How many Engineers laid off in 2024?

The year 2024 has been a rough ride for the employment sector. As of August 2024, 136,782 people had been laid off. The data was collected by layoffs.fyi, we have collected data from 422 companies. A number of these were engineers laid off from their jobs. In fact, the companies that top the list of layoffs are tech companies.

The software engineers have bore the brunt of these layoffs. Although it might be difficult to calculate the exact number of engineers laid off, the layoff data should give us a very clear picture. 

Engineers laid off 2024 data

One look at the companies that laid off the most employees since COVID-19 gives us an insight into which sector is the most affected. Amazon tops the list with 27,000 layoffs. Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta is second, followed by Intel, with Cisco and Tesla rounding up the top five.

These companies have one thing in common: They are all tech companies, with software engineers as one of their core employees. In fact, every one of the top 20 companies is a tech company, which shows how the sector is struggling.

While the picture is not as grim as one might think, employees now need to ensure that they are not the next victim of downsizing. Analysts predict further layoffs before things pick up. So, exactly how many engineers were laid off?

Since all the companies in this list are tech companies, it might be difficult to differentiate how many engineers were laid off in these layoffs.

The trend of layoffs in 2024 has been on a similar trajectory to the previous year, where 264,220 employees were laid off according to layoffs.  In fact, the year 2022 was far better where only 165,269 employees were laid off.

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Why engineers are being laid off 

COVID-19 may have greatly impacted economic activities, but the software industry benefited. Companies like Zoom and tech companies like Byjus thrived during this period. However, since the resumption of normal service after the pandemic, the bubble has burst to some extent.

Now, tech companies are focusing on resizing to ensure their losses are minimized. A great example is X(formerly Twitter), which laid off 3,700 employees, most of whom came after the change in ownership.

This is another reason why layoffs are happening. There has been a lot of change in the senior management of various companies, with Starbucks being the latest example, having replaced its CEO, Laxman Narasimhan, with Brian Niccol.

What is happening to engineers laid off 

Now that we have established that engineers are being laid off, the question is, where are they going? Well, according to a report, the majority are still looking for a job in technology. The reason for this is the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI). New roles such as systems architects are now in demand.

Furthermore, every top company is looking to build its AI model after witnessing the success of ChatGPT. Furthermore, as technology becomes more integral to our lives, skilled software engineers will be needed.

Many tech people are also looking to become entrepreneurs, using their skills to establish a company. Since they have gained a lot of experience in the tech sector, they now want to be their own boss rather than working for a company that can lay them off at a moment’s notice.

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The number of engineers were laid off in 2024 

Now we come back to our original question which is the number of engineers laid off in 2024. Well out of the total layoffs around 10 per cent of them are perceived to be software engineers. This means that while the situation is grim it is not as grim as people perceive it to be.

However, one still needs to be patient and wait out the storm as the picture is likely to improve in a year or two. Some companies have even restarted their hiring. However, companies want to avoid the issue of mass hiring that they did the last time which is also the reason for the mass layoffs affecting the industry now.

This is where companies can rely on our AI interview intelligence platform BarRaiser which helps companies in conducting smart interviews. Our AI driven platform helps companies through the entire hiring process right from selecting CVS to conducting interviews before finalizing the most suitable candidates for the job.

We also have an AI Interview Copilot, a tool that simplifies the interview process. This tool offers real-time suggestions to ensure flawless operations. It recommends a predetermined set of questions to ensure that the Interview does not get stuck at a point and continues smoothly. It also provided feedback on both the employee and the interviewer.

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After the Interview is conducted, a report is generated for both the candidate and the interviewer. This report is then sent to the hiring manager. BarRaiser also raises alerts if a question which may be discriminatory to the candidate is asked. This ensures that there are checks and balances in the system.

BarRaiser also provides interviewer training to make sure your team is always recruiting the best of candidates. We also believe that not every organization may have the resources at their disposal to run and use our tool on a daily basis. This is where Interview as a service product helps companies outsource their hiring process to avoid the hassle.

Using our tool helps companies ensure quality hiring in their interview process. In the long run, it helps companies ensure diversity and inclusion in their workplace while eliminating hiring bias.