2022年11月4日,一封電子郵件降臨,標(biāo)題寫著:你在推特(Twitter)的職責(zé)。
這家社交媒體巨頭的前產(chǎn)品管理總監(jiān)格蕾絲-安·貝克說:“這是我第一次被裁?!笔聦嵶C明,被裁的并非貝克一人。在新東家埃隆·馬斯克接手時,這家困難重重的公司擁有7,500名員工,其中近三分之二的員工將成為裁員對象。在接下來的數(shù)周和數(shù)月中,這一趨勢在科技行業(yè)持續(xù)蔓延,而且范圍越來越廣。隨著經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展的放緩,這些科技公司如今裁員的速度并不亞于其在新冠疫情期間招聘員工的速度。
亞馬遜(Amazon)裁掉了超過1.8萬名員工;谷歌(Google)的母公司Alphabet裁員1.2萬人;Facebook的母公司Meta裁員1.1萬人;微軟(Microsoft)裁員1萬人。小型公司亦加入了裁員陣營,支付服務(wù)提供商Stripe、在線視頻托管服務(wù)Vimeo和電子零售商Stitch Fix紛紛宣布了瘦身計劃。
一夜之間,這些曾幾何時備受追捧,尊享豐厚薪資、福利和分紅的高科技員工軍團(tuán),轉(zhuǎn)而變成了求職大軍,踏足這個不得不更新其簡歷并等待招聘者回音的陌生領(lǐng)地。
然而,很多人在尋找新工作方面并沒有遇到什么困難,他們發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的技能依然屬于緊俏商品。有鑒于科技行業(yè)如今的頹勢,很多科技行業(yè)之外的雇主正在爭搶失業(yè)的軟件工程師和網(wǎng)頁設(shè)計師,而此前,上述其中一些雇主在長達(dá)十年的硅谷熱期間因為自身古板的形象和較低的薪資,難以招到科技人才。
非科技行業(yè)雇主?不妨想想醫(yī)療、金融和政府部門。它們的工作更加穩(wěn)定,而且員工在某些情況下有機(jī)會加入耗費數(shù)年組建成的大型科技團(tuán)隊。
在沃爾瑪(Walmart),超過2萬名工程師、UX專家和數(shù)據(jù)科學(xué)家目前在其核心領(lǐng)域工作,從電子商務(wù)一直到信息安全崗位。該公司的一位發(fā)言人以不折不扣的招聘者語氣表示:“這對零售科技來說是一個令人振奮的時刻。”
金融服務(wù)巨頭摩根大通(JPMorgan Chase)在全球擁有5.5萬名技術(shù)人員,其高管對于吸引技術(shù)人員以及留住現(xiàn)有員工亦非常樂觀。摩根大通的全球首席信息官洛里·比爾在發(fā)給《財富》雜志的電子郵件里稱:“說到趨勢,我們將看到越來越多的技術(shù)人員會選擇留在公司,而我們的人員流失率也將降至新冠疫情前的水平。求職者如今被企業(yè)爭搶的現(xiàn)象將越來越少。”
現(xiàn)實中,科技與其他行業(yè)的裁員數(shù)量形成了鮮明對比。職業(yè)介紹服務(wù)公司Challenger, Gray & Christmas稱,2022年,科技公司裁員數(shù)量超過了9.7萬名,較一年前該行業(yè)的裁員數(shù)增長了649%。與此同時,各行業(yè)雇主的裁員總數(shù)達(dá)到了近36.4萬名,同比僅增長了13%。(如果不計科技行業(yè),整體裁員數(shù)量實際上較去年有所下滑。)
事實上,盡管當(dāng)前經(jīng)濟(jì)充滿了不確定性,但美國勞工統(tǒng)計局(Bureau of Labor Statistics)的數(shù)據(jù)顯示,美國整體經(jīng)濟(jì)僅在2022年12月便新增就業(yè)22.3萬人。換句話說,就業(yè)市場依然十分健康,但科技領(lǐng)域除外。
之所以出現(xiàn)這種迥異的現(xiàn)象,原因有很多。在景氣年份,很多科技公司開始大肆招聘,尤其在新冠疫情期間,以滿足因為封鎖令而苦不堪言的客戶和企業(yè)的需求激增。
如今,由于新冠的防疫措施基本已經(jīng)取消了,而且近期的加息使得經(jīng)濟(jì)停滯不前,為了削減成本,科技企業(yè)的高管們紛紛祭出了裁員大旗。
