Many workers around the country and 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 these jobs for thousands of employees, as major companies like Google, Amazon, Meta, Salesforce, and others have slashed staff following a lockdown-era hiring boom.
Communication Matters
While many of those workers were given extremely generous severance packages, others were less fortunate, and there are plenty of stories of horrendous communication on employers’ part when 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 150,000 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, but others aren’t.
What Goes Around, Comes Around
The character of these layoffs may have little meaningful impact on these 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—and workers won’t forget how they were treated during tech’s recent layoffs.
Lin Grensing-Pophal is a Contributing Editor at HR Daily Advisor.