Where Will All The Laidoff Tech Workers Go?

The strike in the tech sector has become a reality over the past year, especially in recent months as tech companies, large and small, have actually slowed growth after posting profits. Sign up during the pandemic. Not sure where those 10,000 tech workers will go.

The good news is that there are still plenty of jobs for these workers, not just in the tech industry. The desire to start new businesses is also increasing. And there's no doubt that layoffs contribute to some people leaving the tech industry or deciding to go freelance, but it's worth looking at the industry's problems that make things a little easier for people, from burned-out professionals to poor firing practices. Choose life after technology.

"What draws everyone to Big Tech is that they're crazy about the opportunity, and it's very promiscuous, and everyone's into it," said Kate Duchene, chief executive of the professional staffing organization RGP. "The downside is you're excited about emails at 3 a.m. or you find out you've been fired because your badge doesn't work anymore."

It's all part of a culture shift taking place at big tech companies, which have drawn high-skilled workers for years with big salaries and generous benefits. Now these companies are asking the economy to rework their huge workforces as startups. At the same time, the tech giant has shifted from a place of entertainment to a place of work that is not available from other American companies, leaving some to wonder what they were looking at in the industry in the first place.

Despite grabbing headlines, the latest layoffs seem more like a course correction than a bursting bubble. That doesn't mean it's painless. 78,000 tech industry workers have lost their jobs this year, compared to 160,000 last year, according to Layoffs.fyi. But as hard as the layoffs were for those involved, they weren't enough to wipe out the broader tech job market.

The U.S. technology industry, which generally includes companies such as Google and Apple, added workers in December for the 25th consecutive month, according to data from industry association CompTIA. The number of people working in technology jobs (defined by the union as technically IT-related roles such as software developers, network engineers, data analysts) this month hit an all-time high of 6.5 million, and the unemployment rate is at a record high. High. 1.8% less compared to 3.5% for all jobs. Those numbers may change in January, but a few thousand layoffs won't do much for an industry worth millions.

According to CompTIA, the majority of people in tech jobs (59%) don't actually work in the tech industry. This number has remained remarkably stable over the past decade. In fact, as financial, healthcare and retail companies begin to acquire more technology skills to help them digitize and automate their businesses, the technology industry, especially software development, is also growing. But the balance may tip more to non-tech industrial companies in the coming months and years.

"By 2023, if we look at some of the changes that are happening now, it's not surprising that we'll see [tech professionals] represented outside of technology," said Tim Herbert, senior researcher at CompTA. . He said he doesn't expect many workers from the tech industry to migrate, but given the size of the tech workforce, even a 1 percentage point change would be unusual.

It's important to remember that the tech industry employs all kinds of workers. While we don't have specifics on the types of jobs tech companies have cut, it's safe to say that many are in jobs that don't require an IT degree, such as HR or sales. For example, the Google California layoffs will certainly affect people in engineering positions, including about 30 in-house massage therapists. For workers who have been laid off in the past few weeks, the decision to find a new tech job, leave the tech industry, or start their own business may be up to those working in technology.

Workers with the necessary technical skills, namely engineers, will find it easier to find additional jobs wherever they decide to go. According to Tech Recruiting Forum's December 2022 report, there were nearly 300,000 job openings for tech professionals in December, down from the peak of the previous four years. The largest and fastest growing industries for technology professionals are finance, manufacturing and healthcare. Meanwhile, the list of top tech talent employers includes giants like Google and Amazon, as well as Wells Fargo, General Motors and Anthem Blue Cross.

"Given the scale of tech cuts and the widely recognized reasons for making these decisions, we're seeing many technologists think twice about taking their next role at a tech giant. Tech or startup," said Nick Kolakowski, senior editor. By Dice told Recode.

Michael Schaaf decided to leave the technology industry long before he was fired. He spent the first half of his 30-year career in the technology industry in various IT jobs and the second half outside. He currently holds the senior technology position of CIO at Jewish Senior Living Group, a healthcare management company. While he admits that the pace of technological change is much slower outside of technology, he thinks that the tech ethic of "moving fast and breaking things" is consistent with industries like healthcare, despite the need for technological change.

"There are ways to change the flow of existing operations to enable growth without interruptions and disruptions," says Skaf. "You don't want to undermine health care."

For companies outside of tech who can't afford to pay that much or Google culture around the world, you now have access to the tech workers you've always wanted. They are very interesting. However, the new fares still won't be cheap. While compensation is always the most important factor that drives tech workers to work, it's always the number one factor. 2 A recent Gartner study shared with Recode: Bringing Work and Life Together is the most recent addition to this list.

"It gives traditional employers -- banks, retailers, health care companies -- an opportunity to bring back some of the workers they're leaving," said Gartner Research vice president analyst Graham Waller.

A strike gives the workers the opportunity to strike on their own. Last year, applications to create startups were the second highest on record, and tech workers are joining that trend.

For Joe Cardillo, starting his own business was a way to do good for himself and others. Cardillo, who led marketing teams at tech startups and railed against the 'grinding culture', launched his own management training firm, The Early Manager, after enduring a series of "highly stressful" layoffs during the pandemic. So Cardillo thought they had done well in their previous jobs; Manage and teach others how to do this, and incorporate it into your thinking about how you can create a better workplace, for example by giving employees more influence over how they work.

"I'm very interested in the idea of ​​democracy at work," Cardillo said.

It seems far from the brutality of the latest technology outage, which has disappointed many. It remains to be seen whether people actually find better conditions or better treatment elsewhere.

We won't know for years exactly where workers affected by recent technology layoffs will end up. Maybe this is a short flash in the booming technology sector or people are fleeing Big Tech in search of startups that look like the next big thing - this happened during the financial crisis, but as many say, this may be more myth than reality. Or it could be that every company is actually a tech company, and this layoff puts all American companies on a level playing field for tech.

David Jakowitz has worked for technology companies for most of his career, most recently in sales and marketing at TikTok, when he decided to leave to pursue his passion: his own sugar-free chocolate company, Nebula Snacks. He's been through many layoffs and knows that "loyalty doesn't necessarily pay."

But beyond that, he realized the tech industry might not be for him.

"I looked at the way I would need to live in the next 10 to 15 years if I wanted to climb the corporate ladder in technology, and when I did, I answered the question: I don't want to do that."

Yes, I pay $120 a year .

Yes, I pay $120 a year .

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