Despite the latest jobs report, Tech companies are putting the brakes on hiring as the economy heads into uncertain territory.
For the past few months, tech companies have been either freezing hiring, rescinding accepted offers, or laying off employees.
This week an email leaked out of Tesla showing Elon Musk has frozen hiring at Tesla and is preparing to cut staffing by about 10,000 jobs, or 10%. In the email, he cited a “super bad” feeling about the economic situation. His move came days after Goldman Sachs CEO Jamie Dimon spoke of a “hurricane” closing in on the economy.
Other companies appear to be feeling the same way about the economy.
Coinbase announced it is freezing hiring for the foreseeable future, and will rescind some offers which were already accepted. Coinbase has more than 4900 employees.
Coinbase’s chief people officer L.J Brock said in a blog post, “We always knew crypto would be volatile, but that volatility alongside larger economic factors may test the company, and us personally, in new ways. If we’re flexible and resilient, and remain focused on the long term, Coinbase will come out stronger on the other side.”
Similarly, NVIDIA CFO Colette Kress wrote, following the company’s Q1 earnings report, the chip maker will slow hiring in the second half of its fiscal 2023 to fully integrate already hired employees. NVIDIA missed analysts’ estimates for its Q2 and said it will take a $500 million hit due to the China COVID lockdowns and having to pull out of Russia following the conflict in Ukraine. NVIDIA has 22,473 employees globally.
Meanwhile Microsoft told Bloomberg that it would pump the brakes on hiring to better prepare itself for the next fiscal year. Although it reported strong Q3 earnings, it was forced to revise Q4 guidance downward due to volatile foreign exchange rates eating into profits as it brought profits home. Microsoft has 181,000 employees.
Netflix has confirmed it will be letting go about 150 employees out of 11,000 workers as it tries to reduce costs as revenue slows. A Netflix spokesperson said, “These changes are primarily driven by business needs rather than individual performance, which makes them especially tough as none of us want to say goodbye to such great colleagues.”
Lyft has said it will reduce hiring and try to cut costs, though it has committed to not lay off any employees. Lyft president John Zimmer wrote, “It’s clear from our discussions with other business leaders that every company is taking a hard look at how they respond to concerns about an economic slowdown and the dramatic change in investor sentiment.” Lyft has 4,791 employees.
Snapchat parent company Snap has warned it will not meet revenue goals and will have to embark upon cost-cutting, and slowing hiring. CEO Evan Spiegel wrote, “Moving forward, we will be taking steps to reprioritize our investments — continuing to invest across our business priorities, but in many cases doing so at a slower pace than we had planned given the operating environment.” Snap has 5,661 employees.
Wayfair, the ecommerce giant, has announced a 90 day hiring freeze, citing macro-uncertainty. In a statement, Wayfair said, “We’re pleased that typical seasonal sales trends are taking hold, but we see a great deal of uncertainty in the overall economy and believe it’s prudent to make some adjustments that will allow us to control our own destiny.” Wayfair has 16,681 employees.
Uber has promised to scale back hiring amid cost-cutting. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said, “The least efficient marketing and incentive spend will be pulled back. We will treat hiring as a privilege and be deliberate about when and where we add headcount,” Uber has 29,300 employees.
Carvana just laid off 2500 workers, or 12% of its workforce, many over a Zoom call. The company stated, “Recent macroeconomic factors have pushed automotive retail into recession. While Carvana is still growing, our growth is slower than what we originally prepared for in 2022, and we made the difficult decision to reduce the size of certain operations teams to better align with the current needs of the business.” Carvana employs 21,000 workers.
Twitter froze hiring in May, and has said it will rescind some job offers amid Elon Musk’s takeover attempt. It has also cut costs in travel, consulting, and marketing. Twitter has 7,500 workers.
Meta is now limiting hiring to cut costs amid poor revenue forecasts. It has 71,970 employees.
Apple is slowing hiring of employees at its retail locations, especially its tech support Genius roles. Bloomberg had reported that Apple’s iPhone orders will remain flat year over year. Apple has 154,000 employees.
Investing App Robinhood has announced it will cut 9% of its full time employees. CEO Vlad Tenev told employees, “As you know, throughout 2020 and H1 2021, we went through a period of hyper growth accelerated by several factors including pandemic lockdowns, low interest rates, and fiscal stimulus.” Robinhood has 3,800 full time employees.
Doordash was warning of reduced hiring back in April. It plans to scale back its workforce by about 10-15%. It has 8.600 workers.
Finally, Peloton will cut 2800 jobs while undergoing a broader strategy overhaul. It has 8.662 employees.
