Questions and Answers On Thousands Being Laid Off: Adaptations and Illustrations from Various Sources
1) Usually tech industry is dominated by the latest gadgets or innovations, however, this time of the year layoffs are in the headlines.
The peak of the Great Resignations may be over, but many companies are still struggling with the fallout. Nearly 7 in 10 Human Resource Professionals believe their organization has a skills gap according to Wiley’s Closing the Skills Gap Report published last Tuesday. Wiley’s findings show that most organizations are not equipped to handle this pervasive skills gap. Indeed, 40% of companies report they don’t have the resources to reskill or train their employees.
2) What is the number of employees that have been laid off globally?
More than 70,000 people globally have been laid off by Big Tech companies – and that doesn’t count the downstream effect of voluntary resignations, contractors (and other organizations) losing business as budgets tighten.
3) What are approx. the numbers of major tech firms?
- ALPHABET 12000 employees,
- AMAZON 18,000,
- META 11,000,
- TWITTER 4,000,
- MICROSOFT 10,000,
- SALESFORCE 8000.
The numbers reported may seem large, but they’re often not reported as a proportion of overall wage spent, or indeed overall staffing. For some tech companies, they are just a fraction of the massive amount of new hires initially acquired during the pandemic.
4) who are the others in the lineup?
Other household names share the spotlight, including
- TESLA,
- NETFLIX,
- ROBINHOOD,
- SNAP,
- COINBASE,
- SPOTIFY,
but their layoffs are significantly less than those mentioned above.
Importantly, these figures don’t include the downstream layoffs, such as advertising agencies laying off staff as ad spending reduces, or manufacturers downsizing as tech product orders shrink – or even potential layoffs yet to come.
So what’s driving the layoffs?
The canary in the coal mine was reduced which affected advertising spend and revenue. Many tech companies are funded through advertising. So, for as long as that income stream was healthy (which was especially the case in the years leading up to COVID), so was expenditure on staffing. As advertising revenue decreased last year – in part due to fears over a global recession triggered by the pandemic – it was inevitable layoffs would follow.
Who are the exceptions?
APPLE is one exception. It strongly resisted increasing its headcount in recent years and as a result, doesn’t have to shrink staff numbers (although it hasn’t been immune to staff losses due to work-from-home policy changes).
What actually is the pain area for these tech firms?
Over the past few years, low-interest rates coupled with high COVID-related consumption gave leaders the confidence to invest in innovative products. Other than in AI, that investment is now slowing or is dead.
What will be the fallout in salaries?
With experienced tech professionals looking for work once again, salaries are likely to deflate and higher levels of experience and education will be required to secure employment. These corrections in the industry are potentially a sign it’s falling in line with other, more established parts of the market.