Tech, non-tech firms slash hundreds more Bay Area jobs in fresh layoffs

Aerospace rocket company and green energy firm chop jobs

CAMPBELL (AP) — Tech and non-tech firms have announced plans to cut hundreds of Bay Area jobs, with one local firm telling state officials that it is having difficulty raising funds for ongoing operations.

According to official notices filed with the state’s labor agency, the latest rounds of layoffs have resulted in the elimination of 211 jobs in the Bay Area.

According to the new disclosures, the majority of the layoffs are by tech companies, which plan to eliminate 137 jobs in the Bay Area. According to state Employment Development Department (EDD) filings, a manufacturer of recycled materials is laying off 74 more workers in the region.

According to this news organization’s compilation and analysis of state EDD WARN notices, tech companies have revealed plans to eliminate more than 28,500 jobs in the Bay Area during 2022 and so far in 2023.

In 2022, tech companies in the nine-county region will have cut more than 10,400 jobs. According to the analysis, Bay Area tech job cuts have totaled slightly more than 18,100 so far in 2023.

The following are the most recent job cuts reported to the EDD that affect Bay Area workers:

— ChargePoint, the operator of an online network of independently owned electric vehicle charging stations, is laying off 79 employees at its Campbell headquarters. These layoffs are set to begin on November 6.

— Astra Space Operations, a spaceflight company, is laying off 58 employees at its Alameda headquarters. These cuts went into effect on October 3, but the EDD didn’t post the filing until this week.

— The Newark Group has decided to lay off 74 people in Santa Clara. Newark Group manufactures recycled paperboard, liner board, industrial tubes, cores, and other converted items such as book covers and packaging. These layoffs are set to begin on November 15 and could last until January 2024.

Newark Group’s planned layoffs are part of a permanent shutdown in the South Bay.

“Newark Group will permanently cease ongoing operations at its facility located at 525 Mathew Street in Santa Clara,” senior human resources manager Melissa Burns stated in the WARN notice. The operations will be phased out over time and completed by January.

The three companies all stated that the job cuts would be permanent.

Astra Space included a particularly dire warning in its filing, indicating in a letter to the EDD that it had begun to face a cash crunch.

Astra Space provided the EDD with a communique that it distributed to its employees, which included information about the rocket launch company’s financial difficulties.

“As many of you are aware, we have been actively working on raising capital to extend Astra’s financial runway,” Astra Space CEO Chris Kemp stated in a letter to employees. “To date, we have not been able to secure the funds needed to cover our current burn rate.”

As a result, Astra Space was forced to cut costs, including staffing cuts.

“This has led us to evaluate expenses across the company and find ways to reduce spend,” Kemp wrote to Astra Space employees in a letter. “In connection with this expense reduction, we have made the difficult decision to eliminate a number of positions at the company.”