Layoff Events

Google has recently conducted a round of layoffs affecting several hundred employees across various teams, including its hardware, engineering, and Google Assistant divisions. While the exact number is not specified, it represents a small percentage of the company's total workforce of over 180,000. These job cuts are part of a broader restructuring effort to streamline operations and focus on key priorities like artificial intelligence, amid ongoing economic uncertainties. The layoffs occurred in early 2024 within the technology industry, reflecting a trend of adjustments at large-scale tech firms to enhance efficiency and adapt to market demands.

Paycom laid off 500 employees on 2025-10-01.

Google has laid off over 100 employees from design roles within its cloud unit, significantly reducing some design teams by half. These cuts, which occurred in late 2023, primarily affected U.S.-based positions in teams focused on quantitative user experience research and platform service experience. As a major player in the technology industry, Google is implementing these layoffs to streamline operations and reallocate resources toward artificial intelligence infrastructure, reflecting a broader corporate shift to prioritize AI investment over certain traditional roles.

Fintech startup Simpl has laid off approximately 80 employees, a move driven by regulatory pressure from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The RBI directed the company to halt its payment operations due to a lack of necessary licenses, effectively pausing its core buy now, pay later (BNPL) service. CEO Nitya Sharma stated the layoffs, which particularly affected sales and marketing teams, are part of restructuring to conserve capital. Despite this, Simpl maintains it is profitable and has a healthy runway. The Bengaluru-based company, which serves over 26,000 merchants and has more than 7 million users, is working with regulators to resume operations and potentially rehire staff.

Epic Games laid off 1,000 employees on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, due to a downturn in Fortnite engagement leading to financial strain, with the company implementing cost savings measures to stabilize operations.

Just Eat laid off 450 employees representing approximately 5% of its workforce on 2025-09-25.

Gameskraft, a gaming startup in India's media and entertainment industry, has laid off 120 employees due to the recent legislation banning real-money gaming, which forced the company to halt operations and restructure. This difficult decision, announced in early 2025, was driven by the external regulatory environment, leaving the company with no choice but to part ways with staff despite their talent and dedication. The layoffs add to the company's challenges, including a previous platform pause and significant tax disputes. Gameskraft is providing support such as extended health insurance until March 2026 and wellness services until May 2026 for affected employees. This move reflects a broader trend of layoffs and business pivots across the Indian online gaming sector following the new law.

ZipRecruiter, an AI-driven recruitment technology company, is shutting down its Israeli R&D center in Tel Aviv, resulting in the layoff of approximately 80 employees. The closure is part of broader cost-cutting measures amid a challenging labor market and economic pressures. In the second quarter of 2025, the company reported a net loss of about $9.5 million despite a slight revenue increase, citing rising expenses and the need to maintain competitive investments in technology. The Israeli center, which focused on software development, data, and AI research, was a key part of their operations, and this move reflects the firm's efforts to streamline operations globally.

Fiverr laid off 250 employees representing approximately 30% of its workforce on 2025-09-15.

Israeli fintech startup Sorbet has laid off the majority of its staff in a significant operational reset, letting go of all its employees in Israel and most of its U.S.-based team in September 2025. The company, which employed dozens of workers, faced intense profitability pressures. Sorbet operates a platform that monetizes unused employee vacation days, a market valued at over $270 billion annually in the U.S. Despite raising more than $25 million from notable investors, the company cited the high, fixed capital costs of operating in a complex fintech lending environment as a key challenge, forcing this structural downsizing.

Hike, once a unicorn startup valued at $1.4 billion in India's tech industry, has shut down entirely in September 2025, resulting in layoffs for all employees. The closure follows the Indian government's recent ban on real-money gaming platforms, which was Hike's primary business focus after pivoting from its original messaging app. Founder Kavin Bharti Mittal stated that while the company's U.S. gaming venture showed promise, scaling it globally would require a significant recapitalization that was deemed not worthwhile. This decision ends the company's 13-year run, marking a major casualty in India's $23 billion real-money gaming sector, which has seen other major players also exit or pivot due to the new regulations.

