Amazon confirms it has begun laying off employees | CNN Business

CNN —

Amazon confirmed on Wednesday that layoffs had begun at the company, two days after multiple outlets reported the e-commerce giant planned to cut around 10,000 employees this week.

The initial cuts at Amazon will impact roles on the devices and services team, per a memo shared publicly by Dave Limp, senior vice president of devices & services at Amazon

“After a deep set of reviews, we recently decided to consolidate some teams and programs. One of the consequences of these decisions is that some roles will no longer be required,” Limp said. “We notified impacted employees yesterday, and will continue to work closely with each individual to provide support, including assisting in finding new roles.”

Limp did not specify how many employees have been cut.

Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel told CNN Business in a statement that the company looks at all of its businesses as part of an annual operating review process. “As we’ve gone through this, given the current macro-economic environment (as well as several years of rapid hiring), some teams are making adjustments, which in some cases means certain roles are no longer necessary,” Nantel added.

She continued: “We don’t take these decisions lightly, and we are working to support any employees who may be affected.”

On Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning, many laid-off Amazon workers posted publicly on LinkedIn that they had been impacted by the job cuts and were looking for work. Some of these posts mentioned they were on teams involved with Amazon’s voice assistant, Alexa.

Amazon and other tech firms significantly ramped up hiring over the past couple of years as the pandemic shifted consumers’ habits towards e-commerce. Now, many of these seemingly untouchable tech companies are experiencing whiplash and laying off thousands of workers as people return to pre-pandemic habits and macroeconomic conditions deteriorate.

Facebook-parent Meta recently announced 11,000 job cuts, the largest in the company’s history. Twitter also announced widespread job cuts after Elon Musk bought the company for $44 billion, funded in part by debt financing.

In a sobering sign of the times, a growing number of business leaders in the tech sector – from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey – have been issuing remorseful apologies in recent weeks as their employees lose their livelihoods.

After reaching record highs during the pandemic, shares of Amazon have shed more than 40% in 2022 so far.

Microsoft layoffs: 10,000 employees affected; stock opens higher

Microsoft announced thousands of job cuts this week, becoming the latest tech company to pluck its workforce as the global economy slows.

The software company confirmed Wednesday its reducing workforce by 10,000 people through the end of the third quarter of the 2023 fiscal year.

The cuts come “in response to macroeconomic conditions and changing customer priorities," the company's CEO Satya Nadella released in a statement to its employees Wednesday.

Microsoft reported the layoffs would affect roughly 5% of its workforce, with some notifications happening as early as Wednesday.

"It’s important to note that while we are eliminating roles in some areas, we will continue to hire in key strategic areas. We know this is a challenging time for each person impacted," Nadella wrote in the statement. "The senior leadership team and I are committed that as we go through this process, we will do so in the most thoughtful and transparent way possible."

According to Bloomberg, which cited a person familiar with the matter, Microsoft will cut jobs in a number of engineering divisions.

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Microsoft stock (MSFT)

The company's stock was modestly higher in early Wednesday trading, opening at a share price of $241.56.

How many employees does Microsoft have?

Microsoft employs about 221,000 people around the world, including 122,000 in the United States, as of June 30, 2022.

Nadella: 'Difficult, but necessary'

Nadella also said the company will continue to invest in strategic areas for its future, "meaning we are allocating both our capital and talent to areas of secular growth and long-term competitiveness for the company, while divesting in other areas."

"These are the kinds of hard choices we have made throughout our 47-year history to remain a consequential company in this industry that is unforgiving to anyone who doesn’t adapt to platform shifts," he wrote.

"As such, we are taking a $1.2 billion charge in Q2 related to severance costs, changes to our hardware portfolio, and the cost of lease consolidation as we create higher density across our workspaces .... We will treat our people with dignity and respect, and act transparently. These decisions are difficult, but necessary. "

Microsoft layoffs come amid tech slowdown

After a massive hiring spree in the first two years of the pandemic, industry giants like Amazon and Meta reversed course in 2022.

There were at least 154,000 layoffs from more than 1,000 tech companies last year, according to Layoffs.fyi, a website that has been tracking tech layoffs since March 2020.

