Genentech to lay off 93 in San Francisco

Genentech’s latest layoffs are the second round of workforce reductions this year, following the company’s announcement in April that it was letting go some 3% employees.

Biotech firm Genentech will lay off 93 employees at its South San Francisco headquarters, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice and SFGate. SFGATE reported that scientist roles will be the hardest hit, although engineers, managers, analysts and one vice president are also being let go. The layoffs are effective Oct. 8, according to the WARN notice.

In a statement to SFGATE on Aug. 27, a Genentech spokesperson wrote that the company periodically has to “make adjustments in our organization, including decisions around the right make-up of our workforce within the many functions in our company.” The spokesperson further stated that as a result of those ongoing evaluations, the organization “identified certain positions across Genentech that are no longer needed in support of our future work.”

This is the second round of layoffs at Genentech in 2024. In April, a company representative said it would reduce its workforce by about 3% across multiple departments, with more than 400 jobs estimated to be affected. The Genentech spokesperson said there were no reductions at parent company Roche.

GM lays off more than 1,000 salaried software and services employees

GM is laying off more than 1,000 salaried employees globally in its software and services division following a review to streamline the unit’s operations.

• The layoffs include roughly 600 jobs at General Motors’ tech campus near Detroit.

• The job cuts represent about 1.3% of the company’s global salaried workforce of 76,000 as of the end of last year.

 

DETROIT — General Motors  is laying off more than 1,000 salaried employees globally in its software and services division following a review to streamline the unit’s operations, CNBC has learned.

The layoffs, including roughly 600 jobs at GM’s tech campus near Detroit, come less than six months after leadership changes overseeing the operations, including former Apple executive Mike Abbott leaving the automaker after less than a year in March due to health reasons.

“As we build GM’s future, we must simplify for speed and excellence, make bold choices, and prioritize the investments that will have the greatest impact,” a GM spokesman said in an emailed statement. “As a result, we’re reducing certain teams within the Software and Services organization. We are grateful to those who helped establish a strong foundation that positions GM to lead moving forward.”

GM declined to disclose the full number of layoffs, but a source familiar with the matter, who declined to be named because the information is private, confirmed more than 1,000 salaried employees would be laid off, including 600 in Warren, Michigan. Impacted employees were notified Monday morning.

The layoffs represent about 1.3% of the company’s global salaried workforce of 76,000 as of the end of last year. That included about 53,000 U.S. salaried employees.

The cuts come as automakers attempt to reduce costs and, in many instances, employee headcount amid fears of an industry downturn — and as they’re spending billions of dollars on emerging markets such as all-electric vehicles and so-called software-defined vehicles.

GoPro to cut about 15% of its workforce

GoPro will cut approximately 15% of its workforce as part of a previously announced plan to reduce operating expenses by about $50 million from projected fiscal 2024 expenses.

The company said on Monday that the board approved the restructuring plan and that the cuts to its workforce, which stood at 925 full-time employees at the end of the second quarter, will begin in the third quarter. The jobs cuts are expected to be substantially completed by the end of the year.

Intel to Cut Thousands of Jobs

• CEO Gelsinger embarks on ambitious effort to regain share

• Chipmaker is spending on research, development and new plants

Intel Corp. plans to eliminate thousands of jobs to reduce costs and fund an ambitious effort to rebound from an earnings slump and market share losses.

The workforce reduction may be announced as early as this week, according to people familiar with the company’s plans, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. Intel, which is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings Thursday, has about 110,000 employees, excluding workers at units that are being spun out.

Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems to lay off about 400 employees

May 16 (Reuters) - Spirit AeroSystems is laying off several hundred members of its workforce in Wichita, Kan., according to an internal memo, as the company deals with high debt and slowed production at Boeing, its key customer.

“The recent slowdown in the delivery rate on commercial programs compels a reduction to our workforce in Wichita,” spokesman Joe Buccino said. “In the coming weeks, we will inform affected employees. We are committed to implementing this transition in as compassionate a manner as possible.”

 

The headquarters of Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc, is seen in Wichita, Kansas, U.S. December 17, 2019. REUTERS

The memo, first reported by Wichita-based KSN, said about 400 employees would be affected. Buccino did not confirm that figure to Reuters. Spirit had already started to limit overtime and hiring as production declines due to lower output of 737 MAX jets following a January mid-air blowout on a Boeing plane.

Walmart to cut jobs at headquarters, relocate hundreds of corporate workers across the country

• Walmart is laying off and transferring hundreds of its corporate employees.
  

• The company is relocating remote workers and those at its Dallas, Toronto and Atlanta offices.
  

• The discounter is currently building a new headquarters in its hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas.

Walmart is laying off hundreds of corporate workers across the country as it relocates many employees to its Arkansas headquarters.

