New York, January 31: The US-based multinational fintech company Paypal has joined the other tech companies and announced to cut thousands of jobs. According to the reports, Paypal has announced to lay off 2,500 employees, about 9% of its global workforce. The reports said the fintech giant decided to "right-size" the company. The Paypal layoffs will reportedly follow the "direct reductions" and "elimination of open roles". 

According to the report by BBC, the employees who are getting laid off will be notified by the end of the week. Google, Paytm, BlackRock, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and many others have announced their layoffs, due to restructuring, slow market and to focus on AI and automation. The tech layoffs started in early January, affecting thousands of employees. iRobot Layoffs: After Amazon Terminates Acquisition Deal, Consumer Robot Maker Announces To Lay Off Around 350 Employees, Nearly 31% Workforce. 

The report highlighted that the Paypal layoffs are announced as the digital payments giant said facing rising competition from Apple, Block and Zelle. The Paypal CEO Alex Chriss was appointed from a previous software company, Intuit, to help turn around the company. As per the report, the investors also hoped that the new CEO would be able to revive the falling share prices by 20% for 12 months, and their expectations were fulfilled as the company showed progress.

The BBC report mentioned that the company launched new AI-driven products and a "one-click checkout" feature. The report stated that last year, there were over 2,60,000 layoffs in the sector, and just last month, more than 100 tech firms like TikTok, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, Salesforce, and others announced about 25,000 job cuts. The report by Times of India said that Paypal fired employees to focus on "automation" and "efficiency." TikTok Sued by 5,000 Parents in US, Claims App’s ‘Destroying America’s Youth’.

As per the BBC report, the executives of the companies reportedly blamed job losses on the "pandemic hiring spree" and reasons like "high inflation" in 2023. Now, tech companies are laying off employees as a part of "restructuring", "rising competition", and "artificial intelligence-led automation". The report highlighted another point: the union representing Google's workers said that the tech giant made billions of dollars and also cut hundreds of jobs, calling the action "needless".

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 31, 2024 10:28 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).