Dive Brief:

• Tech-related layoffs rose 21% last year, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a global outplacement firm.

• Computer companies cut 66,821 jobs in 2016, up 7% year over year, according to Challenger's press release.

• Tech layoffs accounted for 18% of the total U.S. job cuts in 2016. 

Dive Insight:

The picture is not all bleak. In many cases, tech companies are also hiring, just in different areas and the tech industry consistently pays well, sometimes too well. 

Mergers like the one between Dell and EMC last year naturally create redundancies that often result in layoffs. In September, Dell Technologies announced it would cut between 2,000 and 3,000 jobs following the merger.

Changing core business can often result in layoffs too, and consequently cuts were seen at old guard tech companies like Intel, IBM, Cisco and Microsoft last year as those companies shift tactics to modernize their offerings. Last May, Intel announced plans to cut 11% of its global workforce — up to 12,000 positions — by mid-2017. Intel is banking on cloud technology and the rise of IoT as its PC chip making business declines.