accelerate its path to profitability. This move follows recent management changes, including the replacement of its co-founder as CEO three months prior, which was linked to the end of a four-year retention period following its $1 billion acquisition. Despite reporting high revenue growth and an expectation to achieve positive cash flow, the company is making adjustments in the competitive mobility tech industry.

C2FO laid off 16 employees on 2024-06-18.

Israeli fintech unicorn Rapyd is laying off approximately 30 employees in Israel, which represents a small portion of its 800-person workforce in the country. The layoffs, announced in June 2024, affect various departments as the company moves these positions to Eastern Europe and South America to reduce operational costs. Rapyd, a global payments platform serving major clients like Adidas and Uber, employs about 1,700 people worldwide. This restructuring follows its $610 million acquisition of PayU GPO last year, which expanded its global reach but now prompts cost-cutting measures.

PayPal has announced plans to cut up to 85 jobs from its Irish workforce, marking the second round of layoffs in Ireland this year. This follows the company's announcement in February to eliminate 205 positions locally. With approximately 1,600 employees in Ireland, these latest cuts represent about 5% of its Irish staff. The decision is part of a broader global strategy initiated by CEO Alex Chriss to reduce the company's worldwide headcount by about 9% in 2024, aiming to "right-size" the organization. The payments giant, a major player in the fintech industry, stated that the proposed changes are subject to consultation and that affected employees will be offered enhanced redundancy packages. Despite the reductions, PayPal reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining Ireland as a critical hub for its global operations.

Fisker representing approximately 100% of its workforce on 2024-06-18.

Wex laid off 375 employees representing approximately 5% of its workforce on 2024-06-18.

Unit representing approximately 15% of its workforce on 2024-06-17.

Chegg laid off 441 employees representing approximately 23% of its workforce on 2024-06-17.

Stackpath representing approximately 100% of its workforce on 2024-06-17.

LOOP laid off 23 employees representing approximately 77% of its workforce on 2024-06-16.

Loop, a car insurance startup, has laid off staff after struggling to raise funds for 20 months, with an investor pulling out at the last minute. The layoffs were announced on June 16, 2024, impacting roles such as insurance agents, customer care, data analytics, marketing, software engineering, and product, though the exact number of affected employees is unclear.

Care/of, a personalized subscription vitamin company, is shutting down and laying off its entire workforce of 143 employees as of July 3, 2024, due to a complete loss of funding. The company, which was majority-owned by pharmaceutical giant Bayer, announced it is canceling all subscriptions and ceasing new orders. This closure follows Bayer's decision to halt further investment in the venture. Founded in 2016 and part of the health tech and commerce industry, Care/of had raised $46 million and was once valued at $225 million. The company is exploring options for a potential future revival but has no definitive plans at this time.

Running Tide representing approximately 100% of its workforce on 2024-06-15.

Satellogic, an Earth imaging satellite company, announced a significant workforce reduction of approximately 70 employees on June 14, representing about 30% of its staff. This follows a previous layoff of 34 employees just three weeks earlier. The cuts reduce the company's total headcount to around 160, less than half its size from the start of the previous year. The layoffs are part of a broader cost-cutting strategy to conserve cash, driven by substantial financial losses and revenue that has fallen dramatically short of earlier projections. In 2023, the company reported a net loss of $61 million with only $10.1 million in revenue, far below the $132 million forecasted in 2021. Concurrently, Satellogic is slowing the deployment of its new Mark V satellites as it shifts focus from constellation growth to achieving profitability.

Medtronic on 2024-06-13.

VRChat, the social VR platform, has laid off approximately 30% of its workforce. The decision, announced by CEO Graham Gaylor in June 2024, was driven by a need to ensure the company's long-term health and growth after VR market expansion slowed significantly in 2022. While optimistic about its future mission to bring immersive social connection to billions, the company concluded its current team size was unsustainable. This restructuring aims to create a more nimble, focused organization capable of executing its multi-year plans, though it comes at the cost of parting with many talented employees.

Bytedance laid off 450 employees on 2024-06-12.

