Amazon and Google Shake Up Workforce with Huge Layoffs

Knight

Knight

Well-known Member
Story by Mark Garro
In recent months, there have been massive layoffs from major corporations in a bid to navigate the harsh economic times. These strategic initiatives have triggered discussions around cost-cutting measures and the evolving industry dynamics.

MSN


Nike, Google, Discord, Citigroup, Twitch, BlackRock, Rent the Runway, Unity Software, eBay, Microsoft’s Job Reductions at Activision Blizzard, Salesforce, Flexport, iRobot, UPS, PayPal, Okta, Snap, Estee Lauder, DocuSign, Zoom,

I didn't copy the content explaining the reasoning behind layoffs & the amount of people being laid off.
I don't know who Mark Garro is or how he has the resources to gather the info he writes about. What I do know is liberal media doesn't seem to recognize harsh economic times.
 

Not sure of the Google, etc. layoffs, as in the past... mostly foreign. Not saying there is some in the U.S., but the data does show a slight drop in full time jobs from one year ago, with an increase in part time jobs. (Part time jobs count as jobs for calculating the unemployment rate, etc..)
Over the past year, full time employed has slightly decreased, with part time increasing... until April. That may be what is being referenced.

Ooops, I did leave out the potential for layoffs in education. Something about a multi billion federal program put in place for "covid", which ends at the start of the coming school year. Not sure of the impact.
 
Knight said:
Story by Mark Garro
In recent months, there have been massive layoffs from major corporations in a bid to navigate the harsh economic times. These strategic initiatives have triggered discussions around cost-cutting measures and the evolving industry dynamics.

MSN


Nike, Google, Discord, Citigroup, Twitch, BlackRock, Rent the Runway, Unity Software, eBay, Microsoft’s Job Reductions at Activision Blizzard, Salesforce, Flexport, iRobot, UPS, PayPal, Okta, Snap, Estee Lauder, DocuSign, Zoom,

I didn't copy the content explaining the reasoning behind layoffs & the amount of people being laid off.
I don't know who Mark Garro is or how he has the resources to gather the info he writes about. What I do know is liberal media doesn't seem to recognize harsh economic times.
Click to expand...
The economy is thriving, and the "cost cutting" measures are a thinly disguised move in funding CEO compensation.
 

@Nathan The 2023 article you posted looks rosy. The 2024 article not so much.

April 11, 2024

The US economy entered 2024 on strong footing, but headwinds including rising consumer debt and elevated interest rates will weigh on economic growth. While we do not forecast a recession in 2024, we do expect consumer spending growth to cool and for overall GDP growth to slow to under 1% over Q2 and Q3 2024. Thereafter, inflation and interest rates should gradually normalize and quarterly annualized GDP growth should converge toward its potential of near 2% in 2025.

US consumer spending held up remarkably well in 2023 despite elevated inflation and higher interest rates. However, this trend is already beginning to soften in early 2024. For instance, retails sales growth over the first few months of the year have been weak. Gains in real disposable personal income growth are softening, pandemic savings are dwindling, and household debt is increasing.

Consumers are spending more of their income to service debt and delinquencies are rising. Additionally, the growth in ‘buy now, pay later’ plans may also weigh on future spending as bills come due. Thus, we forecast that overall consumer spending growth will slow in Q2 and Q3 2024 as households struggle to find a new equilibrium between income, debt, savings, and spending. While we anticipate labor market conditions to soften over this period, we do not expect them to deteriorate. As inflation and interest rates abate, consumption should expand once again in late 2024.

Economic Forecast for the US Economy
 
Nathan said:
Just for clarity, the article mentioned Dec.2023 figures in retrospect, so it was written in early 2024, just a few months ago.
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I understand that. The article you posted reflected 2023 stats. The one I posted reflects what is happening in 2024.

The one I posted started with
"The US economy entered 2024 on strong footing, but headwinds including rising consumer debt and elevated interest rates will weigh on economic growth"

then goes on to explain the deterioration.