The big-box retailer confirmed the layoffs and relocations in a memo sent to employees Tuesday.

In the memo, Chief People Officer Donna Morris said the move is meant to bring more of its employees back to the office after the Covid-19 pandemic. The company brought corporate employees back to its Bentonville, Arkansas, headquarters in February 2022.

Now, she said, Walmart is taking that a step further. The majority of employees working remotely and in offices in Dallas, Atlanta and Toronto have been asked to relocate. Most will be moved to the company’s Arkansas headquarters, but some will also relocate to offices in the San Francisco Bay Area or Hoboken, New Jersey, she said.

The layoffs are the latest cost cut for the discounter. In late April, Walmart announced it would shutter 51 health clinics across Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois and Texas. The new clinics, which offered doctor, dentist and therapy appointments, were part of Walmart Health, a broad effort by the discounter to bring lower prices to the health-care industry. It had opened the health clinics next to its big-box stores, but said in an announcement on its website that the business was not financially sustainable.

Walmart is the nation’s largest private employer with about 1.6 million employees, most of whom work at its stores across the country.

Walmart has another reason to bring more employees to Bentonville: It is building a nearly 350-acre campus there. The major development, which is well underway, includes 12 office buildings, along with parking lots, a hotel and other amenities. The campus’ first few buildings have already opened, including a fitness center and a day care.

Bristol Myers Squibb to cut 2,200 jobs

Bristol Myers Squibb revealed in its first-quarter 2024 earnings report on Thursday that it will implement a sweeping “strategic productivity initiative” in a bid to generate approximately $1.5 billion in cost savings through 2025, including eliminating around 2,200 jobs by the end of 2024.

Under the realignment effort, BMS is looking to optimize its operations by reducing management layers, among other cost-cutting measures, according to the company’s Thursday investor presentation. The pharma said it will use these savings to fund innovation, paying particular attention to R&D programs with the highest potential return on investment with an eye toward long-term growth.

BMS’ restructuring efforts come as the pharma sustained a 6% drop in sales for Opdivo (nivolumab). In the first quarter of 2024, the lung cancer therapy brought in nearly $2.1 billion worldwide, down from a little more than $2.2 billion in revenue during the same period in 2023.

The CAR-T therapy Abecma (idecabtagene vicleucel)—which Elkins said was “impacted by ongoing competitive pressures” and “unfavorable pricing pressures”—also took a 44% sales hit, brining only $82 million worldwide in Q1, compared to $147 million in the same period last year. In April 2024, the FDA approved the use of Abecma as an earlier-line treatment for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

Despite these sales slumps, BMS brought in almost $11.87 billion in Q1, a 6% increase from the same period the prior year and beating consensus estimates, according to an investor note from William Blair analyst Matt Phipps.

Reblozyl (luspatercept), indicated for anemia in beta thalassemia and myelodysplastic syndromes, was a strong driver of BMS’ Q1 growth raking in $354 million worldwide and representing a 72% increase. The melanoma therapy Opdualag (nivolumab/relatlimab) also performed well in the quarter, with sales spiking 76% to $206 million.

The anticoagulant Eliquis (apixaban) was BMS’ top-performing asset bringing in $3.72 billion, which is a 9% jump from the same period in 2023.

Tesla to lay off 2,688 workers in Austin, more than 3,000 in California

Tesla Inc. will be laying off 2,688 employees at its Gigafactory in Austin, Texas, and more than 3,000 in the San Francisco Bay Area and elsewhere in California, the EV maker said in official notices.

At the Austin Gigafactory, the layoffs equal to about 12% of staff at the facility and will start June 14, according to to a worker adjustment and retraining notification, or WARN notice, which companies are required to file with a state labor department to give workers 60 days’ notice before layoffs.

WARN notices in California call for more than 2,500 layoffs in the Bay Area, mostly at the Tesla factory in Fremont and former headquarters in Palo Alto, and a few hundred more in Burbank, southern California, and the Central Valley's Lanthrop, where Tesla makes energy-storage products. The layoffs in California are starting on June 14, Tesla told the state.

The company already announced it would lay off 285 workers at two plants in Buffalo, N.Y., equal to 14% of that workforce, starting July 15.

Tesla recently announced large-scale job cuts equal to more than 10% of its global workforce as it struggles to boost profit and pave a path to future growth.

Nike to layoff 740 Portland area workers

 BEAVERTON, Ore. (KPTV) – Nike has announced the layoff 740 workers at its world headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, as part of a company restructuring plan.

On Friday, the company reported the layoffs to the state’s Office of Workforce Investments.

The filing is the start of a second wave of layoffs. The company previously let go a number of workers in February.

In February, CEO John Donahoe announced that Nike would layoff 2% of its total workforce, or about 1,600 people, but didn’t provide specifics.

