More than 24,000 tech workers were laid off this week alone

Last year’s tech layoffs were bad, but this year could be even worse if companies continue to cut jobs at their current pace.

Just this week, Layoffs more than double to nearly 24,000. On Tuesday (January 23), more than 10,000 technology workers around the world lost their jobs. Then, on Thursday (January 25), an additional 1,900 jobs were cut in Microsoft’s gaming division. Analysts say the technical layoffs aresmaller and more targeted“This year, companies will shift investment to Generation AIThe number of layoffs in January is already higher than the monthly average for the past two years, according to data from lalayoffs.fyi.

Indeed, companies may simply take quick action at the beginning of the year and make cuts before continuing with business as usual. But that seems unlikely, as tech giants Google and Amazon have indicated that layoffs at these companies will continue.

AI means goodbye, workers.

Many of the layoffs come just as companies are strengthening their positions in AI. Google, Amazon, Dataminr, SpotifyFor example, while reducing staff roles, we simultaneously focused on and even celebrated enhancing our AI capabilities.

“The juxtaposition of celebrating advanced AI-driven capabilities while simultaneously reducing the human workforce is likely to be a challenge for AI and automation,” Techopedia’s Neil C. “It raises serious questions about the impact on jobs.”

The pain doesn’t just get bigger, it gets deeper

Technical layoffs in 2024 are also more concentrated than in the past two years so far. Nearly 24,000 jobs were cut at just 82 companies. However, in 2023, an average of about 99 companies cut jobs every month. This meant fewer monthly job cuts across more companies, and the pain of layoffs was spread out even more.