Companies across the tech industry have announced layoffs, affecting thousands of workers in the first few weeks of 2023.

Sales at top tech firms have retreated from the blistering pace attained during the pandemic, when billions across the world were forced into isolation. Customers stuck at home came to rely on delivery services like e-commerce and virtual connections formed through social media and videoconferencing.

Company officials have often cited economic uncertainty and fears of a recession in their job-cutting, cost-cutting decisions. It follows a volatile 2022, which was also marred with layoffs by the thousands across major tech brands.

Amazon

Following major job cuts earlier this year, Amazon will lay off an additional 9,000 workers, the company announced on Monday.

"Given the uncertain economy in which we reside, and the uncertainty that exists in the near future, we have chosen to be more streamlined in our costs and headcount," Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in a statement.

In early January, Amazon announced plans to eliminate just over 18,000 roles in total, including layoffs that were announced in November.

"Some may ask why we didn’t announce these role reductions with the ones we announced a couple months ago," Jassy said. "The short answer is that not all of the teams were done with their analyses in the late fall; and rather than rush through these assessments without the appropriate diligence, we chose to share these decisions as we’ve made them so people had the information as soon as possible."

The majority of roles cut last fall were in Amazon Stores and People Experience and Technology Solutions teams, according to an email sent to employees from Jassy. The company has yet to identify the exact roles being cut in the latest round of layoffs, Jassy said on Monday.

"I remain very optimistic about the future and the myriad of opportunities we have," he said.

NPRNational Public Radio, a nationwide network of public radio stations, said on Wednesday that it will cut 10% of its staff, which amounts to at least 100 employees, according to a memo obtained by ABC News.

John Lansing, NPR's CEO, said in the memo that the company faces a $30 million shortfall on an annual budget of about $300 million.

"At a time when we are doing some of our most ambitious and essential work, the global economy remains uncertain," Lansing said. "As a result, the ad industry has weakened and we are grappling with a sharp decline in our revenues from corporate sponsors."

In November, the company imposed a near-freeze on hiring. NPR has also suspended internships and fellowships, and restricted nonessential travel, Lansing said.

"To address the growing deficit, we need to further reduce our spending," Lansing said to employees. "I recognize that all of this is deeply unsettling."

TwilioTwilio, a cloud computing company, said on Monday that it plans to lay off about 17% of it staff, which amounts to roughly 1,500 workers.

In a memo to employees, Twilio co-founder and CEO Jeff Lawson said the business environment has become more challenging.

"Environments change -- and so must we," he said. "Now we have to prioritize profit far more than before. We're exiting the last phase with a great market position, and very strong cash reserves, but unfortunately that's not enough to get us through the next phase."

Along with the layoff announcement, Lawson said the San Francisco-based company plans to close some of its offices in the coming months, since many of its employees work remotely.

"We're going to redirect some of our cost savings into higher travel budgets so you can see one another more often -- something we've all been missing a lot," he said.

YahooYahoo will lay off 20% of its workforce by the end of the year, including 1,000 employees this week, the company announced on Feb. 9.

The cuts are focused on the company's ad tech division, Yahoo for Business, which will reduce its workforce by nearly 50% by the end of 2023 amid a restructuring of the company's ads business, a Yahoo spokesperson said.

"These decisions are never easy, but we believe these changes will simplify and strengthen our advertising business for the long run, while enabling Yahoo to deliver better value to our customers and partners," the spokesperson said in a statement.

ZoomZoom, a videoconference company, laid off roughly 1,300 employees, which amounts to 15% of the company's workforce, CEO Eric Yuan said in a memo to employees on Feb. 7.

The company boomed during the pandemic, tripling its size over a period of two years, Yuan said.

"As the world transitions to life post-pandemic, we are seeing that people and businesses continue to rely on Zoom," he added. "But the uncertainty of the global economy, and its effect on our customers, means we need to take a hard -- yet important -- look inward to reset ourselves so we can weather the economic environment."

Bustle Digital GroupBustle Digital Group -- the parent company of online media outlets like Bustle and NYLON -- laid off 8% of its staff on Feb. 1, the company told ABC News. The company also suspended operations of the culture news site Gawker.

In an internal memo to employees on Wednesday, Bustle Digital Group CEO Bryan Goldberg said the company experienced a "financially strong 2022" but encountered a difficult business environment at the outset of 2023.

"Unfortunately, this will result in us eliminating several positions around the Company," Goldberg said. "While it is always difficult to part ways with team members, these changes will give us the flexibility to re-prioritize and further invest in our strongest areas of the business in 2023."

The layoffs were first reported by Max Tani, a media reporter at Semafor.

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