The layoffs in Oregon announced Friday do not affect retail stores or manufacturing facilities. Only workers at Nike’s campus in Beaverton will be affected.

Nike provided the following statement to KPTV on Friday:

“Nike’s always at our best when we’re on the offense. The actions that we’re taking put us in the position to right-size our organization to get after our biggest growth opportunities as interest in sport, health and wellness have never been stronger. While these changes will impact approximately 2% of our total workforce, we are grateful for the contributions made by all Nike teammates.”

Nike is one of the Pacific Northwest’s largest employers, with more than 15,500 employees in Oregon and Southwest Washington, and more than 83,000 employees worldwide.

Google Fires 28 Workers Protesting $1.2 Billion Israeli Contract

Google has fired 28 employees who staged in sit-in which was protesting the company’s $1.2 billion cloud contract with Israeli government.

Nine employees were also arrested.

In a note sent to employees the company says: “If you're one of the few who are tempted to think we're going to overlook conduct that violates our policies, think again.”

Googlers,

You may have seen reports of protests at some of our offices yesterday. Unfortunately, a number of employees brought the event into our buildings in New York and Sunnyvale. They took over office spaces, defaced our property, and physically impeded the work of other Googlers.

Their behavior was unacceptable, extremely disruptive, and made coworkers feel threatened. We placed employees involved under investigation and cut their access to our systems. Those who refused to leave were arrested by law enforcement and removed from our offices.

Following investigation, today we terminated the employment of twenty-eight employees found to be involved. We will continue to investigate and take action as needed.

Behavior like this has no place in our workplace and we will not tolerate it. It clearly violates multiple policies that all employees must adhere to - including our Code of Conduct and Policy on Harassment, Discrimination, Retaliation, Standards of Conduct, and Workplace Concerns.

We are a place of business and every Googler is expected to read our policies and apply them to how they conduct themselves and communicate in our workplace. The overwhelming majority of our employees do the right thing. If you're one of the few who are tempted to think we're going to overlook conduct that violates our policies, think again. The company takes this extremely seriously, and we will continue to apply our longstanding policies to take action against disruptive behavior — up to and including termination.

You should expect to hear more from leaders about standards of behavior and discourse in the workplace.

Tesla is slashing its workforce by more than 10%

Tesla is slashing its workforce by more than 10%, part of a global retrenchment for Elon Musk’s embattled electric vehicle maker as it struggles with slowing demand. 

 

In an email to workers, the chief executive cited duplication of roles and the need to cut costs. If Musk’s mass firings apply companywide, they would amount to more than 14,000 people losing their jobs. 

 

Alongside the terminations, Senior Vice President Drew Baglino and Rohan Patel, vice president of public policy and business development, are said to have departed. Baglino, an 18-year company veteran, is said to have resigned. Analysts are bracing for the EV maker’s sales to possibly shrink, citing slow output of its Cybertruck and a coming lull in new products.

Take-Two Interactive laying off around 5 percent of its workforce, or approx. 579 workers

Take-Two Interactive announced today that it is laying off 5 percent of its workforce, or more than 500 employees, despite earlier claims that it had "no current plans" for additional layoffs. 

 In the filiing, Take-Two said it is "eliminating several projects in development and streamlining its organizational structure," which includes laying off workers. Take-Two said it expects to incur between $160 and $200 million in total charges, with $120 million to $140 million related to title cancellations.

Apple to lay off more than 600, weeks after canceling electric-vehicle project

Apple Inc. is laying off more than 600 workers in Silicon Valley, weeks after pulling the plug on its secretive, self-driving EV.

Those are the first significant job cuts for Apple since the pandemic. According to a filing with the state of California, 614 employees were informed on March 28 that they’ll lose their jobs, effective May 27. The San Francisco Chronicle first reported the layoffs.

In February, Apple reportedly abandoned its years-long plans to build an autonomous electric vehicle. At the time, Bloomberg News reported that some employees on the project would be shifted to other departments, while others would likely be laid off.

While the state filing did not specify the car project, the layoffs will affect workers at eight satellite offices in Santa Clara, Calif., though none at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, Calif.

Citi to lay off 430 employees in New York across units

 (Reuters) -Citigroup will lay off 430 employees across different divisions in New York, the bank disclosed in filings with the State Department of Labor on Monday.

The layoffs will impact 363 employees of the lender's primary banking unit, Citibank. Workers in the technology and broker-dealer arm will also be affected, the filings showed.

The bank last week ended a sweeping overhaul, its biggest in decades, as part of an effort to simplify its structure and improve performance.

Unveiled in September, the reorganization reduced management layers to eight from 13 as part of an effort to cut bureaucracy. Citi has also set a goal to trim its global workforce by 20,000 over the next two years.

