Tech titans' announcements of massive layoffs have dominated the news cycle lately.
Over half of Twitter's employees were laid off last week after Elon Musk took it over. Around 3,700 jobs were cut. Reports surfaced that Meta had laid off 11,000 workers, or 13% of their total staff, this week.
Prior to all these, other tech companies have already reduced their workforce, including Snap, Lyft, Stripe, Coinbase, Shopify, and more.
Evidence
In an article by Wired, more than 118,000 employees have lost their employment in IT this year. This data is based on a report by Layoffs.fyi that keeps track of publicized job cutbacks in the sector.
The number of available positions in Big Tech to absorb recently unemployed persons has also decreased as businesses like Amazon and Apple paused or halted recruiting.
Although many people may need to re-enter the workforce, the overall employment market for those with technical skills remained resilient. Therefore, despite layoffs, their abilities are still in demand.
Big Tech vs. Startups
Despite the headlines, big tech businesses are merely one segment in the tech world. Many smaller enterprises and companies in complementary areas still employ tech workers, but at slower rates and for lower incomes. Some startups are vying for personnel formerly dominated by large-firm recruiters.
"You have two diverging paths for tech workers," said Julia Pollak, chief economist with ZipRecruiter.
"One group is taking a flight-to-safety approach and going to companies and industries that are recession-resistant. And another group will throw caution to the wind and take a big risk and start their own companies."
The Demand
Those with technical skills continue to be in high demand from employers.
According to the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), the August unemployment rate for IT jobs in the US was 2.3%, much lower than the national average of 3.7%, which was still low by historical standards.
CompTIA published data earlier this year estimating 8.7 million IT jobs in the US.
Overhiring by IT businesses during the unanticipated boom they enjoyed during the Covid-19 outbreak is likely to blame for at least part of the subsequent layoffs. So, it is not totally because of a general economic downturn.
Wired reported that Stripe CEO Patrick Collison claimed in a note to employees that the firm had been far overly optimistic about the near-term expansion of the internet economy in 2022 and 2023.
In his message to employees announcing Meta's layoffs, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg admitted that he had miscalculated the global internet rise. He took the blame for that.
Peer Support
Those in the IT industry who have been laid off have organized support groups on LinkedIn to help one another cope. These groups are specifically for those who were removed from Meta.
They promote one other's content on LinkedIn and other social media to increase their combined reach and attract the attention of recruiting managers.
Institutional support exists, too. An online document startup Coda maintains firm alumni lists for laid-off employees. Collective Action in Tech developed a handbook for Twitter layoffs with recommendations on understanding their rights and communicating securely.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Trisha Kae Andrada
