The tech industry’s job cuts this week alone have now topped 1,400 with the revelation of fresh job cuts — this time in San Francisco — by tech titan Amazon.
An estimated 1,451 Bay Area tech workers are slated to lose their jobs by late this year or early 2026 as a result of decisions revealed this week by e-commerce giant Amazon, Facebook app owner Meta Platforms, and chip titan Applied Materials.
Seattle-based Amazon has decided to chop 137 jobs at multiple locations in San Francisco, according to a new WARN notice that the company sent to the state Employment Development Department.
Including the latest disclosures from Amazon, here are some of the details for the job cuts that Amazon, Meta, and Applied Materials have decided to carry out, according to several WARN notices processed by the state EDD:
— Amazon is cutting 780 jobs in the Bay Area. Besides the cutbacks in San Francisco, Amazon’s layoffs will erase 391 jobs in Sunnyvale, 176 in Palo Alto, and 76 in Santa Clara. The Amazon staffing reductions are scheduled for Jan. 26 of next year, although some of these current might also take place in late February and late March.
— Applied Materials is eliminating 363 Bay Area jobs, consisting of 262 workers in Santa Clara, 86 in Sunnyvale, and 15 remote workers who report to Santa Clara. Applied Materials intends to conduct the layoffs on Dec. 23.
— Meta Platforms is reducing its staffing levels by 308 jobs, with the layoffs all occurring in Menlo Park. The Meta job cuts are scheduled for Dec. 22.
All three companies described their layoffs as permanent.
Bay Area tech companies have made staffing cuts in recent years following a hiring boom during the COVID-19 outbreak to meet soaring demand for remote work and distance learning. As that demand faded, companies began launching layoffs at elevated levels starting in 2022.
More recently, tech companies have been trimming staffing levels as they attempt to determine how they will respond to, and cope with, the dramatic shift to artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies.
In an open letter to Amazon employees on Oct. 28, Amazon senior vice president of people experience and technology Beth Galetti explained the rationale behind the staffing reductions, which could affect 14,000 Amazon workers worldwide.
More job cuts could loom at Amazon in 2026, company executives warned its rank and file.
The disruptions posed by artificial intelligence have produced a particularly murky outlook for Silicon Valley and its tech outposts in San Francisco and beyond.
“The world is changing quickly,” Galetti stated. “This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet.”
Amazon, Meta, and Applied Materials are far from alone feeling the pressure from the AI revolution, in the view of Russell Hancock, president of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a San Jose-based think tank. Google, Apple, Nvidia, Intel, and other big tech players believe they must be in position to shift gears swiftly
“The tech industry’s new strategy is to stay as small as possible,” Hancock said. “The tech industry is exercising caution and believes it must become more nimble.”