SCiFi Foods, a cultivated meat startup, laid off an unspecified number of employees in early 2024 as part of a restructuring effort. The company, operating in the biotechnology and food technology industry, made this difficult decision to extend its financial runway and focus resources on core research and development priorities. While the exact scale of the layoffs relative to total workforce remains undisclosed, the move reflects broader challenges within the alternative protein sector, where many companies are streamlining operations to navigate a tighter funding environment and accelerate their path to commercialization.

Paxos laid off 65 employees representing approximately 20% of its workforce on 2024-06-12.

Ladenzeile, the e-commerce aggregator owned by Axel Springer and part of the Idealo group, is shutting down by the end of June 2024, resulting in layoffs for its entire team. The company, which has struggled with declining relevance for years, cited a changed market situation and the need to focus resources on Idealo's core price comparison business. A key factor is the challenging digital advertising environment dominated by a few major players like Google, making Ladenzeile's model of directing customers to shops unprofitable. Founded in 2008, the platform had seen its traffic become negligible for many retailers. The closure reflects broader industry pressures in e-commerce aggregation.

Kissflow, a bootstrapped SaaS startup based in Chennai, has laid off approximately 45 employees, representing 11% of its workforce of about 400. The cuts, which occurred across India, the US, and the UAE in April and May 2024, were attributed to a strategic shift in procurement and annual performance reviews. The company, which provides workflow automation software, is operating in a challenging SaaS sector where growth has slowed since the post-pandemic boom. Despite previous employee appreciation gestures like gifting luxury cars in 2022, Kissflow conducted this restructuring to optimize operations and adjust its customer acquisition strategy, offering severance to all affected staff.

On June 10, 2024, Indian fintech giant Paytm, operated by One97 Communications, confirmed a new round of layoffs affecting an undisclosed number of employees. This restructuring follows a significant reduction in its workforce, with the sales division alone seeing a drop of about 3,500 employees, bringing the total headcount to 36,521 by March 2024. The primary catalyst for these job cuts is the severe regulatory action taken by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which banned Paytm Payments Bank from key services starting March 15 due to non-compliance issues. This ban has severely impacted operations, contributing to a widened quarterly loss of ₹550 crore. As part of its effort to streamline and drive profitability, Paytm is pruning non-core businesses and offering outplacement support and due bonuses to affected employees during this transition.

New York-based electric vehicle startup Revel is laying off over 1,000 staff ride-hail drivers in June 2024, effectively eliminating its employee-based model. The company, which operates an all-Tesla ride-hail service and EV charging infrastructure, is pivoting to a gig worker model similar to Uber and Lyft. This strategic shift follows a pilot program where drivers expressed a preference for greater flexibility over employee benefits. The layoffs represent a significant workforce reduction as Revel abandons a key differentiator to align with industry standards and address recruitment challenges.

Kenyan e-commerce startup Copia Global laid off 1,060 employees on June 6, 2024, following its entry into administration. The company, which operates in the e-commerce industry and once boasted a network of 50,000 agents, is undergoing severe financial restructuring. This move comes after the company struggled to meet payroll and scaled back operations, including exiting Uganda and laying off 700 employees in 2022. The layoffs were announced in a staff meeting, with employees asked to return company property and sign termination letters. While Copia has committed to providing a one-month salary and benefits per Kenyan law, the payment timeline remains unclear, causing significant concern among affected staff.

Simpl, a Bengaluru-based buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) startup, has laid off 30 employees in June 2024, following a larger round of 160 layoffs just a month prior. This recent reduction is part of an ongoing organizational restructuring aimed at achieving profitability by mid-2025. The company, which operates in the fintech and consumer credit industry, also saw the resignation of several senior executives. This follows a significant layoff in April 2023, where about 25% of the workforce, or approximately 150 employees, were let go. Simpl is concurrently rejigging its senior leadership to streamline operations and focus on fiscal prudence amid widening losses, despite reporting a growth in total income.

