These Are Some Of The Tech Companies That Have Paused Hiring

After a year of hiring sprees for workers, tech companies are now hitting the brakes.

Both large public companies and startups have told their employees they’d pause or slow down hiring, given the turbulence in the public markets and plummeting tech stock valuations.

We’ve been tracking layoffs at U.S.-based tech companies so far this year, and sometimes before layoffs hit, companies slow down hiring. So we’ve rounded up some of the tech companies that have said they’d slow down or put a freeze on hiring amid the market downturn.

Apple 

Bloomberg reported last week that Apple plans to slow down hiring in 2023. The news sets Apple apart from other tech companies, which for the most part said the hiring slowdowns would be implemented immediately or for the remainder of 2022. There haven’t been any reported layoffs at Apple so far this year.

Coinbase

Coinbase said in May that it will slow hiring, although the company had planned to triple the size of its headcount leading into this year. Along with reduced hiring, the company rescinded accepted job offers and laid off 18% of its employees, or around 1,100 people, in June.

Google

The Information reported last week that Google will pause hiring for two weeks, following an announcement earlier this month that it will slow down its hiring pace for the remainder of the year. There haven’t been any reported layoffs for the tech giant, but the move to pause hiring shows that even the largest and most powerful of tech companies are being cautious.

Instacart

Instacart said in May that it will slow down hiring to focus on profitability ahead of its planned IPO. It’s unclear when Instacart will go public, given how unfavorable the market conditions are, but the company is preparing nonetheless. Earlier this year, the company also slashed its own valuation to make it more in line with public market tech valuations.

Lyft 

The Wall Street Journal reported in late May that Lyft would slow down hiring and reduce some of its budgets. Last week, the company laid off about 60 employees and shuttered its business that rents its cars. Lyft isn’t the only rideshare company to slow down hiring—Uber made a similar move earlier this year.

Meta 

The company formerly known as Facebook told employees earlier this month that it would cut its plans to hire engineers by at least 30%, per Reuters. The company previously said it would reduce hiring, leave some positions unfilled, and raise performance expectations.

“Part of my hope by raising expectations and having more aggressive goals, and just kind of turning up the heat a little bit, is that I think some of you might decide that this place isn’t for you, and that self-selection is OK with me,” Zuckerberg said, according to Reuters.

Microsoft

Microsoft confirmed that it will decelerate its hiring pace in light of the macroeconomic conditions. The company also laid off a small number of staff earlier this month.

Spotify

The music streaming service said in June that it will reduce its hiring growth by 25%, according to CNBC. Spotify is still hiring for certain roles, and there haven’t been any reported layoffs this year for the company.

Tesla

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in June that the company will pause hiring and cut staff, as he had a “super bad feeling” about the economy, Reuters reported. The company later closed an office in San Mateo, California, and laid off around 200 employees.

Twitter

Twitter announced a partial hiring freeze in May, according to CNN. Market conditions may have influenced the decision. It could also be connected to its pending acquisition by Elon Musk (which is now in question). Most recently, Twitter laid off 30% of its talent acquisition team.

Uber

Uber said as early as May that the company will cut back on costs and treat hiring as a “privilege,” according to CNBC. While its main competitor Lyft has had layoffs to control spending, Uber so far has not.

Illustration: Dom Guzman

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