January layoffs shake Seattle tech sector
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Illustration: Natalie Peeples/Axios
January has been a rough month for Seattle-area tech workers, with hundreds of confirmed job cuts at Amazon and mounting reports of quieter layoffs across the region.
Why it matters: The latest layoffs deepen uncertainty in a region where tech employment underpins everything from housing demand to small business growth, raising questions about how long the sector's pullback will last.
Driving the news: Amazon, the city's largest private employer, announced on Wednesday it was cutting 16,000 jobs company-wide.
- The company had not filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) with the state Employment Security Department as of Thursday morning, but more than 2,000 Seattle-area employees were laid off when Amazon cut 14,000 positions globally in October.
- Seattle-based Expedia Group confirmed it will permanently lay off 162 employees beginning April 1, according to a WARN notice filed Wednesday with the state Employment Security Department.
- Meta Platforms filed a WARN notice last week for the layoff of 331 workers in King County, scheduled to take effect March 20.
Separately, Amazon filed notice of 401 layoffs in Washington state that company spokesperson Brad Glasser said were tied to the closures of Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores, including 11 in the Seattle area.
Plus: About 200 people at Zillow were let go last week based on performance, as assessed in the annual review cycle, Zillow spokesperson Chrissy Roebuck told Axios.
Yes, and: T-Mobile may also be cutting staff quietly, according to industry news and analysis platform Fierce Network.
- The Bellevue-based company declined to share specific details about potential job cuts but said the company complies with all required notification laws and currently has hundreds of open roles listed on its careers site.
Flashback: Seattle-area tech companies announced more than 30,000 job cuts in 2025, driven overwhelmingly by Microsoft, Amazon and Blue Origin, per layoffs.fyi, which tracks tech layoffs.
The bottom line: What feels like a bad month for Seattle tech workers mirrors a broader "vibecession," writes Axios' Emily Peck, where anxiety about white-collar job security is shaping how people feel about the economy.