The 1 trillion plus credit card debt along with the stimulus packages IMO helped the economy to have that rosy picture, but that rosy picture is beginning to fade.
No mystery job reduction has a trickle down effect. Suppliers decrease supplies. Purchasing by previously employed people have an impact.
 
The economy is showing some cracks, but not breaking as yet. As for that stellar end of year GDP... it was largely a recalculation of the trade deficit from chained 2012 dollars to chained 2017 dollars, which was a rather large 28%. Without that adjustment across the board, it would have been near 1.7% annualized. That 1st QTR 1.6% is more in line with what is reality, imho. A bit of uptick is currently the expectation for 2Q24, but we are only half way through.

There is some strain on that latter figure in this current quarter, as the trade deficit is starting to rise. The levels of early 2022 are not expected, as the deficit in that period was due to front loading imports, in preparation for a guaranteed dock strike that did not take place. (Which also compounded the inflation picture at that time.)

Also, the personal consumption may falter, which is key. The services sector was almost the entire story in 1Q24.
 
Nathan said:
The economy is thriving, and the "cost cutting" measures are a thinly disguised move in funding CEO compensation.
Click to expand...
now that rationale I like - good thinking 99 - the last time I looked at an amazon advert it had very very few workers on the factory floor cause it was all mechanized and goods were moving on conveyor belts and being moved by drivers in motorized 'thingys'
 
Nathan said:
The economy is thriving, and the "cost cutting" measures are a thinly disguised move in funding CEO compensation.
Click to expand...
I believe what you wrote is true Nathan. CEOs get these huge bonuses and salary increases while workers often do not get paid what they're worth or worse, get laid off.
"Google cut about 12,000 people in 2023 and started off 2024 with thousands more laid off. Areas ranging from core engineering to hardware teams have been affected." From this article featuring comments by Google's CEO.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai explains why the company keeps doing layoffs

"After a strategic review, Amazon intends to lay off 9,000 more employees — on top of the 18,000 job cuts it previously announced, CEO Andy Jassy said Monday." From this article:
Amazon Laying Off 9,000 More Employees, Including Cuts at Twitch
 
Let me see:

Amazon sales rose about 13% in Q1 2024, but the online marketplace's operating income grew more than 3x year over year.​

Amazon.com Inc. grew sales in its fiscal Q1 ended March 31, 2024, and it did so with improved operational efficiency.

Whereas Amazon net sales increased to $143.3 billion in its fiscal first quarter (up 13% from $127.4 billion in Q1 2023), its operating income more than tripled. Amazon operating income grew to $15.3 billion in Q1 2024 from $4.8 billion in Q1 2023.
 
Nathan said:
The economy is thriving, and the "cost cutting" measures are a thinly disguised move in funding CEO compensation.
Click to expand...
People ask for & are employed for wages offered, that includes CEO's. There are CEO's that have begun & rose thru demonstrated ability to become CEO's. I've lived with that concept my entire working life. When unhappy with wages I quit & applied elsewhere. I didn't care what wage a CEO made & still don't.

The way it works in our capitalist system if a company CEO does his job right a profit is realized. Anticipating & adjusting to changing market conditions is the responsibility of a CEO. With profit employees benefit from that in wage increases.

Are CEO wages disproportionate to employees?

Complaining that CEO's make to much FOR ME falls into the category of.

Don't like it start your own company to be the CEO. T then work for the same wages you pay your employees.

VaughanJB just posted a good example of that.
 
What I do know is liberal media doesn't seem to recognize harsh economic times.

Wrong! CNN and MSNBC talk about it all the time. The right wing media always make it seem a lot worse than it actually is.

Fellow Republicans, it’s time to admit that the US economy isn’t bad

No, the Economy Isn’t Tanking

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/26/the...-now-but-americans-still-feel-like-it-is.html


So for every one of these scare stories, there another side that is good news, but of course, certain news outlets won't admit it, unless they like who the tenant in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is.
 
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Paladin1950 said:
What I do know is liberal media doesn't seem to recognize harsh economic times.