The website's tallies – which are likely an undercount – have continued at a fast clip in 2023, with more than 25,000 layoffs recorded so far this year.

Layoffs.fyi data shows the U.S. tech companies that trimmed the most jobs last year include:

Meta: 11,000

Amazon: 10,000

Cisco: 4,100

Carvana: 4,000

Twitter: 3,700

Lockdowns had a major effect on consumer spending. Experiences like travel or restaurants were largely off the table, so people began to shift their discretionary spending to products from tech companies like Amazon and Peloton.

Contributing: Bailey Schulz, USA TODAY

Natalie Neysa Alund covers trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.

Amazon plans to lay off about 10000 employees, largest in company ...

Amazon plans to lay off about 10,000 employees in what would be the largest reduction in the company's history, according to reports.

The New York Times reported the mass layoffs could begin as soon as this week and will focus on Amazon's devices organization, retail division and human resources, citing people with knowledge of the move who were not authorized to speak publicly.

Amazon did not immediately confirm the layoffs to USA TODAY.

The reported layoffs would affect about 3% of Amazon's corporate employees and less than 1% of its global workforce. The company has more than 1.5 million workers worldwide.

A recent report from market analysis firm Finbold found Amazon had lost 45% of its value in the past year, from $1.6 trillion on Jan. 1 to $939 billion on Nov. 3. Other companies, including Apple and Microsoft, also saw drops in value.

Petra Moser, a professor of economics at New York University, had told USA TODAY the loss in market value probably would be felt through employment.

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Jeff Bezos: Billionaire and Amazon founder says he plans to give most of his fortune to charity

Other major tech companies have announced similar moves in recent weeks. Thousands of people were laid off at Twitter in the beginning of November, one week after billionaire Elon Musk acquired the company.

A few days later, Facebook parent company Meta announced it was going to lay off more the 11,000 employees, about 13% of its workforce, "to become a leaner and more efficient company."

The New York Times report comes as Amazon announced million of deals that will be available for its 48- hour Black Friday event, which begins Nov. 24.

On Oct. 27, Amazon announced in its third-quarter financial results that its net sales had increased more than 15% compared with last year, but operating income decreased to $2.5 billion compared with the $4.9 billion operating income in the same time span last year.

A New York Times report from Oct. 4 said Amazon would freeze corporate hiring in its retail business for the rest of the year, but Amazon said it has plans to hire roughly 150,000 people for open seasonal, full-time and part-time roles "across its operations network in the U.S. to help deliver for customers during the holidays."

Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.

Amazon layoffs: Company plans to lay off thousands of employees ...

CNN Business —

Amazon is planning to lay off some 10,000 employees in corporate and technology jobs, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing anonymous sources with knowledge of the matter.

The job cuts could start as early as this week, and will likely include staff working on Amazon (AMZN) devices (such as its voice-assistant Alexa), as well as people in its retail and human resources divisions, according to the report. “The total number of layoffs remains fluid,” the report stated.

Amazon did not immediately respond to CNN Business’ request for comment Monday. CNN has not been able to independently confirm the report. The Wall Street Journal also reported Monday that Amazon is set to lay off thousands of workers, citing a person familiar with the matter.

The news would make Amazon the latest in a spate of tech companies that have announced significant layoffs in recent weeks, amid broader economic uncertainty and a sharp slowdown in the demand many tech giants saw during the pandemic that led them to quickly add staff. Last week, Facebook-parent Meta announced it is laying off 11,000 employees.

Earlier this month, Amazon said it was freezing corporate hiring “for the next few months,” citing economic uncertainty and “how many people we have hired” in recent years. Amazon rapidly grew its headcount as the pandemic shifted consumer habits and spending towards e-commerce. In its most-recent earnings report, however, Amazon forecast its revenue for the holiday quarter would be lighter than analysts had expected.

Shares in Amazon have fallen more than 40% in 2022 so far amid a broader market decline.

News of potential layoffs comes at a crucial time for the retail industry, ahead of the holiday shopping season. Despite recession fears and inflationary pressures, the National Retail Federation is predicting a 6% to 8% sales increase from last year during the holiday shopping months.

