Layoffs announced at multiple companies this summer

Aug 19, 2024

The summer has brought announcements of job cuts at a slew of different companies. 

The planned layoffs are expected to collectively hit thousands of people who work in industries including tech, media, auto and more. 

Some of the firms that have made headlines this summer for headcount reductions include: 

Cisco is embarking on a restructuring to “allow it to invest in key growth opportunities and drive more efficiency in its business.” That effort will involve laying off 7% of the company’s workers, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing.

The company revealed its plans on Wednesday, the same day it released its first-quarter financial results. There had been reports ahead of the release that a possible layoff announcement was coming.

Its workforce was hit by layoffs once already this year in February.

Intel’s layoffs, announced Aug. 1, will result in some 15,000 employees losing their jobs.

They will arise out of a “comprehensive reduction in spending” that the tech giant said it was pursuing to “resize and refocus.” The company aims to trim costs by $10 billion in 2025 through its overall cost-reduction plan.

INTEL’S MASSIVE JOB CUTS COME AFTER IT’S EXPECTED TO RECEIVE $8.5 BILLION IN TAXPAYER MONEY

“Our costs are too high, our margins are too low. We need bolder actions to address both — particularly given our financial results and outlook for the second half of 2024, which is tougher than previously expected,” CEO Pat Gelsinger said.

Paramount Global started cutting some of its workers on Tuesday after previously disclosing late last week it had plans to slash its U.S.-based workforce by 15%.

Co-CEO Chris McCarthy said during the media company’s earnings call last week that the layoffs will be “primarily focused on two areas: first, redundant functions within marketing and communications; second; streamlining our corporate structure, reducing our headcount in finance, legal, technology and other support functions.”

He and fellow co-CEOs Brian Robbins and George Cheeks told employees in a memo leaked to Deadline and other entertainment outlets that the process “will take place in three phrases … and continuing through the end of the year.” It will largely be done before October, according to reports.

PARAMOUNT BEGINS LAYING OFF 15% OF WORK FORCE, HUNDREDS EXPECTED TO BE CUT

Paramount Global has linked the planned headcount reduction to a “strategic plan” that involves streamlining its organization and other initiatives.

Stellantis plans to stop manufacturing of the Ram 1500 Classic pickup truck at the Warren Truck plant in Michigan later this year — and that move will result in some indefinite layoffs, Reuters reported late last week.

“With the introduction of the new Ram 1500, production of the Ram 1500 Classic at the Warren (Michigan) Truck Assembly Plant will come to an end later this year,” Stellantis said in a Wednesday statement to FOX Business. “As a result, Stellantis announced today that the plant will move from a two-shift to a one-shift operating pattern in General Assembly. Other operations within the plant will remain on two shifts to support Jeep Wagoneer production.”

“The Ram 1500 Classic has been a great entry point pickup for Ram and the Tradesman model has well represented the needs of commercial truck customers for years. We introduced the new 2025 Ram 1500 Tradesman with incredible value and content,” the company also said.

Another plant in Michigan is tasked with building the new Ram 1500. 

Up to 2,450 workers at the Warren Truck plant could face indefinite layoffs. However, fewer workers than that will likely actually be impacted. 

Cloud platform provider Fastly, looking to streamline and reduce costs, said last week it will shed 11% of its headcount in layoffs. Those cuts will be “substantially completed” by the end of the year, it said.

The company reported a global workforce of 1,200 at the end of 2023.

Fifty workers at Axios were affected when the media outlet announced job cuts earlier in the month. The company decided to conduct the layoffs to “get ahead of tectonic shifts in the media, technology and reader needs/habits,” according to a memo from CEO Jim VandeHei. 

AXIOS ELIMINATING ROUGHLY 50 POSITIONS BECAUSE OF ‘TECTONIC SHIFTS IN THE MEDIA’ INDUSTRY

Sonos on Wednesday revealed 6% of its workforce was receiving the ax. That amounted to about 100 people, according to reports.

