Layoffs

Extracted Attributes

• Primary Drivers

  Cost-cutting, shareholder value, organizational restructuring, personnel management

• Alternative Terms

  Downsizing, retrenchment, redundancy, rightsizing, excess reduction, leveraging synergies

• Tech Sector Trend

  Surge in layoffs starting in 2022, continuing through 2024 and 2025

• Stock Market Impact

  Substantial increase in stock prices following announcements, especially for repeat practitioners

• Historical Emergence

  Gained popularity in the 1980s and early 1990s as a preferred management route

Timeline

• Downsizing becomes a popular corporate practice to deliver shareholder value and reduce costs. (Source: Wikipedia: Layoff)

  1980-01-01

• Start of a 16-year study period (1990–2006) of S&P 100 firms showing layoff announcements boost stock prices. (Source: Wikipedia: Layoff)

  1990-01-01

• Tech layoffs begin to surge, continuing through 2023 and 2024 due to economic conditions. (Source: Web search: Tech Layoffs: US Companies With Job Cuts)

  2022-01-01

• Intel Corp. begins job cuts under CEO Lip-Bu Tan to become a leaner and more efficient company. (Source: Web search: Major tech layoffs: An updated tracker)

  2024-07-15

• Kroger plans to lay off 1,000 employees. (Source: Web search: Companies that announced Major Layoffs)

  2025-08-01

• Amazon and United Parcel Service (UPS) announce major layoffs of 14,000 and 48,000 employees respectively. (Source: Web search: Companies that announced Major Layoffs)

  2025-10-01

• General Motors (GM) announces layoffs of more than 1,700 workers in Michigan and Ohio. (Source: Web search: Companies that announced Major Layoffs)

  2025-10-01

• Paramount Skydance Corporation plans to eliminate 2,000 to 3,000 jobs to achieve $2 billion in cost savings. (Source: Web search: Companies that announced Major Layoffs)

  2025-11-01

• The University of Southern California (USC) issues layoff notices to more than 900 employees amid a fiscal crisis. (Source: Web search: Companies that announced Major Layoffs)

  2025-11-01

Layoff

A layoff or downsizing is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or, more commonly, a group of employees (collective layoff) for business reasons, such as personnel management or downsizing an organization. Originally, layoff referred exclusively to a temporary interruption in work, or employment but this has evolved to a permanent elimination of a position in both British and US English, requiring the addition of "temporary" to specify the original meaning of the word. A layoff is not to be confused with wrongful termination. Laid off workers or displaced workers are workers who have lost or left their jobs because their employer has closed or moved, there was insufficient work for them to do, or their position or shift was abolished (Borbely, 2011). Downsizing in a company is defined to involve the reduction of employees in a workforce. Downsizing in companies became a popular practice in the 1980s and early 1990s, since it was seen as a way to deliver better shareholder value by helping reduce the costs of employers (downsizing, 2015). Research on downsizing in the US, UK, and Japan suggests that downsizing is being regarded by management as one of the preferred routes to help declining organizations, cutting unnecessary costs, and improve organizational performance. A layoff usually occurs as a cost-cutting measure. A study of 391 downsizing announcements of the S&P 100 firms for the period 1990–2006 found that layoff announcements resulted in a substantial increase in the companies’ stock prices and that the gain was larger when the company had prior layoffs. The authors suggested that the stock price manipulation alone creates a sufficient motivation for publicly traded corporations to adopt the practice of regular layoffs.

