Factbox-US, Canadian companies kick off 2024 with layoffs

investing.com:

(Reuters) — Companies in the United States and Canada have kicked off 2024 with thousands of job cuts across sectors, signaling that the spate of layoffs seen in 2023 could persist as they scramble to rein in costs.

While job cut announcements in the United States more than doubled month-on-month to 82,307 in January, they were down 20% from a year earlier, according to a report by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas earlier in February.

The technology sector, which accounted for the highest number of layoffs in 2023, has seen 34,000 job cuts in 141 firms so far this year, according to tracking website Layoffs.fyi.

Here is a snapshot of job cuts announced so far in 2024:

TECHNOLOGY

* Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN)'s job cuts include less than 5% of employees at Buy with Prime unit, 5% at audiobook and podcast division Audible, several hundred in streaming and studio operations, 35% at streaming unit Twitch and a few hundred at healthcare units One Medical and Amazon Pharmacy.

* Layoffs at Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) include dozens at division for developing new technology X Lab, hundreds in advertising sales team, hundreds across teams, including hardware team responsible for Pixel, Nest and Fitbit (NYSE:FIT), and a majority in augmented reality team.

* Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is cutting around 1,900 jobs at gaming divisions Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) and Xbox.

* IBM (NYSE:IBM) plans to lay off some employees in 2024, but will hire more for AI-centered roles.

* E-commerce firm eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) plans to cut about 1,000 roles, or around 9% of its workforce.

* Videogame software provider Unity Software to cut about 25% of workforce, or 1,800 jobs.

* DocuSign (NASDAQ:DOCU) plans to reduce workforce by about 6%, or