“Big techs” break record in 2023 with profit of US$327 billion

The 5 biggest technology companies in the world –Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta– made US$327 billion in profit in 2023. The result surpassed the record set in 2021, when the companies had a combined profit of US$311 billion.

Apple once again reached 12 figures, with a profit of US$101 billion. It was the highest value among companies last year. All had greater gains than in 2022, when the combined result was US$243 billion, despite Amazon's loss of US$3 billion.

Jeff Bezos' company it achieved reverse the previous year's loss and closed 2023 with US$30.4 billion in profit.

The recipes of big techs combined also broke a record in 2023: US$ 1.59 trillion. Amazon had the highest revenue among the 5, with a total of US$575 billion. Apple was the only one that recorded lower revenue compared to the previous year: US$344 billion in 2023 compared to US$388 billion in 2022.

DISMISSAL IN BIG TECH

Google and Amazon kicked off mass layoffs of big techs in 2024. This month, both announced the shutdown of “hundreds of employees”. According to the companies, the objective of the layoffs is to cut costs.

Last year, January was also marked by layoffs in the sector. An additional 240,000 employees were laid off in 2023, 84,000 of which in January alone. The amount represents more than 1/3 of the total. The month with the fewest layoffs was September, with 4,632 people laid off in the sector.

In 2023, The 5 big techs of the USA –Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft– laid off more than 85,000 employees. Amazon and Meta led the way in contract terminations. Bezos' company laid off 27,180 employees, while Zuckerberg's company laid off 26,000.

Alphabet, owner of Google, Amazon and Microsoft laid off a combined 40,000 employees last year. Apple fired “a small number of employees” in April, but did not disclose the quantity.