Washington, March 19: Layoffs in the US have been concerning, especially in the tech sector, due to automation and other restructuring plans. Companies like Meta, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Cisco remain the ones that have cut thousands of jobs. In the United States, the layoffs have reportedly hit the highest "its highest mark for a February since 2009." 

According to a report by the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS Org), United States employers announced layoffs of 84,638 employees in February 2024. These layoffs are reportedly 9% more than those implemented in 2023. The report highlighted that while cutting thousands of jobs, the companies planned to hire only 10,317 workers. AI Skills in Demand: Tech Job Seekers Without Having Artificial Intelligence Skills To Get Lower Salaries and Fewer Roles Available as US IT Market Expected To Shrink in 2024, Says Report.

According to a report by Moneycontrol, February has been the worst month for layoffs since 2009. The report highlighted numbers during the financial crisis in 2009. It emphasised that in the following month of the crisis, the financial markets "bottomed out", leading to the longest economic expansion in history. This expansion reportedly lasted until the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. 

According to the Moneycontrol report, companies cut 166,945 jobs, which is 7.6% higher than the previous year, when 12,412 employees were laid off in February 2024. The report also said that the tech sector alone has lost 28,218 jobs this year. The report mentioned that the financial sector saw a 54% increase in layoffs compared to 2023, when 26,856 layoffs were made at the beginning of the year. TCS Salary Hike 2024: Tata Consultancy Services Likely To Offer 7-8% Raise to Offsite Employees, 2-4% to Onsite Staffers, Here's How Much High Performers May Get.

Following the layoffs in 2024, the companies manufacturing industrial goods laid off 7,806 employees; the education sector cut 6,366 jobs last month. The report highlighted that more than 15,000 jobs were cut due to the technological updates in all years since 2007. It highlighted that only 383 jobs were cut due to artificial intelligence but also hinted that the companies had been utilising automation and robotics, not just replacing human labour with AI. According to the report, 4,247 jobs were cut in 2023 due to AI. The concern among IT professionals about getting sacked when companies adopt AI remains; however, there is still time to see it happen.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 19, 2024 11:37 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).