Startups face grim holiday season as layoffs, closures mount

More than 500 startups closed their doors in 2023, according to equity management firm Carta Inc – and many of those that endured are laying off workers and looking for alternative sources of cash. — Image by pressfoto on Freepik

In a year when much of the tech industry has pulled back on spending, startups have been hit particularly hard. During the pandemic boom, investors were happy to bankroll promising young companies’ growth at any cost. Now, with new funding rounds all but evaporated, the order of the day is cuts.

More than 250,000 workers at tech companies of all sizes were let go this year, according to job tracker Layoffs.fyi. While that includes big reductions at giants like Meta Platforms Inc and Google, thousands came from smaller, closely held companies facing their first reckoning with a slowdown.