When we see the world we live in today, we don’t have to look far to understand that it is a world of technology. Right within our pockets, we have a device that only 30 years ago seemed like a dream. The use of technology is rapidly increasing, and jobs in this sector are the most in demand. But still, we have recently seen huge amounts of layoffs in the tech industry. Be it Google, the tech giant, or Microsoft. Twitter or Apple, layoffs have been something that has hit most companies and affected a lot of experts.
But what has been the reason for these layoffs? During this technological revolution, what has gone wrong so that the most sought-after professionals are being let go. Especially in the year 2023, when we could see a lot of different companies, both well-known and ? startups, letting go of many people due to different reasons. This is exactly what we’ll be discussing today.
Let’s first look at how our world today can be called the world of technology, or technological revolution.
It wasn’t long ago that we could see computers that could fit a whole room or two, and even bigger halls. And they had very little memory or computational power. However the rapid advancement in the technological sector made it so that devices less than an inch in size, can hold more computational power than those huge computers. Almost every single person in the world today holds a powerful device within their grasp, called a smartphone. Which if you look at it, holds the same power as most latest generation personal computers. We are so used to this technology that from conversations to calculations, we never opt to do anything without using these powerful devices.
A few decades ago, we didn’t know much about the planet we live on. But today, with exceptional technological advancement, we can even look at black holes billions of lightyears away and understand what they might sound like. This is just one example of thousands or maybe millions of things that have changed due to technology just within a few decades. So, it’s safe to say that this is a technological revolution we’re living in and the experts in this field are the most sought-after professionals today.
Tech Layoffs in 2023
According to Crunchbase, in the US alone, around 200,000 tech employees were laid off in
Compared to 93,000 in 2022. That’s more than double the amount. And if we consider worldwide, the numbers go way up. 2023 has certainly been one of the worst years in consideration of tech layoffs.
Following is a detailed list of tech layoffs in the year 2023 according to TechCrunch:
January: 89,554 employees laid off. February: 40,021 employees laid off. March: 37,823 employees laid off. April: 20,014 employees laid off. May: 14,928 employees laid off. June: 10,958 employees laid off. July: 10,589 employees laid off. August: 9,545 employees laid off. September: 4,632 employees laid off. October: 7,331 employees laid off. November: 6,956 employees laid off. December: 7,159 employees laid off. January 2024: 19,350 employees laid off.
Looking at these numbers, one has to think about what might cause this sudden downfall in the tech industry’s recruitment. And why have so many layoffs been seen recently in the tech industry despite it being the world of technological revolution? Many things played a part in this. Inflation, recession, a deadly pandemic, and technological advancement. Yes, you read that right. With the technology advancing so rapidly, we now have artificial intelligence in the race. As the name suggests, artificial intelligence can think, create, and work on its own. And is therefore reducing the need for human force in several fields. A lot of jobs that required a human earlier, can be done using AI and machine learning today. Which played a part in tech layoffs in 2023 along with other factors such as inflation and a pandemic that hit the world hard and most companies had to cut their workforce short to prevent loss which could lead to their collapse. However, things are recently getting better after the pandemic, and the world is slowly getting on its feet again. This will also help against inflation and eventually pull the world economy out of the recession it has fallen into.
What is the future?
As some jobs are lost due to AI and automation, some new jobs are also being created and more opportunities are being found. If companies don’t require recruiters now and are using AI to find the best talent, they will require AI specialists to make these things work. And therefore, it’s safe to say that these layoffs we have recently seen, will hopefully not last long and we’ll be seeing the tech industry back to where it was a couple of years ago. If we look at January 2024, 19,350 employees were laid off in the tech industry. And comparing this number with January 2023, we can say that there is a massive decrease in these numbers.
The next 5 years, however, will certainly be important for the layoffs and shifts of in-demand fields in the tech industry. And looking at how rapidly we’re moving towards a completely technological world, we can say that it will get better soon and we’ll be seeing a decrease in the tech layoffs around the globe. However, since the technology is evolving, a complete stop will not be possible shortly. But as long as we’re adaptive to technological advancements, we don’t have to worry about this and focus on learning new skills with time and need.