2025 R&D layoffs tracker: hardware and chips lead the year’s biggest cuts while biopharma pares pipelines

What leaders are saying

As companies navigate this wave of restructuring, executives frame the cuts through multiple lenses. Some emphasize strategic repositioning around emerging technologies. Carl Eschenbach, CEO of Workday, told AP News that “the increasing demand for AI has the potential to drive a new era of growth for Workday.” Similarly, an Intel spokesperson told OPB the company is “making these decisions based on careful consideration of what’s needed to position our business for the future.” Microsoft echoed this rationale, describing “organizational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace.”

For biopharma companies, the cuts reflect difficult portfolio decisions. Serge Saxonov, CEO of 10x Genomics, acknowledged to GEN that “our R&D operation definitely ended up being impacted in a substantial way.” NGM Bio, in a company statement to FierceBiotech, emphasized its narrowed focus: “HG and cancer cachexia are both devastating conditions with profound unmet need, and we are committed to advancing potential solutions for patients.” John Houston, then-CEO of Arvinas, framed his company’s 33% workforce reduction to CT Insider as a necessary step: “Although difficult, the workforce reduction is a prudent decision that we believe will right-size the company for future success.”

The energy sector faced its own reckoning. Tom Johnstone, Interim Chair of Northvolt, said in the company’s bankruptcy announcement that “this is an incredibly difficult day for everyone at Northvolt,” as the Swedish battery maker shed 2,800 workers amid insolvency.

Industry analysts place these individual decisions in broader context. Andrew Challenger, Senior Vice President at Challenger, Gray & Christmas, told Reuters that “right now, we’re dealing with a stagnating labor market, cost increases and a transformative new technology.”