The lender did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment. The latest layoffs are scheduled for June, according to the filings.

The bank's CEO, Jane Fraser, said in January that Citi had cut 1,500 managerial roles, comprising 13% of its worldwide leaders. The changes would create annual savings of about $1 billion, she said at the time.

 

 

GoPro to cut total workforce by 4%, reduce office space

GoPro  said it is putting in place a restructuring plan that includes a global workforce cut of about 4% and reducing its office space to save on operating costs.

The wearable-camera maker on Tuesday didn’t detail how many employees would be affected by the headcount reduction, but it employed 930 people as of Dec. 31, according to its latest Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Catalent lays off 130 staffers at massive Indiana facility being sold to Novo Nordisk

Despite a multi-billion-dollar takeover bid from Novo Holdings, contract manufacturer Catalent appears to be continuing with the internal restructuring scheme it unveiled last year.

Catalent will lay off approximately 130 staffers at its massive manufacturing and filling plant in Bloomington, Indiana, a company spokesperson confirmed over email Thursday.

The staff reductions are new and unrelated to the roughly 300 positions the company chopped as part of its cost-cutting campaign between October and December 2023.

“As part of Catalent’s commitment to driving long-term sustainable growth, the company has been focusing on increasing efficiencies and reducing costs across our business,” the spokesperson explained in an emailed statement.

Coupled with those efforts, Catalent made the “difficult, but necessary” decision to cut both current and open roles at the Bloomington site, she added.

Barclays to cut hundreds of jobs across its investment bank

Barclays Plc is preparing to cut several hundred jobs within its investment bank division as the firm embarks on a yearslong efforts to trim costs and boost profits within the unit, according to people familiar with the matter.

 

The cuts will affect staffers in global markets, research and the firm’s investment banking arm, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing non-public information. They are expected to take place in the coming months and are part of the firm’s annual cutting of low performers, the people said.

“We regularly review our talent pool to ensure that we can invest in high-performing talent, execute on our strategy, and deliver for our clients,” Barclays said in an emailed statement, which noted it hasn’t finalized the number of roles included in this year’s review.

In recent months, Wall Street giants from Citigroup Inc. to JPMorgan Chase & Co. have turned to job cuts in response to the global slump in dealmaking and capital markets activity. At Barclays, the moves come as the company is kicking off a lengthy push to improve the profitability of its investment bank division, which has been stung by that dearth of activity as well as higher-than-usual attrition among dealmakers.

Stanley Black & Decker to lay off 192, close Fort Mill, South Carolina plant

In March 2024, Stanley Black & Decker announced that it would close its Fort Mill, South Carolina plant, which produces DeWalt drills, and lay off 192 employees. The plant is located at 4260 Pleasant Road, outside Carowinds park. 

 

The company's global vice president of manufacturing operations, Steve Maddocks, said that the plant will close in four stages, beginning May 10 with 158 layoffs.

 

The company filed a WARN notice on Monday with the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce. That document is required when companies plan large closures or layoffs that will impact workers. The 4260 Pleasant Road facility will be closed between May 10 and the end of the year, according to the notice.

Stanley Black & Decker makes DEWALT cordless power tools in Fort Mill.

In 2017 the company announced it would move into a 345,000-square-foot facility in Lakemont Business Park, across Carowinds Boulevard from the Carowinds amusement park. That move would bring a $31 million investment and 500 new jobs, York County economic development officials said at the time.

Stanley Black & Decker officials could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.

The new layoffs filing is the 11th WARN notice in South Carolina this year, but the first for any company in the Rock Hill region.

 

About Stanley Black & Decker
According to its website, Stanley Black & Decker began in 1843 and is headquartered in Connecticut. The Fortune 500 company includes brands like DeWalt, Craftsman, Stanley, Cub Cadet, Hustler and Troy-Bilt.

It has more than 50,000 employees.

Dublin, Pennsylvania, company Alpha Z Charlotte Industrial owns the Stanley Black & Decker building in Fort Mill. It’s on almost 37 acres and also includes an address on Rubin Center Drive.

The building was constructed in 2018. The owners bought the site in 2019 for $28.8 million, according to county land records.

Pfizer stops buildout of $350M Seagen plant, leaving 120 workers' roles in question

• Update Apr 3, 24: Pfizer will layoff 119 employees in Everett, WA on June 3, 2024 as indicated in a WARN notice.

When Pfizer completed its $43 billion buyout of Seagen in December, CEO Albert Bourla said that the New York pharma giant was not just gaining the Seattle biotech’s “golden eggs,” but instead was “acquiring the goose that laid the golden eggs.”

 

Less than three months later, it’s clear that the goose did not include Seagen’s ambitious manufacturing facility under construction, 13 miles north of its current headquarters.