Last month, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos tweeted about the possibility of a looming recession, writing, “the probabilities in this economy tell you to batten down the hatches.” In an interview with CNN’s Chloe Melas on Saturday, Bezos said that advice was meant for business owners and consumers alike. “Take some risk off the table,” he said. “Just a little bit of risk reduction could make the difference.”

Google layoffs: 12,000 job cuts announced by CEO Sundar Pichai

Google announced Friday that it planned to cut about 12,000 jobs, joining other tech giants who are downsizing staff by the thousands.

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and parent company Alphabet, confirmed the layoffs in an email sent to Google employees, which was later published in a Google blog post.

The job cuts would reduce the company's workforce by about 6%.

"This will mean saying goodbye to some incredibly talented people we worked hard to hire and have loved working with. I’m deeply sorry for that," Pichai wrote. "The fact that these changes will impact the lives of Googlers weighs heavily on me, and I take full responsibility for the decisions that led us here.

"Over the past two years we’ve seen periods of dramatic growth. To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today."

Tracking tech layoffs:Why companies like Amazon and Meta cut jobs in 2022

Pichai said the layoffs reflect the result of a “rigorous review" of Google's operations. The jobs being eliminated will be "cut across Alphabet, product areas, functions, levels and regions," he said.

How many employees does Google have?

According to a regulatory filing in September 2022, Alphabet said it employed nearly 187,000 people, compared with about 150,000 employees at the end of 2021 and 119,000 in 2019.

The 12,000 job cuts announced Friday represent more than 6% of total staff.

Have employees affected by Google's layoffs been notified?

According to Pichai's message, U.S. employees have already been notified. He noted that the process will take longer in other countries because of local laws and practices.

In the U.S., employees who are laid off will be paid for the notification period (60 days), 2022 bonuses and remaining vacation time. Google will also offer a severance package starting at 16 weeks plus two additional weeks for every year an employee worked at Google – as well as six months of health care, immigration support and job placement services, according to Friday's message.

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Alphabet stock (GOOG)

Alphabet's stock (GOOG) was up more than 2% in early trading Friday.

Google's layoffs join Amazon, Microsoft and more

Google isn't the only tech giant that has initiated mass layoffs in recent months.

Accounting for Google's staff cuts, more than 200,000 tech industry workers have been laid off since the start of 2022, according to Layoffs.fyi.

Earlier this week, Amazon began laying off thousands of employees. On Jan. 4, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced the company planned to cut more than 18,000 employees "between the reductions we made in November and the ones we’re sharing today."

New layoff notifications for about 8,000 employees began Wednesday – just months after an initial round of 10,000 job cuts.

Wednesday:Amazon begins next round of layoffs, as tech giant cuts total of more than 18,000 jobs

Also this week:Microsoft to lay off 10,000 employees starting Wednesday; roughly 5% of workforce affected

Also on Wednesday, Microsoft announced 10,000 job cuts, or nearly 5% of its workforce. And Facebook parent Meta announced 11,000 job cuts, or 13% of its workforce, in November.

Contributing: Jordan Mendoza, USA TODAY; The Associated Press

Microsoft layoffs, Ukraine chopper crash, winter storm: The Short List

Ukraine's interior minister was one of at least 14 people that died in a helicopter crash in Kyiv Wednesday. Microsoft will lay off thousands of employees. And nine states were under winter storm warnings.

👋 Hey there! It's Julius. And it's time for Wednesday's news.

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At least 14 dead in Kyiv helicopter crash

A helicopter crashed into a kindergarten in a suburb of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Wednesday, killing at least 14 people, including the country's interior minister, authorities said. Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi, who oversaw Ukraine’s police and emergency services, appears to be the most senior Ukrainian official killed since the start of the war. Two of his top deputies, their assistants and the helicopter crew were among the dead, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram. Nine of those killed were aboard the chopper when it crashed. The other victims were apparently on the ground. "Unspeakable pain," Zelenskyy said. "Bright memory to everyone whose life was taken by this black morning." There was no initial information indicating the helicopter, which was flying in foggy conditions, was shot down. Read more updates on Ukraine.

