New Delhi, March 21 : As Amazon deepened the tech gloom with firing another 9,000 employees (it previously sacked 18,000), over 500 companies have laid off nearly 1.5 lakh workers to date this year. According to latest data from layoff.fyi, a website that is tracking tech sector job cuts, 503 tech companies have laid off 148,165 employees to date. After a dismal year for tech companies and startups in 2022 which saw at least 1.6 lakh employees being shown the door, 2023 started on a similar note. About 1,046 tech companies -- from Big Tech to startups -- laid off more than 1.61 lakh employees last year. In January alone, close to 1 lakh tech employees lost jobs globally, dominated by companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Salesforce and others. Companies in the US cut 77,770 jobs in February, compared to 1,02,943 in January, with technology companies continuing to lead the layoff race, cutting 21,387 jobs last month, accounting for 28 per cent of all cuts. Last week, Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced to sack an additional 10,000 employees via several job cut rounds in the coming months. The fresh cuts come just four months after he laid off 11,000 employees, or 13 per cent of the company, in November last year. Zuckerberg said that after restructuring, Meta plans to lift hiring and transfer freezes in each group. Amazon on Monday announced to lay off another 9,000 employees in Amazon Web Services (AWS), Twitch, advertising, and HR. The e-commerce giant initially eliminated 18,000 positions in January and as "we completed the second phase of our planning this month, it led us to these additional 9,000 role reductions". /IANS