Regardless of blockbuster earnings from giants akin to Alphabet and Microsoft, layoffs proceed to ripple by 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 thus far in 2024.
“So as an alternative 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. Individuals have turn out to be used to them. Regrettably and sadly, evidently the layoffs are going to be the brand new regular.”
Regardless that mass tech layoffs proceed, the labor market nonetheless appears robust. The U.S. financial system added 303,000 jobs in March, properly above the Dow Jones estimate for an increase of 200,000, with the unemployment charge edged decrease to three.8%.
In line with Handshake, a preferred free job posting website for school college students and graduates, the tech layoffs have prompted new staff to hunt different alternatives. The share of job purposes from tech majors submitted to web and software program corporations dropped by greater than 30% between November 2021 and September 2023.
“A part of the explanation why that is occurring is as a result of stability is such a significant component in college students’ choices round what forms of jobs they apply to and what forms of jobs they settle for,” mentioned Christine Cruzverga, chief schooling technique officer at Handshake. “They’re trying on the headlines within the information and so they’re taking note of the entire layoffs which can be occurring in Large Tech, and that makes them really feel unstable.”
Mass layoffs have eroded the shine of the tech business, which is why staff 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 feel maintain your choices open and be sensible,” mentioned Eric Tolotti, senior companion engineer at Snowflake, who acquired laid off from Microsoft in 2023. “Do not simply concentrate on one firm and really feel like it’s a must to get into that one firm as a result of it is the dream.”
Watch the video to find out about tech staff’ sentiments, issues for aspiring Large Tech workers, and extra.
