RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – Thousands of jobs are open across the Triangle, big companies are still hiring, but there are also layoffs being made in the region and across the state as the economy continues to take hits from rising interest rates, inflation and more.

Here’s the latest, from this week’s edition of the WRAL TechWire Layoff Watch.

Amazon shutting Durham warehouse site, canceling or delaying 2 others in NC

Most recent layoffs

  • Sept. 15 – Amazon confirms to WRAL TechWire that a Durham facility that employs some 400 workers is being shut down, and a spokesperson tells WRAL TechWire that the company does not intend to lay off any workers, as every employee will be given the opportunity to transfer to another Amazon facility.  Meanwhile, a group of Amazon employees who work in a Garner facility continue efforts to form a union.
  • Sept. 14 – TRU Colors, a startup brewery in Wilmington, announced it would shut down, and serial entrepreneur and founder George Taylor explains why.
  • Sept. 14 – The cloud firm Twilio cuts 11% of workers and CEO Jeff Lawson explains why in a letter, noting that the company used an “Anti-Racist” lens in determining which employees would be laid off.

Pendo lays off about 5% of workforce, including workers in Raleigh

More companies making layoffs

  • Sept. 12 – Coats American, Inc. will close a Hendersonville plant and lay off 51 workers by the end of November, according to a required legal notice sent by the company to the North Carolina Department of Commerce.
  • Sept. 12 – Pink Energy, a solar company headquartered in the Charlotte area, announced it would lay off 500 workers a few months after laying off 600 workers, with the CEO citing faulty equipment as the cause.
  • Sept. 8 – Avaya, with headquarters in Durham, announced it would reduce its workforce in order to lower costs to “position Avaya as a more agile and innovative organization,” the company’s new CEO told WRAL TechWire in a statement.  The number of layoffs is not known; but the company allocated $11 million to be used to cover costs associated with laying off workers, as WRAL TechWire reported in August.
  • Sept. 7 Pendo layoffs affect 45 workers, less than 5% of its workforce, with half of those layoffs occurring in the company’s Raleigh headquarters location.  WRAL TechWire confirmed the layoffs on September 12.
  • Sept. 2 – The latest data on the employment situation in the United States showed that the pace of job growth slowed in August but the economy added more jobs than expected during the month, a preliminary total of 315,000, though the unemployment rate increased as more people began to look for work and the labor force participation rate increased as well.
  • Sept. 1 Unemployment benefits claims fell, data showed.

UNC economist: More people joining labor force is key to a ‘soft landing’ for economy

August tech layoffs

Here’s a list of some of the layoffs that may affect North Carolina workers that occurred in August:

  • Aug. 31 – Snapchat lays off about 20% of its global workforce of 6,400 workers.
  • Aug. 29 – Keter, US, Inc. will lay off 68 workers in Stanley “due to changing business needs at the facility.”
  • Aug. 29 – 67 employees at UNC Rockingham Hospital in Eden face job loss
  • Aug. 29 – Pandemic ‘winners’ including Peloton, Wayfair, Netflix, Zoom… are now losers
  • Aug. 26 – Novartis to close Wilson plant, affecting 240 workers.
  • Aug. 25 – Better, which has an office in Charlotte, makes its fourth round of layoffs in 2022 according to TechCrunch.  Those four rounds of layoffs followed a mass layoff of 900 workers via a Zoom meeting in December 2021.
  • Aug. 25 – Outdoor furniture manufacturer Keter will lay off 68 workers from a Gaston County facility, according to a notice filed with the North Carolina Department of Commerce.
  • Aug. 25 – Amazon will shut down the hybrid virtual and in-home care service, Amazon Care
  • Aug. 25 – Fewer Americans filed for unemployment benefits than the prior week, but the four-week average rose, the Associated Press reported.
  • Aug. 22 – Ford announces layoffs of 3,000 white collar workers, CNN Business reported.

Troubled tech firm Avaya – HQ in Durham – is laying off workers

 More August layoffs

NC’s economy takes a $1B hit in project cancellation – fifth announced this year

Even more August tech layoffs

  • Aug. 4 – Robinhood will make layoffs of 23% of its workforce, a few months after slashing 9% of workers.  This includes laying off 82 workers in Charlotte and closing the company’s office facility there, at which it had promised to hire nearly 400 workers not more than 18 months ago
  • Aug. 4 – Walmart will cut 200 corporate jobs, according to a CNN report
  • Aug. 4Jobless benefit applications are again on the rise, according to the U.S. Labor Department, which is a sign that more layoffs are occurring
  • Aug. 2 – Job openings have plummeted since the last monthly survey, according to the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the lowest since September 2021
  • Aug. 1 – Oracle reportedly to lay off thousands of workers

NC tech leaders grow more pessimistic about economy; 17.5% have implemented hiring freeze

Layoffs announced in July

  • July 29 – Cargo services firm in Charlotte cutting 154 workers
  • July 27 – The latest survey results from NC TECH show that 1.6% of surveyed companies have laid off, considered making layoffs, or furloughed workers, and another 17.5% have already implemented a hiring freeze.
  • July 27 – Automaker Rivian will lay off about 6% of its workforce, the founder and CEO sent in an email to employees (TechCrunch report.)
  • July 26 – Layoffs at Shopify, with approximately 10% of global workforce slashed

Layoffs still keep coming despite better-than-expected jobs report

Other reports, tech layoffs

More on layoffs announced earlier this year:

  • Invitae announced it planned to lay off as many as 1,000 workers globally and Arrival, with a North American headquarters in Charlotte, announced it could cut 30% of its staff in the coming months.  They’ll be making additional announcements in the coming weeks.
  • Microsoft, which as recently as last month, told WRAL TechWire that it was hiring for hundreds of positions locally in the Triangle, has now also announced that it will cut hundreds of jobs.  The firm is still hiring in North Carolina, according to the latest WRAL TechWire Jobs Report, though it does shows a drop off in the number of openings locally at the firm compared to earlier this year.
  • Peloton, which had something of its own pandemic boom and bought a North Carolina company previously, announced it would no longer manufacture its own stationary exercise bicycles, and would lay off some 600 workers. (Editor’s Note: This was the first announcement from Peloton; the second announcement came later in the summer.)
  • And Biogen, which has a big presence in RTP, announced layoffs in a move to reduce costs last month, as well.
  • Durham technology startup Adwerx announced it would lay off 40 workers, citing “macroeconomic uncertainty.”

Retention, retraining workers becomes focus for many employers in changing job market

More Triangle tech layoffs coverage

More NC layoffs as Coats American to close Hendersonville facility, lay off 51 workers

North Carolina solar company lays off 500; CEO blames faulty equipment

Snapchat is latest tech firm to cut jobs: 20% of global workforce

More layoffs: Wayfair is cutting 5% of its global workforce

Genetics firm Invitae, with Morrisville facility, to lay off more than 1,000 workers

Multiple reports outline Oracle’s decision to lay off thousands of workers

Layoffs hit Microsoft: Tech giant says hundreds of workers to be let go

 

Job cuts at Biogen, which has big RTP presence, help drug giant reduce costs 40%

More layoffs in NC – Medline closing Salisbury facility, will cut nearly 100 workers

Automotive manufacturer to close China Grove plant, lay off 81 workers

Layoffs hit Microsoft: Tech giant says hundreds of workers to be let go

Peloton, which had plans for big NC plant, will stop making bikes; 600 to lose jobs