The wireless speaker maker said it committed to the layoffs — and shrinking its real estate footprint more — to “improve the Company’s operating model and cost structure to set the Company up for long-term success,” according to an SEC filing.

Approximately 3% of Mastercard’s workforce are facing layoffs, with the payment services company slated to finish a “majority of the notifications” in the third quarter, the company said in a Friday statement to FOX Business. 

Mastercard said the cuts, first reported by Bloomberg, stem from already-announced organizational changes aimed at “realigning the regions and businesses to accelerate growth and unlock capacity that will enable investment in long-term opportunities.”

“As these changes are made, we plan to redeploy resources into growth areas. Some of these include opening acceptance in new verticals and continuing to apply technology in ways that help us realize even more of the shift to digital across both consumer and commercial. We’ll also enhance and expand our Value-Added Services, such as in data analytics, fraud and cyber security, particularly as we further embed AI into our products and services,” the company said.

Mastercard announced it was changing its organizational structure to make it centered on Core Payments, Commercial & New Payment Flows and Services back in April. 

General Motors’ software and services division is seeing some layoffs.

The layoffs affect 600 employees in Warren, Michigan, where GM has its Global Technical Center. The automaker didn’t specify the overall number affected by the cuts, which are global in nature.

CNBC reported on Monday that the layoffs will impact a total of more than 1,000 workers within the automaker’s software and services unit.

GM said the company “must simplify for speed and excellence, make bold choices, and prioritize the investments that will have the greatest impact” as the company “build[s] GM’s future.” 

Timothy Nerozzi, Brian Flood and Suzanne O’Halloran contributed to this report.

​The summer has brought announcements of job cuts at a slew of different companies, including Cisco, Paramount Global and Axios.   

The summer has brought announcements of job cuts at a slew of different companies. 

The planned layoffs are expected to collectively hit thousands of people who work in industries including tech, media, auto and more. 

Some of the firms that have made headlines this summer for headcount reductions include: 

Cisco

Cisco Systems headquarters in San Jose, California. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Cisco is embarking on a restructuring to “allow it to invest in key growth opportunities and drive more efficiency in its business.” That effort will involve laying off 7% of the company’s workers, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing.

The company revealed its plans on Wednesday, the same day it released its first-quarter financial results. There had been reports ahead of the release that a possible layoff announcement was coming.

Its workforce was hit by layoffs once already this year in February.

Intel

Intel’s layoffs, announced Aug. 1, will result in some 15,000 employees losing their jobs.

They will arise out of a “comprehensive reduction in spending” that the tech giant said it was pursuing to “resize and refocus.” The company aims to trim costs by $10 billion in 2025 through its overall cost-reduction plan.

INTEL’S MASSIVE JOB CUTS COME AFTER IT’S EXPECTED TO RECEIVE $8.5 BILLION IN TAXPAYER MONEY

“Our costs are too high, our margins are too low. We need bolder actions to address both — particularly given our financial results and outlook for the second half of 2024, which is tougher than previously expected,” CEO Pat Gelsinger said.

Paramount Global

A woman holds a cellphone in front of the Paramount logo displayed on a computer screen. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Paramount Global started cutting some of its workers on Tuesday after previously disclosing late last week it had plans to slash its U.S.-based workforce by 15%.

Co-CEO Chris McCarthy said during the media company’s earnings call last week that the layoffs will be “primarily focused on two areas: first, redundant functions within marketing and communications; second; streamlining our corporate structure, reducing our headcount in finance, legal, technology and other support functions.”

He and fellow co-CEOs Brian Robbins and George Cheeks told employees in a memo leaked to Deadline and other entertainment outlets that the process “will take place in three phrases … and continuing through the end of the year.” It will largely be done before October, according to reports.

