Many workers around the country, indeed around the world, dream of landing a job in Silicon Valley. America’s tech sector is seen as a place of fat paychecks and exciting, cutting-edge work. And for many, that’s exactly what it is. But a recent pandemic-triggered tech employment boom-bust cycle illustrated the fleeting nature of such dream jobs for thousands of employees as major companies like Google, Amazon, Facebook-parent Meta, Salesforce and others have slashed staff following a lockdown-era hiring boom.
Communication Matters
While many of those workers have been giving extremely generous severance packages, others have been less fortunate, and there are plenty of stories of horrendous communication on the part of employers announcing layoffs.
“More than half (52%) of laid-off workers reported they saw no warning signs and were caught by surprise, according to a ZipRecruiter survey conducted in January of more than 2,000 U.S. residents who lost their job in a layoff within the last six months,” writes Megan Leonhardt in an article for Fortune.
As of March 2023 more than 150 thousand workers at more than 500 companies had been laid off, according to layoffs.fyi. Drivers behind the layoffs included rising interest rates, over hiring during the pandemic, and a murky economic outlook. Some employers are handling these layoffs compassionately; others not so much.
What Goes Around, Comes Around
The character of these layoffs may have little meaningful impact on the associated employers in the immediate future. After all, these companies are in the process of cutting staff. However, economic cycles and labor demand are cyclical, and it won’t be long before many of these companies are back in the market for labor. For the employers’ sake, workers will have short memories when it comes to the treatment of workers laid off in the recent tech shakeup.
Lin Grensing-Pophal is a Contributing Editor at HR Daily Advisor.
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