Big tech job cuts keep coming; Dell latest to trim head count

The tech industry started the year with a wave of job cuts, about 50,000 in January, and there doesn’t appear to be any let-up this month. The computer maker Dell said Monday that it is cutting about 6,600 jobs.

Dell reduced its payroll by 5%, or about 6,600 jobs, saying that the steps it has taken to stay ahead of eroding market conditions are no longer enough. Profits have slipped over the past two quarters at the company, which employed about 133,000 people at the start of last year.

The largest drop-off ever in PC deliveries was recorded last year after a surge in purchases during the pandemic. Dell’s shipments dropped 16%.

Large and small tech companies went on a hiring spree in over the past several years as demand for their products, software and services surged with millions of people working remotely. However, even with all of the layoffs announced this year, most tech companies are still vastly larger than they were three years ago. Here’s a look at some of the companies announced layoffs:

• Amazon: The e-commerce company said it must cut about 18,000 positions. That is just a fraction of its 1.5 million-strong global workforce.

• Salesforce: The company laid off 10% of its workforce, about 8,000 employees.

• Coinbase: The cryptocurrency trading platform cut about 20% of its workforce, or about 950 jobs, in a second round of layoffs in less than a year.

• Microsoft: The software company said it will cut about 10,000 jobs, almost 5% of its workforce.

• Google: The search engine giant became the most recent in the industry to say it must adjust, saying 12,000 workers, or about 6% of its workforce, would be let go.

• Spotify: The music streaming service cut 6% of its global workforce. It did not give a specific number of job losses.