🌎 Is 2024 the year of tech layoffs?

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Here’s what you need to know

Microsoft laid off 1,900 gaming employees just three months after acquiring Activision Blizzard. Employees from both companies were affected in the wake of the $69 billion acquisition (more on tech layoffs below).

Boeing’s 737 Max 9 models will soon be ready to fly for United and Alaska Airlines. Pending maintenance and inspection checks, the planes are expected to be ready to fly as early as this weekend.

Jamie Dimon made some changes among his top brass. The JPMorgan CEO is only halfway through his (supposedly) last five-year retention plan, and potential successors are taking shape.

India’s Zee Entertainment is walking away from a $1.4 billion cricket deal with Disney. Zee reportedly missed a $200 million payment to the US company in recent weeks, according to Reuters.

Will 2024’s tech layoffs be even worse?

It’s possible, if January’s numbers are any indication. Here’s a chart showing average monthly cuts across the globe in the tech sector, using just this month’s as a guide for 2024.

Of course, things could settle down. But there’s also AI to consider, as well as the nature of the cuts themselves, particularly in the tech sector, where the cuts are not just bigger, they’re deeper.

Speaking of cuts…

Plenty of people—investors, homeowners, consumers—would be thrilled if Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell would cut interest rates sometime soon. But the labor market is holding steady, inflation is cooling, and GDP numbers are looking good, so there’s a growing chance that Powell can wait it out.

In fact, almost nobody expects interest rates to budge downward in the Fed’s meeting next week. And, as Quartz’s Melvin Backman points out, despite dire predictions that holding rates too high would do a lot of damage, the Fed has managed not to kill the economy yet.

Americans have shopped their way into a good place

If anyone had been worried (and many analysts were) that US consumers would close their wallets in the face of rising interest rates and inflation and thus weaken the economy—two-thirds of which is propped up by consumer spending—they needn’t have lost sleep.

Americans are as willing to spend as ever. Consumer spending was the biggest contributor to GDP growth in the fourth quarter. What were Americans buying? Fun stuff like dining out (up 19.5%). Also not-so-fun stuff like healthcare (21.8%). They may not be saving much, but that’s a problem for another day.

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Surprising discoveries

A chatbot was found to lower suicide ideation among its student users. There’s a lot of unknown around GPT technology, but this could offer a bright spot for future development.

Gulls inhabiting the islands of Spain love a good olive. Maybe they’d enjoy a side of manchego too.

Subway would like you to round out that charcuterie experience with deli meat fresh from its fancy new slicers. The problem is it doesn’t really taste all that different from the precut stuff.

The NSA had a “Furbie Alert.” The 1998 memo speculated about (and misspelled) Furbies, their potential spying capabilities, and their use of AI.

Space may be getting semi trucks. Eighteen wheels or not, transport vehicles are being designed to move satellites and rocket pieces around in space.

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Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, Furbie Alerts, and space semis to [email protected]. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Morgan Haefner and Susan Howson.