Tech Layoffs Surge to 300,000

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Layoffs in the tech sector are accelerating.  It took exactly three weeks for tech layoffs to surge to 300,000, according to our Layoff Tracker. Since late January, when the tracker hit 200,000 layoffs, another 100,000 job eliminations have been announced or completed. In contrast, it took five weeks for layoffs in the tech industry to hit the 200,000 mark, and four months for layoffs to hit 100,000 last December. The total number of layoffs since we began tracking since the financial crisis began in late August is 300,093.

The past few weeks have particularly brutal for the technology space, with substantial layoffs announced by Pioneer (10,000), Cisco (3,000), Panasonic (15,000), NEC (20,000), Electronic Arts (1100) and AOL (700). Even Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal, who both managed to avoid layoffs in the past few months, were forced to make cuts to their workforces. And Google, who was immune to layoffs until late January, continued giving pink-slips in the past three weeks with the company’s exit from radio. Sadly, a few start-ups weren’t able to weather the storm, with eBaum’s World cutting all of its workforce.

Obviously the tech industry is not immune to the current economic climate, and if the past three weeks are any indication, things could still get worse for the tech space before they get better. Maybe that economic stimulus plan will help turn the tide.

If you know of any layoffs at a tech company, please submit a tip with the name of the company and number of layoffs. If it’s been covered, also send a link to the blog post or news article. (For who is hiring, check out our job board).

Below is a list of late January and February layoffs from our tracker:

  • Total Layoffs: 426
  • Total Employees: 300,093
Company Date Location # % Source
Sapient February 14, 2009 BANGALORE 300 8% THE TIMES OF INDIA
Google (Audio Ads) February 12, 2009 Mountain View, CA 40 Google Blog
Pioneer February 12, 2009 worldwide 10,000 25% Reuters
Nokia February 12, 2009 Finland 625 Business-Standard
AMCC February 12, 2009 100 17% Yahoo
NetApp February 9, 2009 USA 480 6% U. K. Register
Cisco February 5, 2009 San Jose, CA 3,000 4% BusinessWeek
Wall Street Journal, News Corp. February 5, 2009 New York, NY 14 2% PaidContent.org
LA Times, The Tribune Co. February 5, 2009 Los Angeles, CA 300 LA Times
About.com February 5, 2009 New York, NY 19 10% Rueters
Panasonic February 4, 2009 Tokyo, Japan 15,000 5% Bloomberg
THQ February 4, 2009 Agoura Hills, CA 600 24% SIlicon Alley Insider
Electronic Arts February 3, 2009 Redwood City, CA 1,100 11% TechTrader Daily
Bloomberg February 3, 2009 New York, NY 100 Reuters
The Walt Disney Co. January 31, 2009 New York, NY 200 5% LA Times
eBaum’s World January 31, 2009 San Francisco, CA 13 NewTeeVee
Broadcom January 30, 2009 Worldwide 200 3% scoalTECH
NEC January 30, 2009 Wordwide 20,000 7% NYT
Zazzle January 30, 2009 Redwood City, CA 40 15% TechCrunch
Freescale January 30, 2009 Worldwide 2,400 10% Austin American Statesman
Hitachi January 30, 2009 Worldwide 7,000 BBC
Sierra Wireless January 29, 2009 Vancouver, BC 56 10% Fierce Wireless
Teradyne January 29, 2009 North Reading, MA 532 14% Boston.com
Toshiba January 29, 2009 Tokyo, Japan 4,500 EETimes
Nexon Games January 28, 2009 Vancouver, BC, Canada 90 100% Gamasutra
AOL January 28, 2009 New York, NY 700 10% TechCrunch
Citrix January 28, 2009 10% Reuters
SAP January 28, 2009 Walldorf, Germany 3,000 6% SAP
Parametric Technology Corp (PTC) January 28, 2009 250 5% Reuters.com
Skyworks January 28, 2009 Woburn, MA 150 4% StreetInsider.com
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati January 27, 2009 Palo Alto, CA 113 8% LAw.com
STMicroelectronics January 27, 2009 4,500 EETimes
IBM January 26, 2009 Armonk, NY 2,850 1% WSJ
Texas Instrument January 26, 2009 Dallas 3,400 12% EETimes
Sprint Nextel January 26, 2009 Overland Park, Kansas 8,000 14% Bloomberg
Philips January 26, 2009 Amsterdam, Netherlands 6,000 5% AP
Fox Interactive Media January 26, 2009 Los Angeles, CA 100 5% TechCrunch
Unisys January 26, 2009 Global 1,300 4% Computing.co.uk