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI, laid off approximately 500 employees on its data annotation team on Friday, September 13, 2024. This reduction represents about one-third of that team, which is the company's largest and is crucial for training its Grok AI chatbot. The layoffs are part of a strategic shift where xAI is prioritizing the hiring of specialist AI tutors over generalist roles. Affected workers were notified via email and will be paid through their contract end date or November 30, but lost immediate access to company systems. Concurrently, the company announced plans to significantly expand its team of specialist tutors.

Zupee laid off 170 employees representing approximately 30% of its workforce on 2025-09-11.

Atlassian, a major provider of collaboration software such as Jira and Trello, has laid off 200 customer service employees in Europe, specifically in the Netherlands and France. This restructuring, reported in September 2025, is part of the company's strategy to enhance customer service efficiency through smarter routing and AI-powered tools. Atlassian, which serves over 300,000 customers globally including a significant portion of the Fortune 500, has been integrating AI into features like contact forms, following earlier layoffs of 150 customer service roles this year linked to similar automation efforts.

Verbit, an AI-powered transcription startup, has laid off 22 employees, including 10 in Israel, as part of a streamlining process tied to its AI transition and organizational adjustments. This reduction, announced on September 10, 2025, affects about 4.4% of its global workforce of approximately 500. The company, which has raised $600 million and serves major clients across various industries, has undergone multiple layoffs in recent years, reflecting ongoing shifts toward integrating artificial intelligence into its workflows.

Microsoft laid off 42 employees on 2025-09-08.

Scope3, a sustainability-focused adtech company with over 100 employees globally, conducted layoffs last week as part of a strategic reorganization to shift toward agentic advertising offerings. While the exact number of affected staffers was not disclosed, the cuts primarily impacted the commercial team responsible for revenue generation through sales and partnerships. The restructuring reflects the company's pivot to align its operations with new strategic priorities in the evolving digital advertising landscape.

Rivian, an electric vehicle manufacturer, laid off approximately 200 employees in September 2025, representing about 1.5% of its total workforce of nearly 15,000. The layoffs are part of broader industry adjustments as the company prepares for the expiration of federal EV tax credits, specifically the $7,500 incentive set to end under policy changes. This move reflects challenges in the EV market, including slowing demand and reduced government incentives, with other automakers like GM and Volkswagen also implementing job cuts. Rivian is concurrently focusing on launching more affordable models, such as the upcoming R2 SUV, to navigate the evolving economic landscape.

Bobble AI, a Gurugram-based AI communication startup, has laid off approximately 50 employees as part of an organizational redesign aimed at building a leaner, more resilient company. While the firm attributes the move to strategic realignment of projects, processes, and people, sources link it to ongoing fundraising challenges and a slowdown in securing fresh capital. The layoffs occurred in early September 2025, with the 12-year-old company providing support such as career coaching and well-being sessions to affected staff. Despite a 25% revenue growth to ₹37.67 crore in FY24, losses widened to ₹60.88 crore, reflecting the pressures in the competitive AI and data intelligence sector.

Head Digital Works, the parent company of A23 Rummy and other gaming platforms, has laid off approximately 500 employees, which represents nearly two-thirds of its workforce, leaving the company with around 200 staff. This drastic reduction, announced in early September 2025, was a direct response to India's new Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, which imposed a blanket ban on real-money online gaming. The company, operating in the online skill gaming industry, cited these regulatory changes as necessitating the layoffs while it explores new business opportunities beyond gaming. The firm has also legally challenged the ban, with a hearing scheduled for September 8.

Salesforce laid off 262 employees on 2025-09-04.

Oracle laid off 254 employees on 2025-09-04.

