Bay Area Tech, Biotech Companies to Cut Hundreds of Jobs

(TNS) – Three technology companies and one biotech firm have unveiled plans to cut hundreds of jobs in the Bay Area, a grim reminder that cutbacks in the region’s high-tech and life sciences sectors have yet to abate.

Ominously, Bay Area tech layoffs could worsen dramatically, depending on the local impact of thousands of worldwide job cuts unveiled by two top Silicon Valley companies — Cisco Systems and Intel.

In the latest wave of job cuts, tech companies AppLovin, Fastly and Velo3D and biotech firm Grail have revealed separate decisions to cut 334 jobs in the Bay Area, according to official WARN letters the companies sent to the state Employment Development Department.

Over the past two years, tech companies have revealed plans to cut more than 45,700 Bay Area jobs, this news organization’s review of hundreds of WARN notices filed with the EDD during that time shows.

Here are some details on the latest layoff plans from tech or biotech companies in the Bay Area:

AppLovin, a software company, 61 layoffs in Palo Alto, which took place on August 15.

Fastly, a cloud services company, 52 layoffs in San Francisco. The scheduled date is October 11.

Velo3D, a 3D printing company, is cutting 42 employees in Fremont. The layoffs are expected to take place on October 8.

Grail, a biotech company, 179 cuts in Menlo Park. The reductions are planned for October 14.

The respective employers stated in the EDD application that all layoffs were permanent.

It is certain that these cuts will have painful consequences for the affected workers.

However, major technical cuts are looming.

Santa Clara-based Intel unveiled plans on Aug. 1 to cut 15,000 jobs worldwide as the chip leviathan struggles to deploy more resources in the artificial intelligence sector.

San Jose-based Cisco revealed on August 14 its intentions to cut 7% of its workforce. Based on the latest estimates for the networking behemoth’s global staffing, this could equate to 5,900 lost jobs.

The local effects of these cuts have not yet been officially revealed. But previous layoff events orchestrated by Intel and Cisco have resulted in staff reductions in the Bay Area.

The Bay Area has managed to add jobs over the past one-year period despite the region’s struggling tech industry.

In the 12 months ending in July, technology companies cut a net total of 16,000 jobs in the region, according to a Beacon Economics estimate derived from EDD seasonally adjusted numbers.

But during the same one-year period ending in July, Bay Area employers added 32,300 jobs, the EDD reported.

The tech industry’s struggles stand in stark contrast to the sector’s typical role as one of the reliable — and, in recent years, primary — engines of the Bay Area’s half-century of growth.