Microsoft to lay off 10K employees

Microsoft confirmed Wednesday it was going to lay off 10,000 people through the end of the third quarter of the 2023 fiscal year, becoming the latest tech company to downsize its workforce as the global economy slows. The company reported the layoffs would affect roughly 5% of its workforce, with some notifications happening as early as Wednesday. The cuts come “in response to macroeconomic conditions and changing customer priorities," the company's CEO Satya Nadella said in a statement to its employees Wednesday. Read more about Microsoft's decision.

Tracking tech layoffs:Why companies like Amazon and Meta cut jobs in 2022

What everyone's talking about

The Short List is free, but several stories we link to are subscriber-only. Consider supporting our journalism and become a USA TODAY digital subscriber today.

Lawmakers spar as US nears debt ceiling

Fears of the federal government hitting its "debt ceiling" spiked Friday after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sent a letter to party leaders in Congress urging them to raise the limit before the expected deadline Thursday. Congress can avert economic disaster by increasing or suspending the limit, as they have done numerous times in the past. However, House conservatives are threatening to delay the process by demanding deep spending cuts a Democratic Senate and White House have already signaled they won't accept. Economic experts say failure to raise the ceiling would have national and worldwide economic consequences, with an impact felt by Americans in numerous ways. More on what could happen if the debt ceiling isn't raised.

Winter storm hits central US after record-breaking snow in Arizona

Colorado, Nebraska and other parts of the central U.S. are facing a major snowstorm Wednesday that has already broken records in Arizona – and it could cross more than 1,700 miles of the country. Swaths of the eastern Rockies, the Plains, and the upper Midwest are under winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories Wednesday, and parts of Nebraska could see additional snow accumulations of up to 17 inches. The National Weather Service had issued a winter storm warning for nine states, as of Wednesday morning. The storm could move all the way to parts of Michigan. Follow along for the latest weather updates.

Nearly 3 million people under tornado watch; parts of Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas affected.

Real quick

Six GOP congressmen say Rep. George Santos should resign

Most Republican House members from New York are ready to see GOP Rep. George Santos leave less than two weeks after he took office, with six saying he should resign for a string of campaign lies exposed after his election. That contingent consists of every other GOP rookie from the state who joined Congress this month, two of whom represent Long Island with Santos. "With the extent and severity of the allegations against him, his inability to take full responsibility for his conduct, and the numerous investigations underway, I believe he is unable to fulfill his duties and should resign,” said freshman Rep. Mike Lawler, a freshman representing Rockland and Putnam counties and parts of Westchester and Dutchess. Read more.

A break from the news

Amazon CEO explains thinking behind layoffs as unionized ...

CNN Business —

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy on Wednesday said an “uncertain” economy pushed the e-commerce giant to move forward with rare and wide-ranging layoffs after having gone on a significant hiring spree for much of the pandemic.

“We had the lens of a very uncertain economic environment, as well as our having hired very aggressively over the last several years,” Jassy said in an interview at the New York Times DealBook summit on Wednesday. “We just felt like we needed to streamline our costs.”

The remarks came as part of Jassy’s first interview since Amazon (AMZN) confirmed earlier this month it had begun laying off corporate workers, with plans for layoffs to continue into early next year. The company is reportedly planning to cut up to 10,000 employees, though it has not confirmed a figure.

Amazon, more than most tech companies, experienced a staggering pandemic boom as more customers shifted their spending online during the health crisis. Like other tech companies, it has since changed course and begun cutting employees as it confronts a shift in demand as well as rising inflation and recession fears.

“A lot has happened in the last few years that I’m not sure people anticipated,” Jassy said. “You just look in 2020, our retail business grew 39% year-over-year, at a $245 billion annual run rate, which is unprecedented, and it forced us to make decisions in that time to spend a lot more money and to go much faster in building infrastructure than we ever imagined we would.”

“We built a physical fulfillment center footprint over 25 years that we doubled in 24 months,” Jassy said.

Andrew Ross Sorkin speaks with Amazon CEO Andy Jassy during the New York Times DealBook Summit in the Appel Room at the Jazz At Lincoln Center on November 30, 2022 in New York City. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Even so, Jassy said he thinks the team “made the right decision” regarding its infrastructure build out. Regarding the hiring spree, Jassy said he now looks at is as a “lesson for everyone.”

