28,000 and counting: That’s the 2023 layoff data from startup land

New-economy companies laid off more than 28,000 employees in the first three quarters of 2023, as startups went ahead with major restructuring to conserve cash and prioritise verticals essential for continued operations, amid a persistent funding winter.

Startups have been the worst hit this year since the highs of aggressive hiring from 2021, data from Longhouse Consulting shared exclusively with ET showed. These companies fired more than 20,000 in 2022 and 4,080 in 2021.

“The problem may be deeper in startups but we must remember that the overall economy is also being ravaged by high interest rates and inflation, with tech firms getting impacted across the world,” said Anshuman Das, cofounder and chief executive, Longhouse Consulting.

The layoffs seem to have injected considerable job insecurity into the ecosystem, Das told ET. This insecurity is evident in attrition rates improving to 9-14% in 2023, its best in three years, despite salary revisions being the worst in three years, ranging between a 30% cut and 20% growth, according to Longhouse data.

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