Conversational AI company Gupshup has laid off at least 100 employees in a recent cost-cutting round, as confirmed by the company. This move, part of an effort to optimize its cost structure and build a leaner foundation, comes just four months after nearly 200 employees were let go in a previous round. The layoffs, which impacted junior developers among others, were conducted without severance packages; affected staff were asked to serve a 60-day notice period or leave without compensation. Gupshup, which operates in the enterprise tech and conversational AI industry and is planning an IPO in the next 12-24 months, stated it is leveraging automation to drive efficiency and meet financial goals ahead of important corporate milestones. The company, founded in 2004 and based in San Francisco and Mumbai, has transitioned from SMS and cloud telephony to a conversational AI platform focused on enterprise solutions.

Israeli AI startup theGist has shut down, resulting in the layoff of its entire team of approximately 15 employees, which represents 100% of its workforce. The company, founded in 2022, announced its closure in early September 2025 after failing to achieve sustainable traction with its AI-driven workplace productivity tool. Despite raising $7 million in pre-Seed funding from prominent investors, scaling the solution that summarized information from platforms like Slack and email proved difficult. Challenges included an unsuccessful pivot to sales-focused solutions and operational disruptions from prolonged reserve service of key developers. Operating in the AI and productivity software industry, the small-scale startup will return the remaining funds to its investors.

Vimeo, the video hosting platform, laid off approximately 11% of its workforce in January 2023, affecting around 150 employees. This decision was part of a broader restructuring effort to streamline operations and reduce costs amid economic uncertainty. The layoffs followed a previous round of cuts in July 2022, reflecting ongoing challenges in the competitive tech and media industry. As a publicly traded company, Vimeo aimed to improve profitability and focus on core business areas, though specific details on the total employee count at the time were not fully disclosed in available reports.

Salesforce laid off 93 employees from its Seattle and Bellevue offices in late August, as part of a broader trend of tech industry workforce reductions. This cut represents a small fraction of its global workforce, which numbers in the tens of thousands. The layoffs occurred amid a company-wide push to adopt artificial intelligence, with CEO Marc Benioff stating that AI automation had already reduced support roles by 4,000. While Salesforce did not directly link these specific layoffs to AI, the move aligns with industry-wide cost-cutting and efficiency drives, as companies like Microsoft and Amazon also streamline operations, often citing economic pressures and strategic shifts toward AI. The software industry continues to see significant restructuring following pandemic-era hiring surges.

Oracle, the cloud computing giant based in Austin, Texas, has laid off 101 employees in the Seattle area, as disclosed in a state regulatory filing on Tuesday. This follows a previous round of 161 layoffs in August, reducing the company's local workforce from 3,900 employees earlier this year. These cuts are part of a broader trend in the tech industry, where companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and others have been streamlining their workforces to reallocate resources, often toward artificial intelligence initiatives, though Oracle has not specified the exact reason for its layoffs. The company's physical presence in Seattle and Bellevue has been shrinking, including office space reductions in 2023, reflecting a shift away from its once-expanding engineering hub in the region.

Oracle on 2025-09-02.

Games24x7, a major player in India's online gaming industry, has laid off approximately 400 employees in September 2025, marking its second round of job cuts within a year. This reduction comes amid severe regulatory upheaval, specifically a government ban on real-money gaming operations, which has placed significant financial pressure on the sector. The company, known for platforms like My11Circle, had previously let go of about 180 employees in May 2025, citing over-hiring during a period of regulatory uncertainty. These layoffs reflect the broader crisis facing real-money gaming companies in India, prompting government intervention through meetings to address compliance and industry concerns.

Mobile Premier League (MPL), an online gaming company valued at $2.3 billion, is laying off approximately 300 employees, which represents about 60% of its Indian workforce. This drastic downsizing, announced in early September 2025, is a direct result of the Indian government's recent ban on real-money online gaming, which targeted games like fantasy cricket and rummy. The ban has severely disrupted the industry, forcing MPL to shift its focus to free-to-play games and accelerate its expansion into international markets such as the U.S., Europe, and Brazil.

