Business software provider HubSpot and visual discovery engine Pinterest have become the latest tech companies to make cuts to their payroll.
The tech sector endured a tumultuous 2022, during which 150,000 workers lost their jobs – and with the grim economic climate we're experiencing showing little signs of improvement, it's likely we'll see companies deploy even more ruthless cost-cutting measures throughout 2023.
Since the turn of the year, it's thought that around 82,000 tech workers have been sent packing by their now-former employers.
Pinterest Lays Off Staff
According to a report in Bloomberg, Pinterest Inc. is laying off 150 employees – which amounts to less than 5% of the company’s 4,000-strong workforce.
The cuts will affect various teams across the businesses, although it’s unlikely this will be evenly spread, reports say.
A statement from a company spokesperson said that “the employees who were impacted contributed to Pinterest and as they transition, we’re committed to supporting them with separation packages, benefits, and other services.”
HubSpot Joins the Cost-Cutting Crowd
HubSpot has also let go of a large number of employees, with reports claiming around 500 staff have been given their marching orders.
This figure amounts to around 7% of HubSpot's total workforce.
Explaining the difficult decision, HubSpot Chief Executive Yamini Rangan said that the company “grew headcount faster than revenue” in 2022 and that “uncertainty in customer demand” suggests the worse might still be yet to come.
The Layoff Chaos Continues
HubSpot and Pinterest join tech giants including Meta, Amazon, Twitter, Google and Microsoft as the latest companies to implement layoffs en masse – although they’re extremely unlikely to be the last.
While this has been happening, tech companies large and small have been using a variety of tactics to avoid making more staff redundant – such as offering voluntary severance packages, rescinding job offer packages, and even enforcing wage cuts.
However, the dire state of the global economy means it'll probably be a long while before the stream of mass layoffs subsides, irrespective of other cost-cutting measures being deployed.
