Women in tech 65% more likely than men to lose jobs in ongoing wave of layoffs

The wave of layoffs in the tech industry is impacting women at a disproportionately higher rate than men, representing a possible setback for efforts to improve gender diversity in the sector.

• According to research by talent intelligence platform Eightfold AI, women in tech are 65% more likely than men to lose their jobs. Sania Khan, Eightfold’s chief economist and a former U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics senior economist, discussed the findings on a new episode of the GeekWire Podcast. Read more and listen.

Layoffs continue affecting Seattle-area companies: 

• Highspot: The sales software company, which raised $250 million last year, laid off 10% of its workforce. 

• Bittrex: The cryptocurrency exchange cut 83 positions, four months after the company was hit with about $29 million in fines by the U.S. Treasury Department.

• Picnic: The food automation startup, which sells a pizza-making robot, said it is “slimming down and running as efficiently as possible without impacting our mission or our core business.”

Microsoft says it plans to integrate OpenAI technologies throughout its product lineup, but one entrepreneur has already put ChatGPT into Microsoft Word, and he’s eyeing additional Microsoft Office products next.

• A new third-party add-in for Microsoft Word, called Ghostwriter, allows users to query OpenAI’s ChatGPT in a Word sidebar and watch content generated by the natural language chatbot unfurl directly in the document they’re drafting. Read more. 

Tech Moves

• Space industry veteran Tiphaine Louradour is taking the helm as CEO of Spaceflight Inc., a Bellevue, Wash.-based launch and in-space transportation services provider.
• Flying Fish adds a principal; Tanium names a new CEO; and more key personnel changes across the PNW tech industry. 

Thanks for reading, and have a great day. — GeekWire managing editor Taylor Soper, taylor@geekwire.com, and GeekWire reporter Kurt Schlosser, kurt@geekwire.com.