Oda, a SoftBank-backed online grocery delivery startup based in Norway, has laid off 150 employees as it refocuses its operations solely on Norway and Sweden. This strategic retreat, announced in June 2024, comes after the company merged with Swedish retailer Mathem last year and follows its exit from markets like Finland and Germany. Facing the industry-wide challenge of achieving profitability in online grocery—a sector with complex logistics and tight margins—Oda aims to become profitable in its two remaining markets by 2025. The layoffs are part of a broader reset under new CEO Chris Poad, who joined in April, as the company scales back its once-ambitious European expansion plans that were fueled by hundreds of millions in funding and a pandemic-era boom.

Fintech company Pagaya is laying off 100 employees, representing about 20% of its 540-person global workforce, with most cuts affecting its Israeli operations. This second round of layoffs in a year and a half, following 140 job cuts in early 2023, is part of a continued reduction of the company's presence in Israel. Despite reporting positive financial results for Q1 2024, the Nasdaq-traded firm, which specializes in AI-driven loan underwriting, is restructuring across all departments and management levels. The move aligns with a broader trend of cost-cutting and operational consolidation, potentially influenced by the ongoing regional situation.

Israeli cultivated meat startup Aleph Farms is laying off approximately 30 employees, which represents about 30% of its roughly 100-person workforce. The layoffs, announced in early June 2024, are a result of significant challenges in securing investment over the past year, driven by a sharp global decline in investor interest in the alternative protein and cultivated meat sector. This downturn has been particularly severe in Israel, where political and security instability has further deterred investors, leading to an 80% drop in sector funding in 2023. Despite being a leading company in its field and recently receiving initial regulatory approval for its products, Aleph Farms was forced to cut costs as it could not meet its expansion plans and investor expectations amid the difficult funding environment.

MoonPay laid off 30 employees representing approximately 10% of its workforce on 2024-06-05.

Yext representing approximately 12% of its workforce on 2024-06-05.

OrCam, the Israeli assistive technology startup founded by Amnon Shashua, has laid off 100 employees in June 2024, marking its second round of job cuts within four months. This reduction affects about half of the remaining workforce after an earlier layoff of 50 employees in February. The company, which develops reading devices for the visually impaired, is primarily cutting marketing and sales roles in Israel and the U.S. due to a sharp decline in sales, particularly to Arab countries amid geopolitical tensions. Additionally, the rise of generative AI technologies offering similar functions via smartphones has impacted demand. OrCam is now focusing on streamlining operations, splitting its hearing and vision divisions, and prioritizing the development of hearing aid systems to achieve profitability and prepare for future capital raising.

Microsoft, the global technology giant, announced a restructuring on June 4, 2024, resulting in layoffs affecting approximately 1,000 employees. The cuts specifically targeted teams within the Mixed Reality organization, including those working on the HoloLens 2 headset, and the Azure for Operators and Mission Engineering teams focused on ambitious cloud "moonshot" projects. This move, part of the broader tech industry's ongoing adjustments, follows a larger round of over 10,000 layoffs the previous year. The company stated it remains committed to key defense contracts and the mixed reality ecosystem while continuing to shift its strategic focus, particularly toward significant investments in artificial intelligence.

Jasper Health, a cancer care platform startup, laid off approximately half of its workforce in late May 2024, impacting around 24 employees from its pre-layoff total of about 48. The cuts significantly affected departments including engineering and product design. The company, which had raised $31 million in venture capital led by General Catalyst, operates in the health tech industry as a small-scale startup. The layoffs reflect broader challenges in the sector, even for well-funded ventures, though specific reasons for the downsizing were not disclosed by the company's leadership, who did not respond to requests for comment.

Google has conducted another round of layoffs, this time making sweeping cuts within its Cloud unit in late May 2024. While the exact number of affected employees was not officially disclosed, internal reports suggest close to 100 roles were eliminated in the Asia-Pacific "Go To Market" teams alone, though the company stated the figure was lower. The layoffs impacted several teams, including consulting, partner engineering, and sustainability, and notably affected some recent hires and new recruits. As part of its ongoing business evolution, Google is restructuring to align with customer priorities and long-term strategic goals. These cuts in the technology and cloud computing industry reflect a continued trend within the company, which has been streamlining operations and relocating roles throughout the year.

