EDITORIAL: Employees affected by Big Tech layoffs are more than mere statistics
As companies fear potential recession and more people are laid off, employees are left to deal with the aftermath
The tech industry has previously held a reputation for being a stable and resilient field with a high potential for growth, making it an attractive career for many college students and younger members of the workforce. But, a recent jump in alarming layoffs in Big Tech may make people hesitant about entering an industry once labeled as reliable.
An article from ABC News highlights a number of big-name companies that have already announced major layoffs in 2023, including but not limited to Spotify, Google, Microsoft and Amazon. Overall, an article from NPR reveals that more than "200,000 tech jobs (have been) lost since the start of last year," according to a tech job tracker known as Layoffs.FYI. But why is this happening?
According to the article from NPR, a common trend across these companies is a significant increase in the number of hires during the pandemic as the world moved largely virtual and more heavily relied on the tech industry. For example, Amazon and Meta both doubled the sizes of their workforces, and Microsoft and Google increased theirs by more than 50 percent in the midst of the pandemic.
An article from Forbes explains that this over-hiring has become a major issue for these tech companies because the global economic situation does not look favorable. Executives are now fearing an economic recession, which means less consumer spending and consequently, less money spent on advertising to those consumers. As advertising is a significant source of revenue for tech companies, their bank accounts will likely suffer.
Even though many tech companies are trying to combat the consequences of a potential recession, they have ultimately resorted to major layoffs, thereby reducing a significant proportion of their employees to mere statistics. As a result, it is important to not only note the new hesitation hitting younger adults — which includes many college students — when it comes to potential career paths but also the implications for current employees.
It is imperative to look at what this means for the tech employees who have already been affected and what this reflects about how big industries treat their employees, especially when considering the effects on minority groups and women. For instance, an article from Fast Company, an American business magazine, cites a 2022 study by Deloitte that found that "women account for less than a third of tech industry workers and occupy less than a quarter of technical and leadership roles."
The article also cites a statistic from Layoffs.FYI which estimates that "45 percent of those who lost their jobs in the recent wave of layoffs were women." So while layoffs may seem to be split evenly, when women make up a small portion of the tech workforce in comparison to men, it is clear that women are disproportionately affected.
Additionally, the article discusses the "last in, first out" principle which alludes to the fact that people hired most recently by a company may be more prone to getting laid off. It cites a ZipRecruiter study that finds that new hires are indeed at a higher risk of being fired. And as companies make more attempts to be diverse, women and people of color are "statistically more likely" to be considered new hires, according to the article. Again, this demonstrates how minorities can be disproportionately affected by these layoffs.
In general, there are also significant psychological effects after getting laid off. An article from The Atlantic discusses a study led by James Laurence, a research fellow at the University of Manchester, in which a sample of approximately 7,000 individuals from the U.K. were asked about their trust in people after getting laid off.
Laurence describes how "when people are laid off there is a sense of powerlessness about the situation, that it is out of their control, and that it is inherently unjust." As a result of this, Laurence found that more trust was lost after people were laid off rather than fired. This feeling of powerlessness can translate to employees who were not personally laid off.
Workers may fear for their jobs next and what this will mean for their income along with the dreaded job search following. According to University research cited by a Forbes article, survivors from a layoff "experienced a 41 percent decline in job satisfaction, a 36 percent decline in organizational commitment, and a 20 percent decline in job performance."
From the perspective of employees, these big tech layoffs are dehumanizing. A software engineer named Jeremy Joslin who worked at Google for two decades got laid off via email. Joslin expressed to CBS MoneyWatch that Google "could have done a better job" when it came to "notify(ing) people gracefully and with respect."
This raises an important question about how these Big Tech companies view their employees. Not only are employees made to be seen as expendable, largely at the mercy of an ever-fluctuating economy, but their dignity as an employee is also neglected. A significant criticism of layoff emails is that they are often so abrupt and make it difficult to say goodbye to co-workers as expressed in this tweet, mentioned in the CBS News article.
Even though potential economic recession can be threatening to these Big Tech companies, it is important that they remember to respect and value the employees who have upheld their million or billion-dollar corporations for years.
The Daily Targum's editorials represent the views of the majority of the 154th editorial board. Columns, cartoons and letters do not necessarily reflect the views of the Targum Publishing Company or its staff.
