Why Amazon, Google and Microsoft Laid Off Thousands Of Tech Workers

Tech giants like Amazon, Google and Microsoft have laid off tens of thousands of workers in the past few months. After going on a hiring spree during the Covid-19 pandemic, tech giants now face several headwinds. Higher interest rates and persistent inflation are making the cost of doing business more expensive for high-growth industries like technology. What's more, the rise of buzzy new generative A.I. tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT3 have caused companies like Google and Microsoft to to shake up their old search strategies. So, what do the widespread tech layoffs mean for the wider U.S. economy?

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Why Amazon, Google and Microsoft Laid Off Thousands Of Tech Workers

[watleypitts]

A perfect storm is brewing in the United States. Inflation, bank collapse, severe drought in the agricultural belt, recession, food shortages, diesel fuel and heating oil shortages, baby formula shortages, available automobile shortages and prices, the price of living place. <It's all coming together and it could lead to a real disaster towards the end of this year (or sooner). With inflation currently at about 6%, my primary concern is how to maximize my savings/ retirement fund of about $300k which has been sitting duck since forever with zero to no gains.>

[Houman]

One thing nobody’s mentioning is that landing a entry level position has become almost impossible at least for now. I graduated last summer and been preparing for interviews almost everyday but it seems impossible to even get interviews let alone landing an offer.
I have friends that also graduated from some of the best universities in the country like UC Berkeley and UC Davis who are dealing with same issues.

[Thomas-poex]

I was laid off earlier this month. I was in the tech industry working a job as a software engineer. I had just graduated college and was entering into the workforce. I got to keep that job for around 7 months before being laid off along with a bunch of others in the company. I even bought a house for relocating to the job. Now I have little income, student loan debt, and mortgage debt with seemingly no relevant jobs available in my area, especially since now I need a job that pays well enough to afford my housing costs. I have definitely changed my expectations around corporate loyalty given I was laid off so quickly and my boss even gave me the highest performance rating at my end of year summary. Pretty upset that I spent thousands relocating only to lose the job a few months later all because the company I worked with wanted to make shareholder profits higher by cutting millions in salary.

[cassiejacobs]

When you invest you're buying a day you don't have to work

[bobbymainz]

This is quite educational. It's crucial for newcomers to keep in mind that the financial markets are highly irrational in the short run. You should constantly be ready for the unexpected. That is how chance operates. Because of the inherent risks in the market, I always favor long-term investments.

[Paul_]

The layoffs were leadership fault. Yet they get a raise for their mistake while the rest are let go.

[SirNilooo]

TECH ? Tsss.. Amazon laid of thousands of warehouse workers too. 😕

[GraphicJ]

More surprising though, was the fact that the study done at 365DataScience, the median level of experience held by those who were let go is 11.5 years. Not necessarily from the Covid hiring spree.

[wickedbird]

😮😮A business hires a bunch of people, then fire them as soon as new AI programs can replace them. There is no loyalty in business. Both companies and employees just don’t care about each other.

[lalakuma]

I graduated the summer of last year, and just want to say that the effects of layoffs have trickled down all the way to junior positions. Many companies that called me back took back the job openings midway through the interview process, and ended up freezing hiring or replacing those openings with more senior openings. I had more luck with landing interviews months ago before the layoffs got worse, ironically when my application wasn't as polished as now, and now I get radio silence. Arguably, mid- to senior-level people from big companies who got laid off still have it better than entry-level people, because smaller companies might still want to recruit them over those with less experience, and just give them more workload that previously would have been given to junior people. By the way I went back to school to change industry, and turns out jobs in this industry is also a sh*t show now, so I basically got punished for trying to adapt to the economy. Great.

[NateLives]

10K lay offs yet Zuck is still making billions…

[WalkerOne]

Some of those people they laid off will start companies that will end up competing with them.

[cholman]

early in my career I got tired of being laid off so I hired on in house with a utility company- worked there 40 yrs -no lay offs retired with fairly good pension/ looks like tech jobs are like construction jobs - feast or famine! good luck everyone!

[rockpadstudios]

Even when I saw it coming, even thought I deserved it in one case, getting fired is stressful. I feel for anyone going through it but it will make you prepare for bad times by saving money to make it easier the next time.

[AnthonyGale]

Maybe Tim Cook is the best CEO cause he was smart about hiring during the pandemic. I don't understand why the other CEOs thought the pandemic was going to last forever.

[MicahBratt]

I was always a bit confused why these companies hired so many people when a large part of their business model is automated

[saulgoodman]

It's all about the money. They are just trying to keep more money. Even though they already make billions.

[yuddinwarri]

What no one is talking about is that the American tech workers were laid off while the tech companies opened tech new offices in India, Philippines and China.

[Bioniking]

I was calling this 10 years ago. It sucks, but when I was in high school, so many people wanted to go into tech, just because. Plus, I’m tech, the older you become the more of a lability you are. The tech evolves faster than one can learn it

[jazilzaim]

The problem is that these tech companies are very much oversaturated in the markets they are in. There is little growth left for a lot of these companies.