Pfizer has confirmed a report over the weekend from the Puget Sound Business Journal that it is shutting down construction of the $350 million, 270,000-square-foot facility in a business park in Everett, WA.

Seagen had embarked on the manufacturing project to reduce its reliance on contract manufacturers for supplies of its commercial and clinical products in its deep oncology pipeline.

“Pfizer regularly evaluates our manufacturing network to ensure capacity is effectively utilized based on projected product demands. After careful evaluation, we have made the difficult decision to wind down construction of the site,” Pfizer said in a statement.

Seagen’s 120 employees who were working on the initial setup of the new site “will be impacted,” Pfizer said. The company will “make every effort” to place them in open roles at Seagen’s headquarters in Bothell, according to a spokesperson.

Northrop Grumman cutting 1,000 jobs in Southern California's space sector

 Northrop Grumman, a defense contractor, announced plans to lay off up to 1,000 employees in Southern California's space sector. The affected employees work at facilities in Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Azusa. 

The company declines to explain the cause of the layoffs. Separately, it disclosed in a January financial filing that the U.S. government had terminated a classified space program, reducing its backlog by $2 billion.

Northrop Grumman issued Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notices to employees that might be laid off on Jan. 26. The news of the potential layoffs was first reported by Space News.

“We’re actively working to match impacted employees with existing job openings and opportunities across Northrop Grumman,” the company told Aviation Week on Feb. 27. “These efforts are ongoing, and a higher number of employees received WARN notices than may ultimately be impacted.”

The prime manufacturer’s Space Park facilities have about 7,500 employees.

Northrop Grumman’s planned layoffs come just a few weeks after NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in nearby Pasadena announced plans to cut nearly 600 jobs amid budget uncertainties and an ongoing review of NASA’s Mars Sample Return mission.

Southern California has the world’s largest cluster of space companies and government agencies. It also hosts large facilities for other prime aerospace manufacturers, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, RTX and SpaceX. The region also has an ever-growing cadre of space startups. Still, absorbing nearly 1,600 workers in the span of a few months might be more than hiring companies and government agencies can digest.

The layoffs come after other startups also trimmed their number of staff last year amid slower-than-expected revenue growth, a more difficult environment for raising venture capital and higher interest rates. For instance, last year launch company Virgin Orbit of Long Beach went bankrupt and laid off its 750 employees. Astra, a rocket engine manufacturer based in Alameda, also laid off dozens of employees. 

Evonik to cut 2,000 jobs worldwide by 2026

German chemicals group Evonik said it expected no signs of a recovery in 2024 and announced up to 2,000 job cuts worldwide by 2026 in a bid to cut costs

Banco Santander SA cuts 320 jobs in the US

Banco Santander SA has cut roughly 320 jobs in the US as it seeks to focus more on digital operations, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Spain’s largest lender laid off about 2.7% of US employees in recent days, out of a total workforce of about 11,800, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the matter isn’t public. The dismissals are focused on the bank’s retail operations in the country, the person said.

“We are evolving our US business, investing in digital capabilities and simplified processes to adapt to changing customer needs,” Santander said in an statement in response to questions from Bloomberg. “These steps have resulted in an update to our staffing model that impacts a small percentage of our branch colleagues. We will continue to support them throughout this process and are working to provide internal opportunities, where possible,” it said, without providing further details.

Although Santander is best known as a retail bank with large branch networks in several countries, it has been pushing in recent years to focus more on digital operations in markets where it doesn’t have a strong position, such as the US. Its main retail markets include Spain, Brazil and the UK.

Shiseido to cut 1,500 job in Japan through anticipated retirement program

The Japanese cosmetics giant intends to transform its business in Japan. The plans includes an early retirement incentive plan for employees in Japan that is estimated to result in about 1,500 voluntary leaves, almost 4% of its global workforce.

 

 

As part of its transformation plan, Shiseido also wants to concentrate its activities on “brands, products, and touchpoints with high growth potential and profitability."

In particular, Shiseido wants to boost its online sales in Japan, increasing them to 30% of its national turnover, compared to barely more than 10% currently, through increased collaboration with e-retailers and improvement of its own e-commerce sites.

Shiseido Japan aims to optimize efficiency in terms of cost of goods sold, marketing investments, and other expenses. The company expects a cost reduction of 25 billion yen over the next two years.

Shiseido has reported a nearly 40% slump in earnings in 2023, impacted by China’s sluggish recovery post-Covid and a step decrease of its sales in travel retail.

For fiscal 2024, Shiseido has forecast its net income will grow by 1.1% to JPY22 billion (EUR 136.7 million at current exchange rates), and that revenue will grow by 2.8% to JPY1 trillion (EUR 6.2 billion).