即便對于此前很難招到技術(shù)人才的政府機(jī)構(gòu)而言,此次裁員潮也為其帶來了千載難逢的機(jī)會。美國退伍軍人事務(wù)部(Department of Veterans Affairs)的信息與技術(shù)副秘書兼首席信息官庫爾特·德爾貝內(nèi)說:“我們將對外宣布機(jī)構(gòu)要招聘人手的消息?!?/p>
美國退伍軍人事務(wù)部當(dāng)前有700多個技術(shù)崗位空缺,包括其云基礎(chǔ)構(gòu)架和網(wǎng)絡(luò)安全團(tuán)隊。德爾貝內(nèi)稱,他通過領(lǐng)英(LinkedIn)和其他渠道收到的職位咨詢數(shù)量明顯有所增加。他還從自家機(jī)構(gòu)舉辦的虛擬招聘會上收到了“數(shù)百條”線索。
德爾貝內(nèi)說:“我們是最大的醫(yī)療服務(wù)提供商,也是美國最大的金融機(jī)構(gòu)。如果你理想的工作是解決超級難題,那么來我們這里就對了?!?/p>
誠然,政府工作的薪資在歷史上一直都無法與私營領(lǐng)域相比,即便對于技術(shù)人才來說也是如此。德爾貝內(nèi)指出,在華盛頓特區(qū),工程師在美國退伍軍人事務(wù)部與科技公司之間的薪資差距高達(dá)66%。然而,美國退伍軍人事務(wù)部和其他聯(lián)邦機(jī)構(gòu)正在敦促政府為特種崗位設(shè)立“特殊薪資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)”。到目前為止,這一舉措似乎初見成效:今年1月,某些技術(shù)崗位的薪資變化得到了批準(zhǔn)。德爾貝內(nèi)表示:“我希望把退伍軍人事務(wù)部打造為聯(lián)邦政府中[技術(shù)型雇員]的最佳職場?!?/p>
還有一種類型的機(jī)構(gòu)也成為了其中一些被裁技術(shù)人才的青睞對象,即那些不怎么顯山露水的科技公司。它們的規(guī)模很大,但十分低調(diào),因此在與知名社交媒體和金融科技公司爭搶人才時會很吃力。高管獵頭公司Rich Talent Group的創(chuàng)始人及首席執(zhí)行官賈娜·里奇在談及稅收軟件開發(fā)商Intuit和Photoshop背后的科技工具Adobe時表示:“我聽到Intuit和Adobe這些公司有意招聘大量人才。這些公司經(jīng)營有方,十分賺錢,增速快,人才留存率也高,但它們也在不斷地升級其業(yè)務(wù)模式。人們在那里能夠?qū)W到技能,并得到晉升?!?/p>
有一個領(lǐng)域似乎并不在被裁大軍的考慮之列,那就是處于早期階段的初創(chuàng)企業(yè)。這是合乎情理的:里奇稱,如今求職者看重的是公司的財務(wù)健康度和生存能力。首先,年輕的初創(chuàng)企業(yè)并沒有多少可查業(yè)績。其次,如果它很快便需要進(jìn)行新的融資,能不能生存下來還是兩說的事情。有鑒于當(dāng)前經(jīng)濟(jì)的下行趨勢,風(fēng)投資本大幅放緩了對新科技公司的投資。
當(dāng)然,并非所有人都在爭先恐后地尋找新東家,部分原因在于大多數(shù)科技公司為被裁雇員提供了相對豐厚的遣散方案。例如,商業(yè)軟件巨頭賽富時(Salesforce)給近期遭裁的8,000名員工發(fā)放了5個月的薪資,外加醫(yī)療保險。Meta則提供了16周的薪資和福利,外加在Meta每工作一年額外支付兩周的工資。
毫無疑問,這些方案緩沖了裁員帶來的沖擊,而技術(shù)人員在不同行業(yè)依然十分搶手的事實也起到了類似的作用。不過,成為被裁對象并不是什么有趣的事情,而且一些失業(yè)雇員擔(dān)心,隨著經(jīng)濟(jì)開始走下坡路,其他行業(yè)在未來幾個月也會有所收縮。
