Regardless of blockbuster earnings from giants comparable to Alphabet and Microsoft, layoffs proceed to ripple by way of the tech business.
Layoffs.fyi, a platform monitoring job cuts within the tech sector, recorded greater than 263,000 job losses in 2023 alone. As of April, there have been greater than 75,000 job losses within the business to this point in 2024.
“So as a substitute of rewarding the expansion that we noticed [tech companies] all pursue years in the past, they’re now rewarding revenue,” mentioned Jeff Shulman, professor on the College of Washington’s Foster Faculty of Enterprise. “And so the layoffs have continued. Folks have turn out to be used to them. Regrettably and sadly, evidently the layoffs are going to be the brand new regular.”
Though mass tech layoffs proceed, the labor market nonetheless appears robust. The U.S. economic system added 303,000 jobs in March, nicely above the Dow Jones estimate for an increase of 200,000, with the unemployment fee edged decrease to three.8%.
In accordance with Handshake, a well-liked free job posting web site for school college students and graduates, the tech layoffs have prompted new employees to hunt different alternatives. The share of job functions from tech majors submitted to web and software program firms dropped by greater than 30% between November 2021 and September 2023.
“A part of the rationale why that is taking place is as a result of stability is such a significant component in college students’ selections round what sorts of jobs they apply to and what sorts of jobs they settle for,” mentioned Christine Cruzverga, chief training technique officer at Handshake. “They’re trying on the headlines within the information they usually’re being attentive to the entire layoffs which can be taking place in Huge Tech, and that makes them really feel unstable.”
Mass layoffs have eroded the shine of the tech business, which is why employees are questioning whether or not getting a job within the tech business ought to nonetheless be thought to be a “dream job.”
“For the people who find themselves chasing … a tech dream job, I believe preserve your choices open and be real looking,” mentioned Eric Tolotti, senior associate engineer at Snowflake, who acquired laid off from Microsoft in 2023. “Do not simply deal with one firm and really feel like it’s important to get into that one firm as a result of it is the dream.”
Watch the video to study tech employees’ sentiments, issues for aspiring Huge Tech workers, and extra.
