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Breakups are never easy—some of them can see you coming a mile away because the signs have always been there. Others may be completely surprised. Sometimes a new person comes along and turns your life upside down.
Either way, layoffs are the new normal, which is true of the differences created in the Bay Area’s recent tech-kingdom. After more than a decade of unfettered growth, the party in Silicon Valley appears to be over.
Major companies are reeling from overspending, overzealous goals and fears of a looming recession.
Since January, The Standard has tracked nearly 24,000 layoffs in San Francisco alone. Much of that came in November from the city’s biggest employers, including Salesforce, Stripe, Twitter, DoorDash and Meta (formerly known as Facebook).
“I’ve seen a lot of hiring last year and then it suddenly stopped,” said a technical recruiter at Google, who was not authorized to speak publicly. The search engine giant is reportedly in the process of cutting jobs in response to its revenue growth since the start of the pandemic.
“Companies like ours were thought to be recession proof, but now you never know,” they said.
As the herd shrinks, what does the future hold for tech workers?
“Salaries not adjusted for inflation, more competition for smaller positions, or job vacancies announced after you’ve already applied,” says a corporate employee at Gap Inc. looking for a new job after his company’s recent downfall. “Everything has changed so quickly.”
Technology will not disappear
The prospect of a six-figure starting salary and the honor of working on world-changing apps led Justin Liang to pursue a career in software engineering after graduating college in 2015.
After working as a startup for four years, he rose to prominence as a senior engineer at Meta. But two years after the pandemic closed offices, the company, once one of the most attractive employers in the country, began tapping the brakes on various benefits. Then in November, Meta laid off 11,000 workers, including Mr. Liang.
“I think it shows that nothing lasts forever,” said Liang, who plans to take his first extended leave using his severance package.
Despite the growing number of resignations, he still feels confident that his skills are in demand.
“We may not be in the golden age anymore, but technology is not going away,” Liang explained. “Companies will still need talent to build and sell their products. Maybe there will be less room for negotiation.”
Ahmed Banafa, an engineering professor at San Jose State University, is preaching the same mantra to his recent graduates and friends navigating the job market in the wake of the recession.
In the year The dot-com boom of the early 2000s and the financial crisis of 2008 were actually worse than now, and companies like TikTok have shown how they are still hiring when their competitors are going out of business.
“There are a lot of options today if you look at it,” Banfa said. “Non-tech companies are always adding digital initiatives to their lineups.” [of products] and services. My advice is to be flexible and willing to move if necessary. Be open to learning new skills and get your foot in the door, even if it means moving somewhere for less money.
The data supports his argument – headlines may be weak, but tech workers aren’t exactly left out in the cold.
According to nonprofit business research firm CompTIA’s monthly information technology (IT) job bulletin, the rate of job openings last month was still higher than pre-pandemic levels, although it has slowed since vacancies appeared in February and March.
California ranks first in the US for tech job postings. Among the top metropolitan areas in the country, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose were all in the top 10 as well.
Try not to take it personally…
Program manager Vivan Tai got the dreaded calendar invitation from her former manager and HR staff at Equinix in September.
“It was a really embarrassing speech,” Ty said. “They read from the script and sent me on my way. We also did our Q4 plan a few days ago.
“A lot of people think [layoffs] It’s because of budget cuts, but sometimes all it takes is new leadership to shake things up,” Tai said. That month, Equinix CEO Eric Schwartz left the company to lead another.
After receiving a layoff notice, Tai scrambles to find a new job. She posted her layoff on LinkedIn, reaching out to her network and announcing that she was looking for a new job. Before her last day at Equinix, she accepted an offer from Snowflake, a public data cloud company in 2020.
“Not everyone likes to save [their layoff] out, but I strongly advise you to be open and honest about it,” Tai said. “Your friends and colleagues will help you the most.”
Corey Scott is a digital producer who has worked in the ecommerce industry for two decades. She went her entire career without being fired until she received two notices in two years — one at the start of the outbreak and the other in November.
Scott said she’s using her time off from Colorado to catch up with family. “When you see how much it has spread [the layoffs] I think it will happen to me no matter what.
Her last company cited the looming recession as the main reason for downsizing.
“Before that, it was a reassessment of priorities because of Covid,” Scott said. “I feel like these companies are jumping the gun on these things, but for better or worse, they’re protecting themselves first.”
With two layoffs, Scott has seen an adjustment. She says she’s become more financially responsible and is now thinking about how she can improve her skills next fall, when and what that might be.
“I’m glad I don’t have to keep changing jobs,” she said. “I’m also starting to see opportunities outside of technology. I want more stability.”
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