PARAMOUNT BEGINS LAYING OFF 15% OF WORK FORCE, HUNDREDS EXPECTED TO BE CUT

Paramount Global has linked the planned headcount reduction to a “strategic plan” that involves streamlining its organization and other initiatives.

Stellantis

The Stellantis logo is seen displayed on a smartphone and in the background. (Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Stellantis plans to stop manufacturing of the Ram 1500 Classic pickup truck at the Warren Truck plant in Michigan later this year — and that move will result in some indefinite layoffs, Reuters reported late last week.

“With the introduction of the new Ram 1500, production of the Ram 1500 Classic at the Warren (Michigan) Truck Assembly Plant will come to an end later this year,” Stellantis said in a Wednesday statement to FOX Business. “As a result, Stellantis announced today that the plant will move from a two-shift to a one-shift operating pattern in General Assembly. Other operations within the plant will remain on two shifts to support Jeep Wagoneer production.”

“The Ram 1500 Classic has been a great entry point pickup for Ram and the Tradesman model has well represented the needs of commercial truck customers for years. We introduced the new 2025 Ram 1500 Tradesman with incredible value and content,” the company also said.

Another plant in Michigan is tasked with building the new Ram 1500. 

Up to 2,450 workers at the Warren Truck plant could face indefinite layoffs. However, fewer workers than that will likely actually be impacted. 

Fastly

Cloud platform provider Fastly, looking to streamline and reduce costs, said last week it will shed 11% of its headcount in layoffs. Those cuts will be “substantially completed” by the end of the year, it said.

The company reported a global workforce of 1,200 at the end of 2023.

Axios

Axios informed staffers on Tuesday that 50 people across the company would be laid off because of “tectonic shifts” in the American media industry.  (Getty / Getty Images)

Fifty workers at Axios were affected when the media outlet announced job cuts earlier in the month. The company decided to conduct the layoffs to “get ahead of tectonic shifts in the media, technology and reader needs/habits,” according to a memo from CEO Jim VandeHei. 

AXIOS ELIMINATING ROUGHLY 50 POSITIONS BECAUSE OF ‘TECTONIC SHIFTS IN THE MEDIA’ INDUSTRY

Sonos 

Sonos on Wednesday revealed 6% of its workforce was receiving the ax. That amounted to about 100 people, according to reports.

The wireless speaker maker said it committed to the layoffs — and shrinking its real estate footprint more — to “improve the Company’s operating model and cost structure to set the Company up for long-term success,” according to an SEC filing.

Mastercard

Approximately 3% of Mastercard’s workforce are facing layoffs, with the payment services company slated to finish a “majority of the notifications” in the third quarter, the company said in a Friday statement to FOX Business. 

Mastercard said the cuts, first reported by Bloomberg, stem from already-announced organizational changes aimed at “realigning the regions and businesses to accelerate growth and unlock capacity that will enable investment in long-term opportunities.”

“As these changes are made, we plan to redeploy resources into growth areas. Some of these include opening acceptance in new verticals and continuing to apply technology in ways that help us realize even more of the shift to digital across both consumer and commercial. We’ll also enhance and expand our Value-Added Services, such as in data analytics, fraud and cyber security, particularly as we further embed AI into our products and services,” the company said.

Mastercard announced it was changing its organizational structure to make it centered on Core Payments, Commercial & New Payment Flows and Services back in April. 

General Motors

General Motors’ software and services division is seeing some layoffs.

The layoffs affect 600 employees in Warren, Michigan, where GM has its Global Technical Center. The automaker didn’t specify the overall number affected by the cuts, which are global in nature.

CNBC reported on Monday that the layoffs will impact a total of more than 1,000 workers within the automaker’s software and services unit.

GM said the company “must simplify for speed and excellence, make bold choices, and prioritize the investments that will have the greatest impact” as the company “build[s] GM’s future.” 

Timothy Nerozzi, Brian Flood and Suzanne O’Halloran contributed to this report.

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