Tech companies are officially detailing the local impact of layoffs they have carried out, some linked to the fallout from the coronavirus, a grim reminder of the deep economic effects unleashed by the deadly bug.
Lyft, Yelp, IBM, and LendingClub are among the tech companies whose Bay Area layoff plans have been posted recently by a state agency as part of an official government filing.
The layoff plans by the four tech companies were revealed in notices to the state’s Employment Development Department. The four tech companies disclosed plans for a combined total of 1,000 layoffs, updated posts on the EDD site show.
The WARN notices provide the first details of the local impacts of layoff plans by the quartet of tech companies.
In some instances, such as with Lyft, LendingClub, and Yelp, the layoffs were part of prior disclosures of job cuts worldwide that didn’t break out the Bay Area employment losses — until now.
LendingClub, a tech-oriented personal finance company, told the EDD of plans to lay off 367 workers in San Francisco.
Lyft, a tech-based ride-hailing company, revealed layoffs of 325 workers in San Francisco, the EDD reported.
Yelp, an internet company that provides crowd-sourced reviews about businesses, disclosed layoffs of 235 people in San Francisco, the agency site shows.
IBM, a cloud computing and tech company officially named International Business Machines, disclosed it planned 140 layoffs in San Jose that were scheduled to be effective on July 20. The EDD posted the notices on June 6.
The IBM, LendingClub, and approximately 305 of the Lyft layoffs were described as “permanent” in the EDD WARN notice.
The Yelp layoffs and about 60 of the LendingClub cutbacks were described as “temporary.”
The layoffs at IBM were slated to occur at two of the tech titan’s south San Jose locations, the notice stated.
“This action is expected to impact 90 employees at 555 Bailey Ave. and 50 employees at 650 Harry Road,” Laura Guio, a senior executive for IBM in California, wrote in a letter to the EDD.
LendingClub stated that the layoffs it has undertaken began May 1 and might continue until July 3, according to the company’s filing.
State and local government orders and mandates to restrict or shut an array of business operations in a quest to curb the coronavirus were among the primary factors behind the LendingClub layoffs, the company stated.
“These directives have caused and will continue to cause, among other things, a drastic impact on the company’s business,” Whitney Jones, chief people officer with San Francisco-based LendingClub wrote in a letter to the EDD.
San Francisco-based Lyft stated that the coronavirus has impacted the company’s rideshare business as well as its transit, bikes, and scooters operations.
“Both rideshare and transit, bikes, and scooters have seen a significant decrease in activity in the wake of COVID-19 and related shelter in place orders, making this current layoff necessary,” Emily Nishi, chief people officer with Lyft, wrote in a letter to state officials.
San Francisco-based Yelp said some of the layoffs could be temporary and others permanent. The company also warned that additional job cuts might loom, since so much of its business depends on assessments of in-person visits to shops and restaurants.
“It is possible that additional persons will be affected in the coming weeks or months as we continue to understand the impact the COVID-19 crisis has on our business,” Carolyn Patterson, Yelp’s senior vice president people operations wrote to the EDD. “The scope of the impact is unforeseeable at this time.”