Citigroup to lay off 286 employees in New York

(Reuters) - Citigroup will lay off 286 employees in New York, according to filings to the State Department of Labor, at a time the bank is carrying out its biggest overhaul in decades.

 

Three separate notices dated earlier this week showed the layoffs would impact 239 employees from its primary banking subsidiary, 44 from its broker-dealer unit and three from its technology arm.

Citigroup said in January it would cut 20,000 jobs over the next two years, while acknowledging a "clearly disappointing" quarter marred by one-off charges that resulted in a $1.8 billion loss.

The lender is aiming to reduce its global workforce by roughly 8% through 2026, including layoffs from the reorganization, Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason told reporters at the time.

CEO Jane Fraser announced the sweeping reorganization plan in September to simplify the bank's structure after divesting from non-core markets and focusing on profitable areas.

Bumble to lay off 350 employees, or about 37% of its workforce

• Bumble announced plans to lay off about 350 employees as part of its fourth-quarter earnings report Tuesday.

• The company said the layoffs will help drive stronger operating leverage and align its operating model with “future strategic priorities.”

• Bumble CEO Lidiane Jones said the company is taking “significant and decisive” action to accelerate its product roadmap, according to the release.

Bumble on Tuesday announced plans to lay off about 350 employees as part of a restructuring plan. A company spokesperson said the cuts amount to about 30% of Bumble’s workforce.

Bumble said the layoffs will help drive stronger operating leverage and align its operating model with “future strategic priorities,” according to its fourth-quarter report. Bumble had more than 950 full-time employees as of Dec. 31, 2022, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The spokesperson said the latest annual report will be published later this week.

The dating app reported $273.6 million in revenue for the quarter, up from the $241.6 million in the same period last year. Bumble posted a net loss of $32 million, or a loss of 19 cents per share, compared to the year-ago quarter, when the company reported a net loss of $159.2 million, or 35 cents per share.

Shares of Bumble fell more than 8% in after-hours trading Tuesday.  

Transformation Plan: Today, the company announced that it intends to reduce its global workforce by approximately 350 roles to better align its operating model with future strategic priorities and to drive stronger operating leverage. We expect to incur approximately $20 million to $25 million of non-recurring charges, consisting primarily of employee severance, benefits, and related charges for impacted employees, the majority of which will be recognized in the first two quarters of 2024.

Levi Strauss : cutting its global workforce by up to 15%

NEW YORK (AP) — Denim giant Levi Strauss & Co. said Thursday that it’s slashing its global corporate workforce by 10% to 15% in the first half of the year as part of a two-year restructuring plan that seeks to cut costs and simplify its operations.

The company employed about 19,100 people as of the end of November, according to its annual report filed with securities regulators.
San Francisco-based Levi’s said the restructuring is expected to generate net cost savings of $100 million in the current fiscal year. It estimates it will book charges of $110 million to $120 million in the first quarter and said there could be more restructuring charges ahead.

Update Feb 27, 2024

Levi Strauss announced the difficult but necessary step of reducing its workforce to address its cost structure; in most countries workforce actions will take place this week

• "During Q4 earnings in January, we announced that one aspect of this work would involve the difficult but necessary step of reducing our workforce to address our cost structure. In most countries, workforce actions will take place this week. Where required by local laws, including in some European countries, we will first engage in consultation processes with works councils and local employee representatives, which will affect the timelines in those countries.
• I want to acknowledge how tough these past few weeks have been and thank you for your continued hard work and dedication during a time of uncertainty. The prospect of layoffs and having to say goodbye to valued colleagues is always difficult, but we have a responsibility to all our stakeholders to operate our business so it can thrive over the long term. Unfortunately, our costs have been growing faster than our revenue, which is not sustainable for us or for any company. Continuing this way would further burden us with excess operating costs, make us less competitive and slow our progress toward a DTC-first future.
• While workforce reductions will deliver a significant part of the savings that we described in our last earnings call, it is one step in a larger process to change the way we operate and improve the performance of our business. We are also taking action to advance our long-term strategies, specifically:
  • To expedite our pivot to being DTC-first, we are revamping our global operating model and go-to-market process. In essence, we are rewiring and improving the entire end-to-end process, reshaping our company and positioning us to better meet the expectations of our consumers.
  • To accelerate assortment productivity, provide greater clarity to the consumer and create more focus for our teams, we have activated an initial reduction of 13% across our Levi's product assortment for H1'25 and are deprioritizing footwear in some regions. These efforts, together with the recent decision to exit Denizen, are part of our push to deliver a best-in-class consumer experience, focus on higher-margin products and improve working capital management.
  • To achieve greater retail productivity in the U.S., we are taking a deep look at our labor allocation, sales effectiveness and inventory management. We will be rebalancing store teams and removing some management layers, which will result in the elimination of a small number of store leadership positions.
  • To leverage global capabilities and gain additional cost savings, we are looking at centralizing some work at global capability centers like the one we have successfully established in Bangalore.
  • To drive greater impact and efficiency, we are considering the consolidation of North and South Europe into a single European cluster while maintaining country-focused teams where resources need to be closer to consumers."