Krutrim, an Indian AI startup founded by Ola's Bhavish Aggarwal, laid off approximately 5-10% of its workforce in May 2024, affecting around 30 employees. The company, which had grown to about 400 employees, stated the restructuring was aimed at improving operational efficiency and focusing on key priorities. This move followed Krutrim's recent achievement of unicorn status after a successful funding round. The layoffs, occurring within the competitive artificial intelligence industry, reflect a strategic realignment as the company scales its operations and product development.

Salesforce has reduced its customer support workforce from 9,000 to 5,000 employees, a cut of 4,000 roles, as part of a strategic shift driven by AI adoption. This represents a significant downsizing within the support division, though the company's total employee count remains over 76,000. CEO Marc Benioff explained that AI agents, deployed through platforms like Agentforce, have enhanced productivity by efficiently handling sales leads and support cases, reducing the need for human staff. The transition, discussed publicly in late August 2025, reflects broader industry trends where AI integration is reshaping roles and management structures in the tech sector. While hundreds of affected employees were redeployed internally, the move underscores how AI advancements are directly impacting workforce composition at large-scale enterprise software companies like Salesforce.

Flip, a social commerce platform, has laid off a portion of its workforce as part of a restructuring effort to streamline operations and focus on core business priorities. While the exact number of employees affected and the percentage relative to the total workforce are not publicly disclosed, the move reflects broader challenges in the competitive e-commerce and social shopping industry. The layoffs occurred recently, with the company aiming to enhance efficiency and adapt to evolving market demands. Flip operates at a startup scale, leveraging video content to drive product discovery and purchases.

Rec Room laid off 141 employees on 2025-08-27.

Alphabet's life sciences unit Verily has laid off an unspecified number of staff and discontinued its long-running medical devices program as part of a strategic refocus. Announced internally on August 26, 2025, these cuts are a continuation of the company's efforts since 2023 to streamline operations, reduce costs, and narrow its focus towards AI and developing infrastructure for other companies. The decision to wind down the devices program, which included projects like a clinical study watch and a retinal camera, directly led to a significant portion of the layoffs. As a subsidiary of Alphabet operating in the healthcare and life sciences industry, Verily is taking these difficult steps to put itself on a faster path to sustained commercial success and eventual independence from its parent company.

Klaviyo on 2025-08-25.

BeepKart, a Bengaluru-based startup in the used two-wheeler e-commerce industry, has completely shut down its operations, resulting in the layoff of its entire team. The company, which had raised over $18 million from investors like Stellaris Venture Partners, struggled with a high-cost business model featuring thin margins and aggressive, poorly planned expansion. After failing to secure a strategic merger or acquisition, the founders are now winding down the venture, selling its assets and returning remaining capital. The shutdown marks the end of a four-year effort to redefine India's pre-owned two-wheeler market.

TikTok on 2025-08-22.

Cisco, a major networking and telecommunications equipment company, is undergoing a significant workforce reduction. The company announced plans to lay off approximately 4,250 employees, which represents about 5% of its global workforce. This strategic restructuring, announced in February 2024, is part of a broader effort to reallocate resources towards key growth areas like artificial intelligence and software, while streamlining operations in a shifting market. The move reflects the ongoing adjustments within the tech industry as companies adapt to new economic and technological priorities.

Rental car startup Kyte, which once billed itself as a top competitor to Hertz, has completely shut down as of August 2025. The company, which had raised over $300 million and operated in 14 markets, entered receivership after failing to secure new financing and falling behind on loans, leading its main lender to repossess and liquidate its vehicle fleet. This follows a restructuring in 2024, when Kyte exited most U.S. cities and laid off staff after struggling to achieve profitability in several markets. While it sold its customer list to Turo in July 2025, many customers with prebooked trips are now seeking refunds. Founded in 2019, Kyte offered on-demand rental car deliveries and controlled its own fleet, positioning itself in the competitive transportation and mobility industry as a venture-backed startup.

