Hundreds lose positions in latest wave of tech cuts
The latest wave of job cuts in the Bay Area has led to significant workforce reductions at semiconductor giant Intel, the self-driving startup Ghost Autonomy and Checkr, a backgroundscreening platform once valued at $5 billion.
Intel plans to eliminate 62 positions within its sales and marketing departments at its Santa Clara headquarters, state regulatory filings show. The layoffs are expected to begin on May 25.
The move is part of a restructuring initiative announced in 2022, aimed at reducing expenditures by up to $10 billion through 2025 following an unexpected decline in revenue.
Last year the company cut approximately 7,000 positions.
“Our goal is to best reflect the markets and customers we serve,” Intel said in a statement regarding the most recent round of layoffs. “We continue to evaluate our structure through this lens to best support the dynamic demands of our market and customer-focused initiatives.”
Checkr, established in San Francisco in 2014 to automate background checks using artificial intelligence, has laid off 382 employees across various divisions, accounting for 32% of its workforce.
The company was valued at $5 billion in April 2022. TechCrunch first reported the cuts.
A Checkr spokesperson confirmed the layoffs, stating, “In response to economic conditions that have impacted companies’ hiring, we made the difficult and painful decision to reduce the size of our team. This will allow us to operate more efficiently and ensure the long-term health of our business.”
Checkr serves as the primary provider of background checks for tens of thousands of companies, including corporate clients such as Uber, Instacart, Netflix, Airbnb and DoorDash.
Ghost Autonomy, a Silicon Valley firm founded in 2017 to develop software for self-driving cars, ceased operations on April 3, leading to over 100 layoffs at its offices in Mountain View, Detroit, Dallas and Sydney.
The company cited an “uncertain” path to longterm profitability due to difficulties raising money and the extensive investments required to bring its technology to consumers.
Ghost Autonomy received a $5 million investment from OpenAI’s startup fund in November.
In March, layoff announcements in the United States rose 7%, marking the highest increase since January 2023. Cuts in the technology sector led the uptick, with 14,224 reported in March alone, and a cumulative total of 42,442 since the beginning of the year, according to a report released last week by the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Despite the spike, the number of overall job cuts announced was down by 5% compared with the same period in 2023, hinting at a strengthening job market.