Gro Intelligence, an agricultural insights platform, is shutting down after failing to secure sufficient capital to continue operations. The company, which had previously laid off 60% of its staff in March during a last-ditch funding effort, informed remaining employees this week of its closure, retaining only a skeleton crew to wind down. Founded in 2012 and once valued with an $85 million Series B round, Gro Intelligence faced challenges including a fundamental mismatch between its product and the market, reliance on a few key clients like Unilever, and unsuccessful attempts to expand its government and international business. The closure follows months of turbulence, including leadership changes, payroll issues, and ongoing investigations by the SEC and lawsuits from former employees over alleged labor law violations. The company, based in New York and Nairobi, operated in the agtech industry and had scaled to become one of TIME's 100 most influential companies in 2021 before its decline.

Tropic, a company in the SaaS industry, has announced a reduction in force affecting 40 employees as part of a restructuring effort. This decision stems from the company's strategic shift from a service-led business to a SaaS-focused model, aiming to accelerate growth and operate with a leaner, more agile team. While the exact total number of employees and percentage impacted aren't specified, the layoffs are described as not performance-based, with the company expressing gratitude for the contributions of those affected and offering support in their transition. The announcement was made recently, reflecting ongoing changes in the competitive tech landscape.

FlightStats laid off 73 employees on 2024-05-30.

In May 2024, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the nonprofit responsible for coordinating the Internet's domain name system, implemented organizational changes, including layoffs, to address a structural financial deficit. Facing persistently high inflation, a 20% rise in travel costs, and stagnant to slightly declining funding, ICANN's projected operating expenses were exceeding its revenue. To ensure long-term financial stability and sustainability, the organization restructured, resulting in an unspecified number of staff reductions as part of broader cost-cutting measures.

Funding Circle, a UK-based online lending platform, has laid off approximately 120 employees, representing about 17% of its global workforce. This restructuring, announced in early 2023, is part of a strategic shift to streamline operations and reduce costs amid challenging economic conditions in the fintech sector. The company, which connects small businesses with investors, is refocusing on its core markets to improve profitability.

Israeli startup Walnut, a developer of a sales and marketing demo experience platform, laid off 15 employees on May 29, 2024, which represents 20% of its total workforce. This follows a previous round of layoffs in 2023, and the company's team has been reduced by approximately 50% since then, from 120 to about 60 people. Walnut cited a need to adjust resource distribution and focus on core operations for efficiency, aligning with trends in the broader high-tech market. The company, which operates in the sales technology industry and has raised $56 million in funding, stated the restructuring impacts roles in Israel and other countries as part of updating its technological focus.

Struggling electric vehicle startup Fisker laid off hundreds of employees in late May 2024 as part of a desperate effort to conserve cash and stay afloat while seeking funding, a buyout, or preparing for potential bankruptcy. The layoffs were announced during an all-hands meeting after the company directed staff to work from home. Following several prior workforce reductions, including a 15% cut in February, estimates suggest only about 150 employees remain from the 1,135 reported in mid-April. The cuts were influenced by a major investor, with the company's restructuring officer having previously warned of over 300 layoffs if cash needs weren't met. Founder Henrik Fisker expressed a determined but somber outlook, emphasizing the continued sale of their Ocean SUV despite the severe downsizing in the competitive automotive industry.

Glovo laid off 22 employees on 2024-05-25.

Lucid Motors, an American electric vehicle manufacturer, announced a restructuring plan on May 24, 2024, resulting in layoffs of approximately 400 employees, which represents about 6% of its U.S. workforce. The decision, communicated by CEO Peter Rawlinson, aims to reduce costs as the company prepares for the crucial launch of its Gravity electric SUV later in the year. While the cuts affect various levels including leadership and mid-level management, hourly manufacturing and logistics staff are not impacted. This move, expected to incur $21 to $25 million in charges, reflects the competitive pressures in the EV industry, where several automakers are streamlining operations to improve profitability amidst ongoing financial challenges. Lucid reported increased revenue in Q1 2024 but continues to face operational losses, emphasizing the need for cost vigilance as it invests in future growth.