Tech, biotech job cuts mount with fresh burst of Bay Area layoffs

Tech and biotech job cuts have widened in the Bay Area with a fresh batch of layoffs being revealed by companies operating in the crucial engines of the region’s economy.

Twitch, a tech company that offers live streaming services, disclosed plans to chop 153 jobs in San Francisco, according to a WARN notice on file with the state Employment Development Department (EDD).

Emerald Cloud Lab, a biotech firm, is cutting 30 jobs in South San Francisco, the company’s WARN letter to the EDD shows.

Tech companies, starting in July 2022, have revealed plans to eliminate more than 20,200 jobs in the Bay Area, according to this news organization’s analysis of hundreds of WARN notices on file with the EDD.

Biotech companies since mid-2022 have disclosed plans to lay off more than 4,000 Bay Area jobs, the official state labor agency filings show.

These 10 tech companies have eliminated the most jobs in the Bay Area starting in July 2022, the WARN letters show:

Prior to the Twitch WARN disclosure of 153 job cuts, these were the five most recent tech company filings for Bay Area layoffs:

Some of the job cuts have already occurred while others have yet to take place.

Twitch told the EDD that it anticipates its layoffs will be effective on or around June 2, according to the WARN letter from the company, which provides a social network and streaming services for video game players.

The tech company said the job cuts were expected to be permanent, although it was possible that some employees might escape losing their jobs under some circumstances.

“Affected employees who accept internal transfer opportunities at the company prior to their separation date will not be separated as a result of this action,” Lesley Ann Davis, director of U.S. people business partners with Twitch, stated in the WARN notice to the EDD.

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The biotech company indicated that it was shifting some of its Bay Area operations and jobs to Texas.

“We have reached out to all our employees and contractors who are interested in relocating to Austin, Texas and encouraged them to apply for suitable roles in Austin and other parts of the organization,” Ingrid Guevara, vice president of human resources with Emerald Cloud Labs, wrote in the WARN letter.

The company said its inability to successfully expand in the Bay Area triggered its requirement to shut the South San Francisco facility and orchestrate the job cuts.

“These layoffs are purely a result of not being able to find suitable facilities to meet our current and future business plans in the San Francisco Bay Area,” Emerald Cloud Labs stated in the filing with the EDD.