Thinking About Working #10
Written by Noah Leavitt, Director of the Career and Community Engagement Center
Tech Sector Tumult
Since the start of 2023, the biggest headlines about the state of the economy have been about layoffs across the tech sector. Starting in the final weeks of 2022 and continuing relentlessly, large companies have been making significant cuts, roiling the economy and raising deep questions about short- and long-term implications.
The scale of these layoffs has been extraordinary. According to tech job tracker layoffs.fyi, there have been more than 200,000 tech jobs lost since the start of last year. Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Salesforce are some of the largest companies to announce five-figure cuts but are only a few out of many. There are also smaller established companies and startups that are cutting workers, albeit less visible to major news outlets.
Some aggregators are even starting to create tracking lists for readers to be able to stay updated, such as this one and this one. Even Twitter has a version with its own chaos and deep cuts (3,700 and counting).
In addition to the sheer number of jobs eliminated, the pace of the layoffs has been aggressive and seems to be increasing speed. Just a couple of weeks ago CNBC reported that these large companies have laid off “more than 70,000 employees in the last year.” Then, late last week, in a major feature story, NPR observed that “Facebook parent company Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google together have eliminated at least 51,000 jobs in recent weeks.” (italics mine)
Drew Shoals ’05, Corporate Counsel, Amazon Music, and Vice-Chair of Whitman’s President’s Advisory Board wrote me this week to describe what he’s seeing: “The tech economy is going through a reset after years of growth, low-interest rates, and shifting consumer demand that has changed over the course of the pandemic.”
Jason Copeland ’94, also a member of the President’s Advisory Board, who has a long successful career in the tech space, also wrote this week with his observation of what he’s seeing, “I’ve not seen such broad layoffs, synchronized across every sector of tech, including leading companies, since the dot-com downturn in 2002.”
One particularly problematic aspect of these layoffs, as described in this recent LinkedIn discussion, is the impact on DEI teams and the work they do in tech industries, which have a long record of not including BIPOC tech workers. (Many thanks to my colleague Nikki Brueggeman for bringing this aspect of the cuts to my attention.)
More broadly, leading media like NPR and USA Today are beginning to predict a larger economic recession this year.
How does or might all of this churn in the workforce impact Whitman students?
First, my colleagues and I in the Career and Community Engagement Center (CCEC) are worried about Whitman alumni working in tech losing their positions. We have been keeping our eyes on various discussion groups, Slack channels (“Whitties in Tech”), and alumni network spaces (Whitman’s LinkedIn group, Whitman Connect communities) to try to track how this news might be impacting our graduates. While we’ve seen a few instances of Whitman alumni losing positions the numbers are smaller than expected.
Second, we worry about Whitman students losing opportunities they have secured in the last few months. We’re also keeping our ears open about whether the news is causing students to lose summer or post-Whitman internships or job offers. At this point, we’re not hearing from current students that offers of employment (full-time and internship) are being rescinded. We hope that stays the same but also recognize that it may change.
Our faculty members are closely watching the news.
Microsoft Chair of Computer Science Janet Davis said to me this week, “From my perspective, large companies often hire at the entry level at the same time as they are laying off more senior employees, especially when layoffs are focused on particular products or divisions. At the same time, small to medium-sized companies are taking advantage of the opportunity to hire experienced staff. So it’s hard to know what the impacts on new hires and recent grads might be.”
Associate Professor of Computer Science John Stratton noted, “From my consulting work with MulticoreWare, I’ve noticed that the tech crunch has actually been really good for them, because they’ve been struggling to hire for a long time, and now there are actually talented, experienced people on the market that they can hire”.
Drawing on this observation, it may be a time for students to open up the range of options for this summer or after graduation. For students thinking about entering the tech space, perhaps consider a wider range of organizations beyond just the well-known brand names.
Drew Shoals noted that the state of the current tech job market “might also encourage Whitman students and young alumni to consider applying for fellowships or graduate school programs that will build upon their Whitman education and further refine professional skill sets and passions to position folks to launch and thrive in careers a few years from now once the economy has hopefully had a chance to reset.”
My colleagues in the CCEC agree that this is excellent advice and we also want to remind students of even more options they might consider, including gig work, contract roles, online learning, and pursuing options outside of your target industry sector that will build transferable skills. Moreover, if students or young alumni are facing temporary unemployment or underemployment, micro-internships can help fill any income gaps during a layoff as well as provide an opportunity to extend skills while looking for work and exploring new organizations.
As we close out this first month of the new year, we will benefit from continuing to keep our eye on the news. Students can meet with their career coaches and others in the CCEC and in their departments to talk through how their future goals may be influenced by economic trends.
Dealing with this kind of uncertainty can be stressful and I encourage students (and others) to invest time in taking care of themselves through practices like rest, exercise, meditation, talking with a friend, mentor, or counselor and being realistic about what you can control and also what is beyond your control.
As the year unfolds, I will continue to use this space to pay attention to what’s happening in the world beyond Whitman and what it might mean for students’ options and opportunities. I plan to continue to ask for input from faculty and well-placed alumni as we move through the semester. If there is a particular topic you’d like me to address please let me know!