DoorDash一位不愿透露姓名的前技術(shù)雇員表示:“在情緒方面,我已經(jīng)接受了這個現(xiàn)實?!保ㄟ@家餐廳送貨應(yīng)用程序在2022年11月宣布裁員1,250名,占其員工總數(shù)的6%。)不過,當(dāng)這一時刻來臨,也就是她意識到自己已經(jīng)無法訪問自己的工作賬戶時:“各種情緒涌上心頭?!痹诒徊脭?shù)周之后,這位前雇員稱還沒有想好自己接下來該何去何從。機(jī)會是有的,尤其對于那些愿意嘗試新事物的雇員:“我跟幾名獵頭和招聘者進(jìn)行了溝通,他們異口同聲地提到,非傳統(tǒng)科技公司如今正在大量招聘技術(shù)人才。”
對于推特的前員工貝克來說,有鑒于馬斯克接手之后公司出現(xiàn)的各種混亂局面,她對裁員的反應(yīng),或者至少她自己體會到的一種情緒,是解脫。這里也會有一種同志之間的友情,因為有如此多的員工都在經(jīng)歷同樣的事情。她正在認(rèn)真考慮自己接下來到底想去哪里工作,而自己已經(jīng)獲得的公司關(guān)注度和參加過的面試讓其對此十分樂觀。曾經(jīng)在思科(Cisco)和谷歌等巨頭工作過的貝克說:“就業(yè)機(jī)會還是有的,而且我認(rèn)識的大多數(shù)人都找到了工作?!?/p>
至于會選擇什么樣的新工作和新公司,她依然沒有做出決定。她說,在推特工作了三年后,有一件事可以確定的是:“我很開明。”
*****
裁員局勢
大大小小的科技公司在最近幾個月里紛紛開始裁員。以下是其中的一些公司及其裁員數(shù)量:
亞馬遜
18,000
Meta
11,000
微軟
10,000
賽富時
8,000
思科
4,000
推特*
3,700
DoorDash
1,250
Stripe
1,000
Coinbase
950
Carbon Health
200(財富中文網(wǎng))
*僅包含推特的第一輪裁員人數(shù)。
本文另一版本登載于《財富》雜志2023年2/3月刊,標(biāo)題為《科技公司的崗位大調(diào)整》(The great tech-job reshuffle)。
譯者:馮豐
審校:夏林
2022年11月4日,一封電子郵件降臨,標(biāo)題寫著:你在推特(Twitter)的職責(zé)。
這家社交媒體巨頭的前產(chǎn)品管理總監(jiān)格蕾絲-安·貝克說:“這是我第一次被裁?!笔聦嵶C明,被裁的并非貝克一人。在新東家埃隆·馬斯克接手時,這家困難重重的公司擁有7,500名員工,其中近三分之二的員工將成為裁員對象。在接下來的數(shù)周和數(shù)月中,這一趨勢在科技行業(yè)持續(xù)蔓延,而且范圍越來越廣。隨著經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展的放緩,這些科技公司如今裁員的速度并不亞于其在新冠疫情期間招聘員工的速度。
亞馬遜(Amazon)裁掉了超過1.8萬名員工;谷歌(Google)的母公司Alphabet裁員1.2萬人;Facebook的母公司Meta裁員1.1萬人;微軟(Microsoft)裁員1萬人。小型公司亦加入了裁員陣營,支付服務(wù)提供商Stripe、在線視頻托管服務(wù)Vimeo和電子零售商Stitch Fix紛紛宣布了瘦身計劃。
一夜之間,這些曾幾何時備受追捧,尊享豐厚薪資、福利和分紅的高科技員工軍團(tuán),轉(zhuǎn)而變成了求職大軍,踏足這個不得不更新其簡歷并等待招聘者回音的陌生領(lǐng)地。
然而,很多人在尋找新工作方面并沒有遇到什么困難,他們發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的技能依然屬于緊俏商品。有鑒于科技行業(yè)如今的頹勢,很多科技行業(yè)之外的雇主正在爭搶失業(yè)的軟件工程師和網(wǎng)頁設(shè)計師,而此前,上述其中一些雇主在長達(dá)十年的硅谷熱期間因為自身古板的形象和較低的薪資,難以招到科技人才。
非科技行業(yè)雇主?不妨想想醫(yī)療、金融和政府部門。它們的工作更加穩(wěn)定,而且員工在某些情況下有機(jī)會加入耗費數(shù)年組建成的大型科技團(tuán)隊。