Sony to cut 900 jobs at PlayStation unit

Sony has announced a significant round of layoffs affecting around 900 staff, or about 8% of its global PlayStation workforce.

The layoffs affect a number of PlayStation studios, including Insomniac, Naughty Dog, Guerrilla, Firesprite, and, most significantly, PlayStation's London studio. Alongside the layoffs, a number of in-development games are cancelled, Sony said.

In a blog post, outgoing Sony Interactive Entertainment boss Jim Ryan issued an update on what he called a “difficult day at our company.”

“We have made the extremely hard decision to announce our plan to commence a reduction of our overall headcount globally by about 8% or about 900 people, subject to local law and consultation processes," Ryan said. "Employees across the globe, including our studios, are impacted."

 

 

 

 

Expedia to eliminate 1,500 jobs as travel growth moderates

Expedia Group Inc. is eliminating about 9% of its workforce after announcing a leadership transition earlier this month while the online travel company attempts to revive growth and regain market share.

The Seattle-based firm will cut about 1,500 jobs across the globe so it can “invest in core strategic areas for growth,” a company spokesperson said in an email. “Given the recent completion of many significant technical milestones in Expedia Group’s transformation, the business continues to evaluate the appropriate allocation of resources to ensure the most important work continues to be prioritized,” the spokesperson added.

Rivian lays off 10% of workforce as EV pricing pressure mounts

Rivian is laying off 10% of its salaried workforce in a bid to cut costs in an increasingly tough market for electric vehicles, putting even more pressure on its future, more affordable EV called the R2. A limited number of non-manufacturing hourly employees will also be cut, founder and CEO RJ Scaringe said in a companywide email.

This is the third round of layoffs for the EV company since July 2022, when Rivian cut 6% of its workforce. The company cut another 6% of jobs in February 2023.

BuzzFeed cuts 16% of its remaining staff

BuzzFeed Inc. sold its pop-culture site Complex Networks media unit to Commerce Media Holdings, the operator of an online shopping service, for $108.6 million and announced plans for a 16% cut in its remaining workforce.

• BuzzFeed owns its namesake outlet, HuffPost and First We Feast, known for the popular YouTube show “Hot Ones”. BuzzFeed acquired HuffPost from Verizon Media in Feb 2021.
• The sports and entertainment publishing company Complex was acquired for $300 million as part of the SPAC merger in Dec 2021, expanding the staff to 1,400.

The job cuts are expected to result in annual savings of $23 million, BuzzFeed said Wednesday in a statement. Proceeds from the sale of Complex will be used to reduce debt. Commerce Media does business as NTWRK.

Nike cutting more than 1,500 jobs

Nike to lay off 2% of employees, cutting more than 1,500 jobs during broad restructuring

• Nike is cutting 2% of its current workforce as it looks to reinvest in its growth areas and streamline its business.
• The sneaker giant is contending with a slowdown in consumer spending and looking to save $2 billion over the next three years as part of a restructuring plan.
• “This is how we will reignite our growth,” CEO John Donahoe said in a memo obtained by CNBC.

Shortly before the restructuring was announced, The Oregonian reported that Nike had been quietly laying off employees over the past several weeks and had signaled that it was planning for a broader restructuring. A series of divisions saw cuts, including recruitment, sourcing, brand, engineering, human resources and innovation, the outlet reported.

Toast to cut 550 workers

Restaurant-Software Firm Toast to Cut 550 Workers

Bloomberg) -- Toast Inc., a restaurant-focused software company, will cut about 550 employees, adding to the spate of technology industry workforce reductions since the start of 2024.

Known for processing payments for restaurants, Toast went public in September 2021. Its shares have plunged almost 50% since then amid slowdowns in the food industry and competition from companies like Block Inc. Toast generated $2.73 billion in annual revenue in 2022, and analysts expect a 2023 sales increase of 41% to $3.85 billion when it reports fourth-quarter earnings. The company employed 4,500 workers as of the end of 2022, according to regulatory filings.

Toast rival Block, which runs the Cash App and Square payments services, also said last month it was reducing headcount, but declined to give specific details on how many employees would be affected.

Instacart Cuts 250 Jobs in Push for Higher-Margin Businesses

(Bloomberg) -- Instacart, the US grocery-delivery giant, is cutting hundreds of jobs and restructuring its leadership team as the company increasingly shifts its focus to higher-margin businesses such as advertising.

