每日外刊 大型科技公司裁员背后的原因是什么？

背景知识

美国高科技行业持续近20年的高速发展似乎在2022年戛然而止，不少企业业绩低迷，股价暴跌，公司裁员人数动辄成千上万，占员工比例高达两位数。

业内人士指出，美国高科技企业扎堆裁员并非偶然，其原因既包括外部大环境的多重不利因素，也离不开企业对发展前景的严重误判。

正文阅读

What is behind the big tech companies' job cuts?

大型科技公司裁员背后的原因是什么?

The first sign of job cuts at Amazon came from LinkedIn posts from laid-off employees. Then, Amazon's devices boss, Dave Limp, announced: "It pains me… We will lose talented Amazonians from the devices & services org". Across the tech industry, at firms like Twitter, Meta, Coinbase and Snap, workers have announced they are "seeking new opportunities". Worldwide, more than 120,000 jobs have been lost, according to the Layoffs.fyi website, which tracks tech job cuts.

亚马逊裁员的第一个迹象来自于LinkedIn上被解雇员工的帖子。然后，亚马逊的设备主管戴夫·林普宣布:“这让我很痛苦……我们将从设备和服务组织失去优秀的亚马逊人”。纵观整个科技行业，在Twitter、Meta、Coinbase和Snap等公司，员工们都宣布他们正在“寻找新的机会”。据追踪科技行业裁员情况的网站Layoffs.fyi统计，全球失业人数已超过12万人。

Different firms cut employees for different reasons but there are common themes. As our lives moved online during the pandemic, the tech giants' businesses boomed, and executives believed the good times - for them - would continue to roll. Meta, for example, took on more than 15,000 people in the first nine months of this year. Now executives announcing cuts have said they miscalculated. "I made the decision to significantly increase our investments," chief executive Mark Zuckerberg told Meta employees, as he laid off 13% of them.

不同的公司裁员的原因不同，但有共同的主题。随着我们的生活在疫情期间转移到网上，科技巨头的业务蓬勃发展，高管们相信，对他们来说，好时光将继续。例如，Meta在今年前9个月吸纳了超过1.5万人。现在，宣布裁员的高管们表示，他们计算错了。“我决定大幅增加我们的投资，”首席执行官马克·扎克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)对Meta员工说，他裁掉了13%的员工。

Online adverts are the chief source of income for many tech firms, but for the advertising business, dark clouds have been gathering. Firms have faced growing opposition to intrusive advertising practices. For example, Apple made it harder to track people's online activity and sell that data to advertisers. And as the economy ran into trouble, many firms slashed their online advertising budgets. In the financial technology sector, rising interest rates have also hit companies.

在线广告是许多科技公司的主要收入来源，但对广告业务来说，乌云密布。公司面临着越来越多的反对侵入性广告的做法。例如，苹果加大了追踪用户在线活动的难度并将这些数据出售给广告商。随着经济陷入困境，许多公司削减了在线广告预算。在金融科技行业，利率上升也对企业造成了冲击。

今日单词

• behind /bɪˈhaɪnd/ prep. 是……产生的原因；支持；在……背后（指表象背后的真实情况，某人表面行为背后的真实性格）；
• job cuts 裁员；
• laid-off /leɪd ɒf/ adj. 被解雇的；
• talented/ˈtæləntɪd/ adj. 有天资的，有才能的；
• track /træk/ vt. 追查，追踪；（尤指用特殊电子设备）跟踪，追踪；跟踪（进展情况）；
• boom /buːm/ vi. 迅速发展，繁荣；轰鸣，轰响；
• executive /ɪɡˈzekjətɪv/ n. 高管；主管；
• roll /roʊl/ vi.（使）翻滚，滚动；（使）翻身，翻转；（使）滚动，开动；（机器）转动，运转；
• significantly /sɪɡˈnɪfɪkəntli/ adv. 显著地，相当数量地；
• chief /tʃiːf/ adj. 首要的，主要的；
• opposition /ˌɑːpəˈzɪʃ(ə)n/ n.（强烈的） 反对，反抗；
• intrusive /ɪnˈtruːsɪv/ adj. 侵入的；打扰的；
• run into trouble 陷入困境之中；
• slash /slæʃ/ vt.（用利器）砍，劈；大幅度削减，大大降低；

素材来源

文本选自：BBC（英国广播公司）

作者：Shiona McCallum

原文发布时间：18 Nov. 2022

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