在沃爾瑪(Walmart),超過2萬名工程師、UX專家和數(shù)據(jù)科學(xué)家目前在其核心領(lǐng)域工作,從電子商務(wù)一直到信息安全崗位。該公司的一位發(fā)言人以不折不扣的招聘者語氣表示:“這對零售科技來說是一個令人振奮的時刻。”
金融服務(wù)巨頭摩根大通(JPMorgan Chase)在全球擁有5.5萬名技術(shù)人員,其高管對于吸引技術(shù)人員以及留住現(xiàn)有員工亦非常樂觀。摩根大通的全球首席信息官洛里·比爾在發(fā)給《財富》雜志的電子郵件里稱:“說到趨勢,我們將看到越來越多的技術(shù)人員會選擇留在公司,而我們的人員流失率也將降至新冠疫情前的水平。求職者如今被企業(yè)爭搶的現(xiàn)象將越來越少?!?/p>
現(xiàn)實中,科技與其他行業(yè)的裁員數(shù)量形成了鮮明對比。職業(yè)介紹服務(wù)公司Challenger, Gray & Christmas稱,2022年,科技公司裁員數(shù)量超過了9.7萬名,較一年前該行業(yè)的裁員數(shù)增長了649%。與此同時,各行業(yè)雇主的裁員總數(shù)達(dá)到了近36.4萬名,同比僅增長了13%。(如果不計科技行業(yè),整體裁員數(shù)量實際上較去年有所下滑。)
事實上,盡管當(dāng)前經(jīng)濟(jì)充滿了不確定性,但美國勞工統(tǒng)計局(Bureau of Labor Statistics)的數(shù)據(jù)顯示,美國整體經(jīng)濟(jì)僅在2022年12月便新增就業(yè)22.3萬人。換句話說,就業(yè)市場依然十分健康,但科技領(lǐng)域除外。
之所以出現(xiàn)這種迥異的現(xiàn)象,原因有很多。在景氣年份,很多科技公司開始大肆招聘,尤其在新冠疫情期間,以滿足因為封鎖令而苦不堪言的客戶和企業(yè)的需求激增。
如今,由于新冠的防疫措施基本已經(jīng)取消了,而且近期的加息使得經(jīng)濟(jì)停滯不前,為了削減成本,科技企業(yè)的高管們紛紛祭出了裁員大旗。
即便對于此前很難招到技術(shù)人才的政府機(jī)構(gòu)而言,此次裁員潮也為其帶來了千載難逢的機(jī)會。美國退伍軍人事務(wù)部(Department of Veterans Affairs)的信息與技術(shù)副秘書兼首席信息官庫爾特·德爾貝內(nèi)說:“我們將對外宣布機(jī)構(gòu)要招聘人手的消息。”
美國退伍軍人事務(wù)部當(dāng)前有700多個技術(shù)崗位空缺,包括其云基礎(chǔ)構(gòu)架和網(wǎng)絡(luò)安全團(tuán)隊。德爾貝內(nèi)稱,他通過領(lǐng)英(LinkedIn)和其他渠道收到的職位咨詢數(shù)量明顯有所增加。他還從自家機(jī)構(gòu)舉辦的虛擬招聘會上收到了“數(shù)百條”線索。
德爾貝內(nèi)說:“我們是最大的醫(yī)療服務(wù)提供商,也是美國最大的金融機(jī)構(gòu)。如果你理想的工作是解決超級難題,那么來我們這里就對了?!?/p>
誠然,政府工作的薪資在歷史上一直都無法與私營領(lǐng)域相比,即便對于技術(shù)人才來說也是如此。德爾貝內(nèi)指出,在華盛頓特區(qū),工程師在美國退伍軍人事務(wù)部與科技公司之間的薪資差距高達(dá)66%。然而,美國退伍軍人事務(wù)部和其他聯(lián)邦機(jī)構(gòu)正在敦促政府為特種崗位設(shè)立“特殊薪資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)”。到目前為止,這一舉措似乎初見成效:今年1月,某些技術(shù)崗位的薪資變化得到了批準(zhǔn)。德爾貝內(nèi)表示:“我希望把退伍軍人事務(wù)部打造為聯(lián)邦政府中[技術(shù)型雇員]的最佳職場?!?/p>