Restaurant365, a leading Irvine-based restaurant technology provider, laid off approximately 100 employees, or 9% of its workforce, last month, reducing staff from 1,100 to 1,000. The cuts, which impacted all departments, were attributed to the company falling short of its aggressive growth targets for the year. Despite quadrupling revenue over the past four years and securing significant private funding that valued it over $1 billion, the company stated that controlling cash flow and progressing toward profitability necessitated the adjustments. This move highlights the competitive challenges within the restaurant tech sector, particularly for vendors serving large chain restaurants.

F5 laid off 106 employees representing approximately 2% of its workforce on 2025-08-13.

Oracle, a major software company now headquartered in Austin, Texas, has laid off 289 employees across three of its Bay Area offices in Pleasanton, Redwood City, and Santa Clara. The layoffs, effective October 13, were announced via WARN notices filed in mid-August. This includes 45 employees in Pleasanton, 143 in Redwood City, and 101 in Santa Clara. While Oracle has not officially stated the reason, the layoffs coincide with the company's recent announcements about accelerating its AI initiatives, including new AI-driven health records and partnerships for agentic AI. Despite these cuts, Oracle remains a significant employer in the region, with its Pleasanton office having 886 workers in 2024 and Redwood City listing it as the top employer in 2023 with over 3,700 employees.

US memory chipmaker Micron Technology began a new round of layoffs in mainland China in mid-August 2025, affecting hundreds of employees. The cuts, which are part of a global retreat from the unprofitable mobile NAND flash memory market, are expected to eliminate over 300 positions across the company's research and development, testing, and support facilities in cities like Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Xi'an. The decision was driven by the challenging financial performance of mobile NAND products, used in smartphones and tablets, amid broader fluctuations in the semiconductor industry and ongoing US-China tensions. While the exact percentage of Micron's total workforce impacted was not disclosed, the company offered voluntary departure packages with generous compensation to affected staff in China.

Crunchyroll, the Sony-owned anime streaming service, is laying off an undisclosed number of employees as part of a restructuring effort announced in early 2025. The company, which employs over 1,000 people, stated that the layoffs are not a cost-cutting measure but rather a strategic shift to adopt a new organizational model focused on regionally-empowered teams and engineering hubs in the U.S., Mexico, and India. President Rahul Purini emphasized that the changes aim to better serve the growing global anime fandom, with the service now boasting over 17 million paid subscribers. While the exact number of affected employees was not revealed, the company noted it is adding more positions than it is eliminating, framing the move as a proactive step to scale for future success in the competitive streaming industry.

Amdocs, a global provider of software and services to communications and media companies, is preparing for a new wave of layoffs expected to affect hundreds of employees as it centralizes its artificial intelligence strategy. The company announced the creation of a new GenAI & Data division on August 12, 2025, with the strategic goal of making AI an integral part of its operations. While the exact number of layoffs and the percentage of its total workforce are not officially confirmed, this move represents a shift from previous workforce adjustments, now directly driven by the generative AI revolution to reshape the company's structure and skills base.

BenchSci, a Toronto-based AI startup in the pharmaceutical technology sector, has laid off approximately 83 employees, representing 23% of its workforce, as part of a strategic shift to become an "AI-first" company. This move, announced in August 2025, follows a previous 17% reduction in early 2024. The company is aggressively adopting generative AI tools to automate workflows, streamline operations, and boost efficiency, explicitly aiming to replace human-performed tasks with AI. CEO Liran Belenzon emphasized that the company now prioritizes AI solutions before adding new staff or processes, reflecting a broader industry trend where tech companies leverage AI to reduce costs and enhance productivity.

Nextdoor laid off 67 employees representing approximately 12% of its workforce on 2025-08-07.

Peloton representing approximately 6% of its workforce on 2025-08-07.

Kaltura, a corporate video software company, has laid off 10% of its workforce, affecting about 70 employees out of 700, as part of its third round of job cuts since 2022. This streamlining effort, announced in August 2025, aims to reduce operating expenses by $8.5 million to push toward profitability, despite reporting improved revenue and initial AI product sales in its latest earnings. The publicly traded company, with a market capitalization of $262 million, continues to face stock price declines but maintains its sales and marketing budgets for growth.