“I don’t necessarily think it was the wrong thing to have been doubling down, because we were growing so well and we had so many ideas that we thought were good for customers and good for the business, but I think it’s a good lesson, I think, for everybody,” Jassy said. “When you’re hiring, even when things are going really well, that it’s good to think about if there’s some kind of sudden change, even one that you just have a little bit of a hard time imagining. Would you like the incremental headcount that you’re adding at that time, or do you want to be a little bit more conservative?”

Legal battle with union is ‘far from over’

As Jassy spoke, Amazon warehouse workers who helped organize the company’s first-ever US labor union at a Staten Island facility gathered in the rain outside of the venue to protest their chief executive’s appearance in New York.

Despite the landmark union victory in April, Amazon has so far refused to formally recognize the grassroots worker group known as the Amazon Labor Union, or come to the bargaining table. The company has aggressively pushed back against the workers’ victory through the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

While the NLRB battle indicates the labor union is on the cusp of being certified, Jassy suggested Amazon’s legal battle with the worker group isn’t done yet. He said there “were a lot of irregularities in that vote,” which is why the company filed objections with the NLRB. (Amazon’s objections were previously rejected by an NLRB hearing officer.)

Jassy also emphasized that the last two Amazon union elections held resulted in workers voting not to unionize, and that Amazon prefers to have a direct relationship with fulfillment center workers rather than going through unions.

Labor activist Chris Smalls joins members of the Amazon labor union and others for a protest outside of the New York Times DealBook Summit as Amazon's CEO, Andy Jassy, will be appearing on November 30, 2022 in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

“In my own opinion on where we are with that legal process is that we’re far from over with it,” Jassy said. “I think that it’s going to work its way through the NLRB, it’s probably unlikely the NLRB is going to rule against itself, and that has a real chance to end up in federal courts.”

In an interview with CNN Business ahead of Jassy’s remarks, Amazon Labor Union President Chris Smalls slammed that Jassy “even had the audacity to feel comfortable to come to New York City knowing that we haven’t negotiated anything yet.”

“We definitely want to take this opportunity to let him know that the workers are waiting and we are ready to negotiate our first contract,” he added of the demonstration, which he called a “welcoming party” for Jassy.

Smalls said he’s been contacted by a few laid-off Amazon employees in corporate roles, who have since grown interested in the protections of unions. “I tell them — you may have good salary, you may have good perks, you may got good stocks and benefits, obviously better than warehouse workers, but at the end of the day, you’re still an at-will employee,” Smalls said.

“I explained to them, the one building that can’t be touched right now by mass layoffs is JFK8 Staten Island,” he said. “I encourage them to do what they have to do, if that means form a union, so be it, we support it.”

Amazon CEO says job cuts will continue into 2023 | CNN Business

CNN Business —

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said job cuts at the e-commerce giant would continue into early next year, in his first public remarks since the company began widespread layoffs earlier this week.

“Our annual planning process extends into the new year, which means there will be more role reductions as leaders continue to make adjustments,” Jassy wrote in a letter to staff Thursday. “Those decisions will be shared with impacted employees and organizations early in 2023.”

Jassy said that the company hasn’t “concluded yet exactly how many other roles will be impacted” by the layoffs, but added that “each leader will communicate to their respective teams when we have the details nailed down.”

Amazon confirmed on Wednesday that layoffs had begun at the company, just days after multiple outlets reported the e-commerce giant planned to cut around 10,000 employees this week.

Amazon (AMZN) and other tech firms significantly ramped up hiring over the past couple of years as the pandemic shifted consumers’ habits toward e-commerce. Now, many of these seemingly untouchable tech companies are experiencing whiplash and laying off thousands of workers as people return to pre-pandemic habits and macroeconomic conditions deteriorate.

Facebook-parent Meta recently announced 11,000 job cuts, the largest in the company’s history. Twitter also announced widespread job cuts after Elon Musk bought the company for $44 billion.

Jassy alluded to the macroeconomic climate in his memo Thursday, saying this year’s annual operating review “is more difficult due to the fact that the economy remains in a challenging spot and we’ve hired rapidly the last several years.”

Jassy said that this is the most difficult decision the company has had to make during his year-and-a-half tenure at Amazon’s helm.

