Engineering video
1:00 · 13 June 2023
More than 184,000 people were laid off across nearly 620 tech companies in 2023, driven by a shift from growth to profits and efficiency through canceled projects, flattened organizations, and hiring freezes.
Hear it at 0:00 →Software developers fared better than sales, marketing, and recruiting professionals, while layoffs generally followed a last in, first out rule targeting new hires first.
Hear it at 0:40 →Here are three things you should know about the current tech layoffs. Number one, more than 184,000 people have been laid off in the tech sector in 2023 alone, across nearly 620 tech companies. The most common reason behind these layoffs, it's, quoting, meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in his year of efficiency memo, to improve financial performance in an uncertain market. It seems like the tech industry is shifting its focus from growth to profits, to efficiency.
This includes canceling low priority projects, flattening organizations, aka getting rid of more engineering managers, and freezing hiring rates. And third, the good news, at least if you're a software developer. And that is, sales, marketing, and recruiting were the most affected by the layoffs, with 20% of the tech layoffs being sales professionals. Also, remember that layoffs follow a last in first out rule, with new hires being the first ones to be laid off.
