Tech Layoffs, Recession. What is happening and What can you do ?

Recent events in the tech industry would surely have provoked thoughts in our minds "What the hell is going on in the tech industry ?" or "How did we get here ?"

How Did it Start?

Well!!, let me take you back a bit. It all started back in 2020 with COVID. Lockdowns were imposed and humans got locked inside their homes in a never before seen tragedy. We all read "Human is a social animal" in books but this was proved in COVID times. It was difficult to live without social interactions so everything from our work to pleasure shifted online. This made tech companies invest more in technology and hire more people. With time covid situation started easing up and lockdowns were lifted. This made a shift from online back to offline. Ukraine's war and rising interest rates made things worse. Everything piled up and companies started firing people whom they had hired after multiple rounds of interviews.

What is happening?

As it stands today, the layoffs wave is sweeping the tech industry. From start-ups to big players like Google, Microsoft, Amazon etc. everyone is firing that too in huge numbers. Pretty recently Google, Amazon, and Microsoft have fired approx 6%, 5% and 5% respectively.

As per layoffs.fyi, 1035 tech companies laid off 158951 employees in 2022 while 173 tech companies laid off 55970 employees in Q1 23. Almost a third of last year's number of laid-off employees have already been laid off in under a month of 2023. This data gets more interesting if we compare layoffs since Q1 of 2020. It shows that right now we are in the second wave of layoffs.

At present, there is no clear indication of when this wave will touch its peak and starts to come down. Although some reports are indicating that we might see some normalization around the end of 2023. Only time will tell!!.

What can you do?

Well, to be honest layoffs are hard. Losing a job can lead to financial and mental stress. The most important thing to remember is "IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT". One person spent 2 months at a company and got laid off, and another spent 20+ years at the same company and met the same fate. They were informed of this decision in a teams meeting and their access to systems was cut off. CEOs are taking responsibility for this mess and offering severance pay and blah blah blah. But the loss of a job can also lead to a loss of identity and self-worth as well.

The harsh truth is there is nothing much you can do apart from taking care of yourself. If it's gonna happen it will happen. As per a report of The Information, Google laid off high performers as well. So instead of questioning self worth, start working on yourself. Learn a new skill, start looking for a new gig maybe take some time off. I know it's easier said than done. But we gotta keep moving on regardless of what comes our way.