還有一種類型的機(jī)構(gòu)也成為了其中一些被裁技術(shù)人才的青睞對象,即那些不怎么顯山露水的科技公司。它們的規(guī)模很大,但十分低調(diào),因此在與知名社交媒體和金融科技公司爭搶人才時會很吃力。高管獵頭公司Rich Talent Group的創(chuàng)始人及首席執(zhí)行官賈娜·里奇在談及稅收軟件開發(fā)商Intuit和Photoshop背后的科技工具Adobe時表示:“我聽到Intuit和Adobe這些公司有意招聘大量人才。這些公司經(jīng)營有方,十分賺錢,增速快,人才留存率也高,但它們也在不斷地升級其業(yè)務(wù)模式。人們在那里能夠?qū)W到技能,并得到晉升?!?/p>
有一個領(lǐng)域似乎并不在被裁大軍的考慮之列,那就是處于早期階段的初創(chuàng)企業(yè)。這是合乎情理的:里奇稱,如今求職者看重的是公司的財務(wù)健康度和生存能力。首先,年輕的初創(chuàng)企業(yè)并沒有多少可查業(yè)績。其次,如果它很快便需要進(jìn)行新的融資,能不能生存下來還是兩說的事情。有鑒于當(dāng)前經(jīng)濟(jì)的下行趨勢,風(fēng)投資本大幅放緩了對新科技公司的投資。
當(dāng)然,并非所有人都在爭先恐后地尋找新東家,部分原因在于大多數(shù)科技公司為被裁雇員提供了相對豐厚的遣散方案。例如,商業(yè)軟件巨頭賽富時(Salesforce)給近期遭裁的8,000名員工發(fā)放了5個月的薪資,外加醫(yī)療保險。Meta則提供了16周的薪資和福利,外加在Meta每工作一年額外支付兩周的工資。
毫無疑問,這些方案緩沖了裁員帶來的沖擊,而技術(shù)人員在不同行業(yè)依然十分搶手的事實也起到了類似的作用。不過,成為被裁對象并不是什么有趣的事情,而且一些失業(yè)雇員擔(dān)心,隨著經(jīng)濟(jì)開始走下坡路,其他行業(yè)在未來幾個月也會有所收縮。
DoorDash一位不愿透露姓名的前技術(shù)雇員表示:“在情緒方面,我已經(jīng)接受了這個現(xiàn)實?!保ㄟ@家餐廳送貨應(yīng)用程序在2022年11月宣布裁員1,250名,占其員工總數(shù)的6%。)不過,當(dāng)這一時刻來臨,也就是她意識到自己已經(jīng)無法訪問自己的工作賬戶時:“各種情緒涌上心頭?!痹诒徊脭?shù)周之后,這位前雇員稱還沒有想好自己接下來該何去何從。機(jī)會是有的,尤其對于那些愿意嘗試新事物的雇員:“我跟幾名獵頭和招聘者進(jìn)行了溝通,他們異口同聲地提到,非傳統(tǒng)科技公司如今正在大量招聘技術(shù)人才?!?/p>
對于推特的前員工貝克來說,有鑒于馬斯克接手之后公司出現(xiàn)的各種混亂局面,她對裁員的反應(yīng),或者至少她自己體會到的一種情緒,是解脫。這里也會有一種同志之間的友情,因為有如此多的員工都在經(jīng)歷同樣的事情。她正在認(rèn)真考慮自己接下來到底想去哪里工作,而自己已經(jīng)獲得的公司關(guān)注度和參加過的面試讓其對此十分樂觀。曾經(jīng)在思科(Cisco)和谷歌等巨頭工作過的貝克說:“就業(yè)機(jī)會還是有的,而且我認(rèn)識的大多數(shù)人都找到了工作。”
至于會選擇什么樣的新工作和新公司,她依然沒有做出決定。她說,在推特工作了三年后,有一件事可以確定的是:“我很開明?!?/p>
*****
裁員局勢
大大小小的科技公司在最近幾個月里紛紛開始裁員。以下是其中的一些公司及其裁員數(shù)量:
亞馬遜
18,000
Meta
11,000
微軟
10,000
賽富時
8,000
思科
4,000
推特*
3,700
DoorDash
1,250
Stripe
1,000
Coinbase
950
Carbon Health
200(財富中文網(wǎng))
*僅包含推特的第一輪裁員人數(shù)。
本文另一版本登載于《財富》雜志2023年2/3月刊,標(biāo)題為《科技公司的崗位大調(diào)整》(The great tech-job reshuffle)。
譯者:馮豐
審校:夏林
The email landed on Nov. 4. The subject line: Your role at Twitter.