Web Search Results

• Layoff - Wikipedia

  A layoff or downsizing is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or, more commonly, a group of employees (collective layoff) for business reasons, such as personnel management or downsizing an organization. Originally, layoff referred exclusively to a temporary interruption in work, or employment but this has evolved to a permanent elimination of a position in both British and US English,[failed verification] requiring the addition of "temporary" to [...] A layoff is also known as a retrenchment in (South African English). In the UK, permanent termination due to elimination of a position is usually called redundancy. Certain countries (such as Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Italy, France and Germany), distinguish between leaving the company of one's own free will, in which case the person is not entitled to unemployment benefits, but may receive a onetime payment and leaving a company as part of a reduction in labour force size, in which [...] Euphemisms are often used to "soften the blow" in the process of firing and being fired. The term "layoff" originally meant a temporary interruption in work (and usually pay). The term became a euphemism for permanent termination of employment and now usually requires the addition of "temporary" to refer to the original meaning. A number of other euphemisms have been coined for "(permanent) layoff", including "downsizing", "excess reduction", "rightsizing", "leveraging synergies", "delayering",

• Tech Layoffs: US Companies With Job Cuts In 2024 And 2025

  If an employee headcount cannot be confirmed to our standards, we note it as “unclear.” Image 3 Frequently Asked Questions ### What is a layoff? A layoff can be either a permanent termination of someone’s employment — usually for cost-saving reasons — or a temporary one because there’s not enough work to justify a full workforce. Tech company layoffs generally fall into the permanent category. [...] A mass layoff is when a significant number of a company’s employees are cut in a short period of time, often as a result of economic conditions. ### Why are tech companies doing layoffs? Tech layoffs started to surge in 2022 and continued in 2023 and 2024. Companies have given various reasons for conducting layoffs. [...] 5. Unexpected changes in company policy: A company that suddenly mandates that employees who have worked remotely return to a physical office may be contemplating layoffs. Often, such policies are used as rationale to shed workers who don’t comply with the new mandates. Similarly, unexpected organizational assessments or audits of employee performance outside of regularly scheduled business reviews may be precursors to layoffs.

• Major tech layoffs: An updated tracker - Information Week

  Intel Corp. has begun job cuts under CEO Lip-Bu Tan. The layoffs, scheduled to begin on July 15, are the first public step in Tan’s strategy to “become a leaner, faster and more efficient company.” The company confirmed in a regulatory filing that the layoffs will impact a significant portion of its global manufacturing workforce, including the closure of its automotive chip division in Munich. The unit was developing software-defined vehicle platforms. Employees have been notified with either [...] respond to a request for comment about the restructuring, it appears that the layoffs were initiated to eliminate redundancies following the merger. [...] and the layoffs, while an email was sent to all employees regarding their next steps simultaneously. In a statement shared with its employees, Skybox announced that it is entering the final phase of its existence and is shutting down. “Liquidation is the final step in closing a company. It involves ceasing operations, selling assets, and using the proceeds to pay creditors, including employees.” In addition, Skybox sold all its business and technology to Israeli cybersecurity company Tufin.

• Companies that announced Major Layoffs and Hiring Freezes

  Industry: Education November 2025 The University of Southern California has issued layoff notices to more than 900 employees since July amid a fiscal crisis. The layoffs have included employees across the university and its health system, including student academic advisers. Amazon No. of Employees to be Laid off: 14,000 Industry: Technology October 2025 [...] October 2025 General Motors (GM) will lay off more than 1,700 workers across its manufacturing operations in Michigan and Ohio. The decision was based on the slowdown in demand for electric vehicles and a change in the policy environment that previously supported those sales. United Parcel Service No. of Employees to be Laid off: 48,000 Industry: Logistics & Supply Chain October 2025 [...] Paramount, now operating as Paramount Skydance Corporation following its merger with Skydance Media in early August 2025, is planning a significant round of layoffs. The company is preparing to eliminate approximately 2,000 to 3,000 jobs by early November 2025 as part of a push to achieve $2 billion in annual cost savings. Kroger No. of Employees to be Laid off: 1,000 Industry: Retail August 2025

• Tech Layoffs - San Francisco Chronicle

  The layoffs include approximately 100 positions at Respawn Entertainment, the EA-owned studio behind the “Titanfall,” “Apex Legends” and “Star Wars Jedi” franchises. By Aidin Vaziri ## Let's Play