Amazon, Netflix, Meta: Why Big Tech Is Facing Massive Layoffs | WSJ

Tech companies like Amazon, Netflix, Meta, Twitter and Lyft saw exceptional growth during the pandemic in both revenue and employee numbers, but now, as the broader labor market is booming, these companies are laying off thousands.

WSJ explains the macro — and micro — reasons for Silicon Valley’s massive layoffs.

Illustration: Adele Morgan

0:00 Tech company layoffs
0:36 Covid’s effect
1:34 Employee hiring spree
2:18 Post-covid
3:20 Layoff figures

News Explainers
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#Layoffs #BigTech #WSJ

[JulioReguero]

I’m 46 years old, and I’ve been around in Silicon Valley for almost 15 years working for many tech companies and startups. Here’s one piece of unsolicited advice for you: the company you work for is not your family, they will let you go if they have to for any reason or no reason at all. It doesn’t matter if you’re pregnant, with cancer, 1 month in the job or 10 years veteran. Job security is a myth. Corporations run on greed and they want to maximize revenue and profits. Don’t be naive. Be selfish with your life, time is the only thing you can’t get back once is gone. And please, always negotiate your salary, ALWAYS.

[sanghyunhwang]

When they hired massively during the pandemic, they knew the workers are disposable and that they will be laid off at the end of the pandemic.

[MrSupernova]

Sounds to me like the "great resignation" was just a ploy for tech companies to go on hiring sprees to meet short term demand then turn around and fire those new hires as soon as demand subsided.

[AL_EVOz]

I've been laid off 3 times from 3 different company's. All tech company's. It doesn't matter where your at. It can happen to anyone at any time. Just remember you are replaceable.

[africanboi]

You may not have noticed inflation in years past, But 8%+ inflation over the past year should've taught you that the cost of living increases every year (home prices, rent, groceries, plane tickets, home repairs, etc.) Only way to beat inflation is by investing your money

[merryhunt]

When I was thirteen years old, my father was in a car wreck, and we lived in near-poverty for a couple years. I learned then that it is smart to save money, to consider the possibility of disaster in life. Don't obsess, but don't spend every dollar you earn, either. No matter how smart, good-looking or honest you are, nobody guarantees you a job.

[itsmeevan]

Why would companies think the boom growth after the pandemic would just magically continue? What could of that rationale have even been?

[thinktransnational]

This explains soooo much. The constant push/pull stop start of my tech company during the pandemic is now that much clearer.

Thank you for posting this to YouTube. After paying hundreds for my WSJ subscription, it is ridiculous to force subscribers to watch ads on the WSJ site.

[gilligan]

Tech companies bloated themselves up to intentionally drop loads of top tier tech talent onto the job market at the same time and thereby permanently lower wages industry-wide. Change my mind.

[vitran]

Any of the C suite people take a significant pay cut or smaller bonus to help support the growth of the company?

[gabrieljosue]

4 months ago there was a trend on TikTok where people will talk or show how easy their tech job was. Saying it was pretty much just eating for free, sending 3 emails and wonder around the building on a scooter. My point is… the market always correct itself to what is normal. Even when anomalies can last a long time, it’s expected from a 140k job to be more than 2 zoom meeting and a couple emails per day.

[TH-dgmm]

I worked for a tech start-up... Upper Management would get annoyed that work wasn't going fast enough, so they would just hire more and more people.

But the problem wasn't lack of employees, the problem was lack of Management. Eventually we had literally dozens of people working there and nobody else had any clue what they even did all day. Rather then try to figure out why work wasn't moving more quickly... they would literally just hire more people.

The most inept management team I'd ever seen.

[michaelwyckoff]

Netflix raised prices and turned a lot of customer's off with the increase. Especially during these hard economic times.

[modiddymo]

Did a single CEO have their pay dropped because they “made a mistake”?

[rockpadstudios]

I was lucky and never was in a layoff when I was young and living paycheck to paycheck. When you are just starting out it is difficult to pay off student loans and save. When I did get fired in 2008 it was a wakeup call since I was months from living in my car. When I got back into positive cash flow I started saving (being single again with no kids helps) and now I have runway. I tell people to save because no cash flow can happen and it sucks.

[tomjason]

I appreciate your honest reporting. I admire you a lot for educating everyone. It all depends on the information and method applied. I've seen people earn significant 7-figure profits in sinking markets and pull it off just as easily in bull markets. There is no doubt that the crash/recession is making someone wealthy.

[Xenon-]

Thanks for the input from your expert college student correspondants once again WSJ!

[retrogamer]

I am 45 years old. Just layed off from Meta. Over 30, 000 workers are getting canned. I have to sell our house here in the Bay Area. We're going to see a massive housing crash. I feel sorry for anyone that's purchased in the last few years.

[DonLee]

Sometimes i wonder, the areas of ridiculous housing markets, propped up by the high wages of tech companies, what happens to the thousands of former lucrative employees when they get laid off? When you have tens of thousands of employees making 6 figures thanks to the revenues of global empires like google, FB and apple, how big of an imbalance society has for the people who just have normal jobs, working from the small economies of local business