The company’s announcement on Tuesday includes 250 job cuts across the company, according to a spokesperson. That represents about 7% of the workforce. The restructuring will mean fewer incremental product updates so the company can realign its focus on higher-margin areas such as advertising and enterprise products for grocery stores, the spokesperson said.

In addition to the cuts, three company executives are leaving the company, each for personal reasons, the spokesperson said. They are: Chief Operations Officer Asha Sharma, Chief Technology Officer Varouj Chitilian and Chief Architect JJ Zhuang. Instacart isn’t planning on backfilling Sharma’s and Zhuang’s roles.

Paramount Global to lay off 800 employees after record Super Bowl ad revenue and ratings

Paramount Global (PARA) will lay off hundreds of employees following a record-setting Super Bowl that garnered more than 123 million viewers across all company platforms, led by CBS.

The job cuts, which will take place Tuesday, will impact about 800 employees, or roughly 3% of Paramount's workforce, sources familiar with the matter told Yahoo Finance.

In an internal memo to employees, Paramount CEO Bob Bakish reiterated his previous comment that layoffs are necessary in order to return the company to earnings growth. "I am confident this is the right decision for our future," he wrote.

 

Cisco cutting 5% of global workforce, amounting to over 4,000 jobs

• Cisco said it would let go of 5% of employees, which works out to around 4,250 people.

• The company’s quarterly and full-year forecasts were light.

Cisco announced plans to cut 5% of its workforce on Wednesday, a decision that will result in the elimination of about 4,250 jobs. Shares of Cisco were down as much as 9% in extended trading.

It’s the latest tech company to downsize in 2024, as the industry continues to squeeze out costs following the market downturn that hit two years ago. January was the busiest month for job cuts in the industry since March, as Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft and SAP all said they were eliminating positions, as did eBay, Unity and Discord. So far this year, 144 tech companies have laid off almost 35,000 workers, according to the website Layoffs.fyi.

==DocuSign to lay off 6% of workforce, or about 440 jobs

DocuSign announced Tuesday it will cut 6% of its workforce as part of a restructuring plan, according to a release.

• The company employs 7,336 workers according to its most recent filing with the SEC, which means the layoffs will affect around 440 jobs. 

Estée Lauder to eliminate up to 3,000 jobs

• Two-year restructuring program to eliminate up to 3,000 positions. 

 The Estée Lauder Companies will eliminate up to 3,000 jobs as part of a two-year restructuring program. The move includes the "reorganization and rightsizing of certain areas of the company as well as simplification and acceleration of processes."

More specifically, ELC will eliminate in the range of approximately 1,800 to 3,000 positions globally. That represents about 3-5% of its positions including temporary and part-time employees as of June 30, 2023. This reduction takes into account the elimination of some positions as well as retraining and redeployment of certain employees in select areas.

The restructuring is expected to be completed in fiscal 2026. ELC expects that the restructuring program will cost $500-$700 million, before taxes, consisting of employee-related costs, contract terminations, asset write-offs and other costs associated with implementing these initiatives.

Once fully implemented, the company expects the restructuring program to yield annual target gross benefits of between $350 million and $500 million, before taxes, a portion of which is expected to be reinvested in consumer-facing activities. The net benefits are in addition to the between $800 million and $1 billion previously communicated as part of the profit recovery plan.

Snap to lay off 10% of global workforce, around 500 employees

Snap said it will lay off 10% of its workforce worldwide, around 500 employees, to “promote in-person collaboration.”

• The company’s last major round of cuts was in August 2022, when it laid off 20% of staff and restructured its business lines.
• Snap CEO Evan Spiegel testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, one of several social media executives to face scrutiny over the damage their platforms caused young people.
• The social media platform is the latest tech company to continue cutting in 2024. Nearly 24,000 tech workers lost their jobs in January alone. Already this month, cybersecurity and identity company Okta and Zoom have laid off staff.
• Snap stock remains below its debut price and well off its 2021 high of around $83.
  

 

 

Snap announces plans to reduce headcount by approx. 10% of global full time employees; will incur pre-tax charges of $55-$75 mln related to the headcount reduction

• Per a filing, "In order to best position our business to execute on our highest priorities, and to ensure we have the capacity to invest incrementally to support our growth over time, we have made the difficult decision to restructure our team."
• As a result, SNAP currently estimates that it will incur pre-tax charges in the range of $55 million to $75 million, primarily consisting of severance and related costs, and other charges, of which $45 million to $55 million are expected to be future cash expenditures. The majority of these costs are expected to be incurred during the first quarter of 2024. Potential position eliminations in each country are subject to local law and consultation requirements, which may extend this process into the second quarter of 2024 or beyond in certain countries. The charges that they expect to incur are subject to a number of assumptions, including local law requirements in various jurisdictions, and actual expenses may differ materially from the estimates disclosed above.