“It’s not lost on me or any of the leaders who make these decisions that these aren’t just roles we’re eliminating, but rather, people with emotions, ambitions, and responsibilities whose lives will be impacted,” Jassy wrote.

Elon Musk's Twitter lays off employees across the company

CNN Business —

Twitter on Friday laid off thousands of employees in departments across the company, in a severe round of cost cutting that could potentially upend how one of the world’s most influential platforms operates one week after it was acquired by billionaire Elon Musk.

Numerous Twitter employees began posting on the platform Thursday night and Friday morning that they had already been locked out of their company email accounts ahead of the planned layoff notification. Some also shared blue hearts and salute emojis indicating they were out at the company.

By Friday morning, Twitter employees from departments including ethical AI, marketing and communication, search, public policy, wellness and other teams had tweeted about having been let go. Members of the curation team, which help elevate reliable information on the platform, including about elections, were also laid off, according to employee posts.

“Just got remotely logged out of my work laptop and removed from Slack,” one Twitter employee said on the platform. “So sad it had to end this way.”

Another employee said that she and other members of Twitter’s human rights team had been laid off. The employee added that she is proud of the team’s work “to protect those at-risk in global conflicts & crises including Ethiopia, Afghanistan, and Ukraine, and to defend the needs of those particularly at risk of human rights abuse by virtue of their social media presence, such as journalists & human rights defenders.”

Simon Balmain, a former Twitter senior community manager who was laid off Friday, said in an interview with CNN that he lost access to Slack, email and other internal systems around 8 hours before receiving an email Friday morning officially notifying him that he’d been fired. He added that the lay off email “still didn’t provide any details really” about why he’d been let go.

“The waves of annoyance and frustration and all that stuff are absolutely mitigated by the extreme solidarity we’ve seen from people that are in the company, people that are in the same position, people that left the company in years gone by,” Balmain said. “It’s like a giant support network, which has been absolutely amazing.”

One Twitter employee who was laid off told CNN Friday that some workers are relieved to have been let go. “For me, being safe would’ve been punishment,” the employee said.

While Twitter employees were posting about being laid off, Musk on Friday appeared for a friendly interview at an investor conference and spoke about making cheaper electric vehicles and his ambitions to go to Mars. During the interview, Musk said of Twitter, “I tried to get out of the deal,” but then added, “I think there is a tremendous amount of potential … and I think it could be one of the most valuable companies in the world.”

The interviewer said that Musk had laid off “half of Twitter” and Musk nodded, although he did not comment on the remark.

(In a series of tweets Friday evening, Yoel Roth, head of Twitter’s trust and safety team, confirmed overall headcount was cut by roughly 50%. The layoffs eliminated 15% of the company’s trust and safety team, leading to reductions in customer service but little change to content moderation, according to Roth. )

In his interview, Musk appeared to frame the sweeping layoffs as necessary for a company that, like other social media firms, was experiencing “revenue challenges” prior to his acquisition as advertisers rethink spending amid recession fears.

Musk also said “a number of major advertisers have stopped spending on Twitter” in the days since the acquisition was completed.

Elon Musk spoke at an investment conference Friday morning as employees at Twitter, which he now owns, were receiving notifications that they had been laid off from the company. Baron Capital

Twitter had about 7,500 workers prior to Musk’s takeover, meaning roughly 3,700 employees were laid off. The cuts come as Musk attempts to improve the company’s bottom line after taking out significant debt financing to fund his $44 billion acquisition.

The email sent Thursday evening notified employees that they would receive a notice by 12 p.m. ET Friday that informs them of their employment status.

“If your employment is not impacted, you will receive a notification via your Twitter email,” a copy of the email obtained by CNN said. “If your employment is impacted, you will receive a notification with next steps via your personal email.”

The email added that “to help ensure the safety” of employees and Twitter’s systems, the company’s offices “will be temporarily closed and all badge access will be suspended.”

The email concluded acknowledging that it will be “an incredibly challenging experience to go through” for the workforce.

Several Twitter employees on Thursday night filed a class action lawsuit alleging that Twitter is in violation of the federal and California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act) after laying off some employees already. The complaint was later amended to acknowledge that while several of the plaintiffs did ultimately receive sufficient notice of their termination under the WARN Act, Twitter still allegedly failed to give sufficient notice in the case of some employees.

