The layoff wave hitting tech players isn’t over yet: NYSE-listed tech giant Salesforce is reducing its 79k+ headcount by 10%, making it the latest tech company to slash expenses as uncertainty continues to draw a bleak picture for the global economy, CNN reports, citing a letter sent out to employees. Video-sharing platform Vimeo followed suit on the same day and announced its plans to lay off 11% of its employees, the news outlet reports. The demand for tech companies saw a skyrocketing rise fueled by the pandemic-induced work-from-home trend, which is coming to a halt, forcing these firms to “quickly adjust to a softening demand environment,” CNN quotes an analyst as saying. Amazon, Meta, and Twitter each pushed through layoffs last year. CNBC and Insider also had the story.

Amazon is also planning (another) drastic job cut: The e-commerce giant plans to eliminate 18k jobs — 6% of the company's 300k-person corporate workforce — to reduce expenses, CEO Andy Jassy announced to employees yesterday in a message that has since been shared in a blog post. The company’s e-commerce and human resources divisions will be hit the hardest by the layoffs, the details of which will be announced on 18 January, The Financial Times reports.

DATA POINT- According to tracking website Layoffs.fyi, the tech sector laid off more than 150k people in 2022, a figure that shows no sign of slowing, according to Reuters.

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Foxconn’s monopoly on iPhone manufacturing is slipping: Apple is set to outsource production of the iPhone 14 Pro Max model to Chinese manufacturer Luxshare Precision, a direct competitor of Foxconn and Pegatron, the Financial Times reports, citing sources familiar with the matter. Luxshare has already been producing small components of the iPhone 14 Pro Max at its factory in Shanghai, as Apple looks to offset slower production at the Taiwanese Foxconn plant since November of last year.

In its bid to diversify its production facilities, Apple has made significant investments in Luxshare’s supply chain management. Luxshare has delivered last minute orders of mass producing the Pro models in just a few months, an analyst says. The company is now Luxshare’s largest commercial partner, driving a jump in revenues to USD 24 bn in 2021, from USD 2 bn in 2016.

REMEMBER: Foxconn is attempting to expand its assembly and production lines to other markets such as India, Vietnam, and the US following challenges at its Zhengzhou plant. Moreover, Foxconn has had worker disruptions due to alleged clashes with authorities, as well as lockdowns as the Covid-19 pandemic disseminated once more in the city — leading to “shortages of iPhones and threats to break Apple’s 14-quarter revenue growth streak.” Nonetheless, Foxconn was able to deliver 90% of its initial targets in December, the Financial Times quoted Foxconn this week.