Wrong! CNN and MSNBC talk about it all the time. The right wing media always make it seem a lot worse than it actually is.

Fellow Republicans, it’s time to admit that the US economy isn’t bad

No, the Economy Isn’t Tanking

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/26/the...-now-but-americans-still-feel-like-it-is.html


So for every one of these scare stories, there another side that is good news, but of course, certain news outlets won't admit it, unless they like who the tenant in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is.
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You did notice your references were dated Jan. The reference I posted was for

April 11, 2024​

A lot can change in a short time.
 
dilettante said:
Mmm, not so much. Especially depending on where you live.

U.S. Economy at a Glance | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)
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I don't think the economy is thriving across the board. We are paying more for basic day to day living expenses in our home. I'm not saying it is going to break us, it's not. When you weigh the amount of money we handle for the goods received in return, it's declining. When you adjust purchasing power for inflation it is a net loss. The dollar is weaker, and GDP is flat at best. I'm not drinking the kool-aid. Businesses and Corporations, if you will, don't operate as philanthropists, there is an ownership component that must have its return on investment or their capital will move somewhere else.
 
Ironic that Google and Amazon are included in that list because when I research an item on Google I get 'articles' where the items they give specs on and review just by coincidence are ALL available on Amazon. A backdoor infomercial for Amazon.
 
Aggregate delinquency rates increased in Q1 2024, with 3.2% of outstanding debt in some stage of delinquency at the end of March. Delinquency transition rates increased for all debt types. Annualized, approximately 8.9% of credit card balances and 7.9% of auto loans transitioned into delinquency. Delinquency transition rates for mortgages increased by 0.3 percentage points yet remain low by historic standards. NYFED
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Not end of the world, but a troubling sign, when considering consumer spending represents about 69% of the economy. More troubling is the rise in household debt... is out pacing inflation.
 
VaughanJB said:
TBF: As soon as you read someone writing "liberal media" and/or "mainstream media", you mostly know they're talking nonsense and are regurgitating what they've heard elsewhere from people who should know better.
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Er, the teams wearing both colors of jerseys do this kind of thing. It appears you've just done it here yourself.

VaughanJB said:
Honestly, the IQ drops ten points. :D
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Yep. Again.
 
CNN, Fox, MSNBC and so on, are not public services. They're businesses. They run on the same profit and loss model as everything else.

The question is, why did it take people so long to realize this? These people talking about bias - it's ALWAYS been biased toward audience who ultimately pay the bills. Yet people talk as though this is something new. When Murdock bought Fox, was there any doubt it would become an arm for right-wing propaganda? The guy already owned lots of outlets for the same thing elsewhere. Were we asleep?

But it's not so much corruption on their part - it's just business as usual. Broadcast TV is a product. Pure and simple.

The only thing worse for the people of our countries is a belief in random Social Media accounts, web sites funded by people even more extreme, and the gossip based on whatever is going viral today.

The main problem is that far too many people have decided that they really don't care, and don't want to believe anything other than get from the various echo chambers they subscribe to. They know broader research would give them a better. clearer, understanding of complex topics - but it's just too much work and may go against whatever is trending, so...........
 
dilettante said:
Er, the teams wearing both colors of jerseys do this kind of thing. It appears you've just done it here yourself.

Yep. Again.
Click to expand...

No. And really, your criticism is facile, and you know it. I'm surprised you thought it worth posting. If I'm wrong, then I'm wrong, and I'd be interested in knowing how so I can learn. But this is nothing but silly. Oh well. ;)
 
Not to sound naive but isn't this a double edged sword for those of us with a 401K ? It seems that many of these job cuts were made are made to to satisfy stockholders when quarterly statements come out which may help those with 401K's in the short run but obviously it is not good for those who do loose their jobs. And I am not sure a strategy of running a corporation on a quarterly basis in order to satisfy stockholders is a smart business plan in the long run .

Again, this is just speculation from my part mainly from what I have read about layoffs at Activition/Blizzard, Twitch, and Google.. So please correct me if I am wrong about this speculation.
 

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