Big Tech, big layoffs – the tally so far

This story and chart was updated on May 17, 2023.

THE year 2022 – and 2023 as well, if the first four and a half months of it have been anything to go by – was an immensely challenging one for Big Tech – a decidedly perplexing thing to say from the standpoint of 2019, 2020 and 2021 considering these years saw huge booms in the stock markets globally.

Crypto and fintech were the flavours of the week, for many many weeks – scrappy startup founders hurtled to the top of billionaire lists, e-commerce was off the charts, and so much venture capital money was being ploughed into these sectors because every investor wanted a piece of it.

This bubble didn’t stay inflated for long, though – the world witnessed a meteoric crash and burn of several firms and exchanges previously valued in the billions, and many investors lost millions, in some cases all their savings, in a few short months.

Here’s a rundown of some of the biggest companies that have taken the tough decision to downsize amid a significantly-weakened economic outlook: