All posts tagged: layoffs

Following Layoffs, Pictures and Posters Removed from USAID Offices

Following Layoffs, Pictures and Posters Removed from USAID Offices

Artworks and pictures have been removed from the offices of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) across the globe, according to an X post from NBC’s Washington reporter Vaughn Hillyard. Vaughn, quoting a source, said that employees have been told that artworks have been removed as part of the Trump administration’s “America First” positioning.  The post featured a picture of dozens of works of art, including a map what appeared to be southern Europe, the Mediterranean, and North Africa, and an image of a concert in Kenya. These pictures appeared to have been haphazardly stacked on a utility cart.  Related Articles According to the Congressional Research Service, USAID is the main international humanitarian aid and development arm of the federal government. In the 2023 fiscal year it managed more than $40 billion in appropriations. USAID has missions in more than 60 countries and in 2023 delivered aid and funds to more than 130.  Exactly how much art has been removed, and from where, is unclear. USAID has not responded to a request for comment about who will …

Walgreens is closing stores; CVS is announcing layoffs. Here’s why : NPR

Walgreens is closing stores; CVS is announcing layoffs. Here’s why : NPR

Walgreens said Tuesday it would close 1,200 stores. Rival drugstore chain CVS recently laid off thousands of employees to cut costs. Scott Olson/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Scott Olson/Getty Images Not too long after Tim Wentworth became CEO of Walgreens, he revealed a stunning figure: Roughly a quarter of the pharmacy chain’s stores do not make money. On Tuesday, he said 1,200 of those stores will close over three years. That’s two weeks after rival CVS announced layoffs of 2,900 corporate staff. Both chains are on a multibillion-dollar cost-saving spree — closing hundreds of locations, cutting thousands of jobs and, really, reconsidering their role in Americans’ lives. The slow simmer of mistakes and misfortunes has come to a boil for the biggest U.S. drugstore chains. They’ve accumulated too many stores at a time of changing shopper habits. They’re saddled with numerous government fines and a particularly ailing relationship with health insurers. The problem of stores CVS and Walgreens have some notable differences. Walgreens, which also owns the British drugstore Boots, is more singularly focused …

‘A lot of uncertainty’: Former, current employees on Citi layoffs in Singapore

‘A lot of uncertainty’: Former, current employees on Citi layoffs in Singapore

CNA spoke to one ex-employee, Sarah, who has already found a job with a local bank. She recently resigned from her role in Citi’s wealth management division. Before the reorganisation, she was already concerned about career progression. The job cuts made her even less hopeful about finding other opportunities within the bank, and she was also disappointed by how the layoffs were handled. “Seeing some talented staff being laid off surely makes one feel sad,” said Sarah, who is in her 30s. It also seemed unfair that regional teams seemed less affected than country teams when some of them were merged. After March, she started actively looking for a new job. Other colleagues told her they were also open to leaving the bank, but she said many were taking a wait-and-see approach.  EMPLOYERS’ MARKET Hunting for a new job has been difficult for Mark, who said it’s an employer’s market in the banking industry now.  Most of the people he knows who got laid off in March have not found another job, while a few …

Google Execs Say Employees Will Be Rewarded for Huge Profits With Fewer Layoffs

Google Execs Say Employees Will Be Rewarded for Huge Profits With Fewer Layoffs

Lots of techspeak with very few answers here. Questioning Power Google employees have been pretty down as of late amid massive layoffs — but according to the company’s C-suite, the beatings won’t continue. As CNBC reports, an all-hands meeting at Google’s parent company Alphabet got contentious last week when staffers began asking executives why morale was so low despite record earnings that pushed the company’s market cap past $2 trillion. “We’ve noticed a significant decline in morale, increased distrust, and a disconnect between leadership and the workforce,” read one employee comment from an employee on the all-hands forum. “How does leadership plan to address these concerns and regain the trust, morale, and cohesion that have been foundational to our company’s success?” In another question, an employee asked why, “despite the company’s stellar performance and record earnings, many Googlers have not received meaningful compensation increases.” “When will employee compensation fairly reflect the company’s success,” the employee asked, “and is there a conscious decision to keep wages lower due to a cooling employment market?” With her feet to …

Analysis-Tesla’s EV Charging Team Layoffs Threaten to Slow Biden’s Program to Electrify Highways

Analysis-Tesla’s EV Charging Team Layoffs Threaten to Slow Biden’s Program to Electrify Highways

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Elon Musk’s decision to gut Tesla’s electric-vehicle charging team is scrambling plans for rolling out new fast-charging stations and may delay President Joe Biden’s efforts to electrify U.S. highways. Last year, the Biden administration announced rules for an ambitious plan to expand the country’s charging infrastructure and jump-start EV adoption. Under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, the government is doling out $5 billion to states over five years to build 500,000 EV chargers. EV market leader Tesla, which also operates the largest network of fast chargers – called Superchargers – in the U.S. and is the biggest winner so far of those federal funds, was seen as a crucial part of that plan. Since news of Tesla’s abrupt EV charging layoffs surfaced, however, executives at charging companies say they have been receiving phone calls from landlords looking for a new partner for their private charging projects after Tesla pulled out. Now, the charging companies are preparing for Tesla to pull out of the federal program. That, they say, could …

Tesla loses another manager to layoffs – but this one quit due to morale

Tesla loses another manager to layoffs – but this one quit due to morale

The Tesla layoff saga continues, with a manager leaving the company after 7 years. But this time, the manager wasn’t laid off, but rather left on his own volition due to the effect that layoffs had on morale. It seems like every few days there’s another notice of new layoffs at Tesla. It started with Tesla laying off “more than 10%” of its global workforce in mid-April, a layoff round which had been rumored for some time. In the wake of that first announcement, we’ve heard of many entire teams that have been cut, many seemingly for rather petty reasons. Tesla’s entire ad team was cut just a few months after being formed because CEO Elon Musk said the ads were “too generic.” And Tesla’s entire supercharging team felt Musk’s wrath after its standout head, Rebecca Tinucci, apparently did not satisfy Musk’s desire for more cuts – so instead, he axed the entire team, despite it being one of the most-successful within the company. Tesla also laid off several workers in software and service earlier this …

Redfall and Ghostwire: Tokyo studios shut down by another round of Microsoft layoffs

Redfall and Ghostwire: Tokyo studios shut down by another round of Microsoft layoffs

Arkane Austin, makers of 2023’s Redfall, and Tango Gameworks, developers of The Evil Within and 2022’s Ghostwire: Tokyo, are shut down. The two studios, subsidiaries of Microsoft-owned Bethesda Softworks, were shuttered on Tuesday along with two others according to an email sent by Matt Booty, the head of Xbox Game Studios. The closure means Redfall’s post launch support, including any DLC expansions, are now off the board although Arkane Studios itself, headquarted in Lyon, France, will still hang on. But the ambitious, supernatural shooter that Arkane Austin launched in May 2023 is officially done, and will not be be receiving any post-launch support, much less the two DLC characters that Xbox had promised at the time of released. IGN confirmed Arkane Austin’s closure in an email from Booty. “Redfall’s previous update will be its last as we end all development on the game,” it said. “The game and its servers will remain online for players to enjoy and we will provide make-good offers to players who purchased the Hero DLC.” Why did Microsoft shut down …

Tesla (TSLA) launches another round of layoffs

Tesla (TSLA) launches another round of layoffs

Tesla (TSLA) launched another round of layoffs this weekend, with employees in wide-ranging roles getting their pink slip amid broader layoffs over the last 3 weeks. Three weeks ago, Tesla started a significant wave of layoffs. The automaker announced it was laying off about 10% of its workforce. However, we reported prior to the announcement that the layoffs could be closer to 20% of the workforce once everything is said and done. Sure enough, Tesla had another significant wave of layoffs last week. Now, we hear of yet another round of layoffs at Tesla. Several sources familiar with the matter told Electrek that workers across several departments, including software, service, and engineering, have received the dreaded “employment level” email between Friday and Sunday. The layoffs were expected after CEO Elon Musk made an example of Rebecca Tinucci, Tesla’s former head of charging, and her entire team by firing everyone last week. After the move, he emailed other executives and told them that they would also be let go if they don’t let go higher percentages …

Wall Street Journal moves Asia HQ from Hong Kong to Singapore, resulting in layoffs

Wall Street Journal moves Asia HQ from Hong Kong to Singapore, resulting in layoffs

WASHINGTON: The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) will shift its Asia headquarters from Hong Kong to Singapore, it said on Thursday (May 2) in a letter sent to staff and seen by AFP. The US newspaper said its decision comes after other foreign firms have reconsidered their operations in Chinese financial hub Hong Kong. WSJ editor-in-chief Emma Tucker said in a letter to staff that the shift would also involve an unspecified number of layoffs. Announcing changes to the WSJ’s Asia operations, Tucker wrote: “Some of these changes are structural: We are bringing together our business, finance and economics coverage. Some are geographic: We are shifting our center of gravity in the region from Hong Kong to Singapore, as many of the companies we cover have done.” On the staff changes, she added: “Consequently, some of our colleagues, mostly in Hong Kong, will be leaving us. It is difficult to say goodbye, and I want to thank them for the contributions they have made to the Journal.” The union for WSJ employees, IAPE, said in a …

Luminar cuts 20% of staff and outsources lidar production

Luminar cuts 20% of staff and outsources lidar production

Lidar company Luminar is slashing its workforce by 20% and will lean harder on its contract manufacturing partner as part of a restructuring that will shift the company to a more “asset-light” business model, as it aims to scale production. The cuts will affect around 140 employees, and are starting immediately. Luminar is also cutting ties with “the majority” of its contract workers. “Today, we stand at the crossroads of two realities: the core of our business has never been stronger across technology, product, industrialization, and commercialization; yet at the same time the capital markets perception of our company has never been more challenging,” billionaire founder and CEO Austin Russell said in a letter posted to Luminar’s website. “[T]he business model and cost structure that enabled us to achieve this leadership position no longer fit the needs of the company.” Russell wrote in the letter that the restructuring will make it possible for Luminar to get products to market faster, “drastically reduce” costs, and set the company up better for profitability. The company said in …