The WARN Act requires that an employer with more than 100 employees must provide 60 days’ advanced written notice prior to a mass layoff “affecting 50 or more employees at a single site of employment.”

“Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, has made clear that he believes complying with federal labor laws is ‘trivial,’” Attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan, who filed the lawsuit, said in a statement to CNN. “We have filed this federal complaint to ensure that Twitter be held accountable to our laws and to prevent Twitter employees from unknowingly signing away their rights.”

WARN notices were filed by Twitter on Friday for nearly 1,000 impacted employees at the company’s various California offices.

Separately, other labor lawyers told CNN Friday they had begun receiving inquiries from Twitter employees questioning whether their terminations may have been unlawfully discriminatory or retaliatory.

“Former Twitter employees have reached out to us regarding their layoffs and their circumstances, and so we’re looking at all the issues — beyond appropriate notice — and to make sure the employee wasn’t laid off due to their membership in a protected category,” said Chauniqua Young, a partner at the law firm Outten & Golden.

Beyond the potential for lawsuits arising from the layoffs, other legal experts say Musk’s handling of the cuts may well create further problems for him down the road — whether in terms of attracting future talent or by keeping remaining workers satisfied.

“Once you treat people like this, they remember that,” said Terri Gerstein, a fellow at Harvard Law School’s Labor and Worklife Program and Economic Policy Institute. “Of the people remaining, it is a certainty that none of them feel secure in their job, and I would be shocked if the remaining people were not updating their resumes right now or talking with each other about starting a union.”

Musk started his tenure at Twitter by firing CEO Parag Agrawal and two other executives, according to two people familiar with the decision.

And in less than a week since Musk acquired the company, its C-suite appears to have almost entirely cleared out, through a mix of firings and resignations. Musk has also dissolved Twitter’s former board of directors.

Many staffers on Friday summed up their feelings with a hashtag, #LoveWhereYouWorked, a past-tense play on one previously often used by Twitter employees.

- Brian Fung and Shawn Nottingham contributed to this report

Donie O'Sullivan Clare Duffy
Donie O'Sullivan
Clare Duffy

Airbnb CEO on the tech downturn: 'It's like we're all in a nightclub ...

CNN —

After years of seemingly unstoppable growth, the tech industry is now facing the “ultimate reality check” as it confronts broader economic uncertainty and waves of layoffs, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky told CNN on Thursday.

“It’s like we’re all in a nightclub and the lights just came on,” Chesky said in an interview on “CNN This Morning.” After a period of “exuberance and euphoria,” he added, “now we all have to, like, take a hard look at things.”

His remarks come at a difficult moment for the tech industry. Facebook-parent Meta said last week it was cutting 11,000 jobs after nearly doubling its staff during the pandemic. Amazon confirmed this week that lay offs had begun in its corporate workforce, with reports saying it plans to cut 10,000 positions. And Twitter recently cut approximately 50% of its staff as new owner Elon Musk races to bolster its bottom line.

Airbnb may be an exception. Chesky said the company is not undergoing layoffs at this time, and in fact is hiring. But that is due in large part to the company cutting 25% of its staff at the start of the pandemic as the travel industry was clobbered, and losing more employees by attrition after.

“Two-and-a-half years ago, we lost 80% of our business in eight weeks,” Chesky said. “People were predicting we were going to go out of business.”

“We just hunkered down,” he added. “We rebuilt the company from the ground up, and we stayed really lean.” Now, Chesky said, “we’re stepping on the gas, we’re not putting on the brakes.”

While the reckoning hitting much of Silicon Valley is painful, Chesky appeared to suggest that a more sober reassessment of the industry could also provide an opportunity for the tech sector to rethink its place in society, after years of criticism for the impact its products can have on people.

“I think Silicon Valley has done so many amazing things for the world, but we have to be careful having a fetishization of new technology, as if the new technology is going to solve all the problems that the last technology created,” Chesky said. “We need more diversity in Silicon Valley, but that diversity should not just be demographic diversity. We need artists, humanists in this industry.”