“It was my first time getting laid off,” says Grace-Ann Baker, a former director of product management at the social media company. As it turned out, Baker wasn’t alone. New owner Elon Musk would eventually let go of nearly two-thirds of the 7,500 employees he’d inherited at the beleaguered company. And in the coming weeks and months, the trend continued across the broader technology sector. Just as fast as tech companies had hired employees during the pandemic, they now quickly shed them as the economy slowed.
At Amazon, more than 18,000 people were laid off; at Google parent Alphabet, 12,000; at Facebook parent Meta, 11,000; and at Microsoft, 10,000. Smaller companies downsized too, with layoffs announced at payments provider Stripe, online video hosting service Vimeo, and e-tailer Stitch Fix.
All of a sudden, legions of tech workers—once in demand and showered with big salaries and generous perks and bonuses—found themselves looking for jobs, in the unfamiliar position of having to update their résumés and wait for callbacks from recruiters.
But instead of struggling to find new work, many are discovering that their skills are still a hot commodity. Many employers outside tech, some of which had trouble attracting tech talent during Silicon Valley’s decade-long boom because of their stodgy reputations and lower pay, are scooping up unemployed software engineers and web designers now that the tech industry is in retreat.
Those non-tech employers? Think sectors like health care, finance, and government. They offer more stability and, in some cases, the opportunity to join huge tech teams built up over the years.
At Walmart, more than 20,000 engineers, UX specialists, and data scientists currently work in core areas, from e-commerce to information security. “It’s an exciting time for retail tech,” says a company spokesperson in unabashed recruiter mode.
At financial services giant JPMorgan Chase, which already employs 55,000 technologists globally, executives are also upbeat about attracting tech workers—and about retaining the ones they have. “In terms of trends, we are seeing more technologists staying put, with attrition decreasing to pre-pandemic levels,” Lori Beer, JPMorgan’s global chief information officer, tells Fortune via email. “Candidates today have fewer competing offers.”
The contrasting realities between tech and other industries is encapsulated in the layoff numbers. In 2022, tech companies laid off more than 97,000 employees, representing a 649% increase from cuts in the sector the year before, according to outplacement services firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Meanwhile, employers across all industries combined cut nearly 364,000 jobs, representing just a 13% increase in overall cuts from the year before. (If tech is excluded, overall layoffs actually declined from the previous year.)
In fact, despite the current economic uncertainty, the overall U.S. economy managed to add 223,000 jobs in December alone, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In other words, the job market is still healthy—just not in the tech sector.
The reasons for the divergent trajectories are many. During the boom years, many tech companies went on hiring sprees, particularly during the pandemic in order to meet a spike in demand from consumers and businesses mired in lockdowns.
Now, with pandemic precautions largely abandoned, and the economy sputtering because of recent interest rate hikes, tech executives are cutting costs by eliminating jobs.
Even on the government side, which previously had trouble luring techies, the layoffs present a rare opportunity. “We’re getting the word out that we’re looking for people,” says Kurt DelBene, assistant secretary for information and technology and CIO of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The VA currently has more than 700 job openings for tech workers, including on its cloud infrastructure and cybersecurity teams. And according to DelBene, there is a noticeable increase in the number of inbound inquiries he’s receiving through LinkedIn and elsewhere. He’s also received “hundreds” of leads from recent virtual job fairs the VA has hosted.
“We are the largest health care provider and the largest financial institution in the U.S.,” says DelBene. “You want to go to a place where there are really, really hard problems to solve? That’s the organization we’re running.”
To be sure, government jobs haven’t historically paid as well as the private sector—even when it comes to tech talent. DelBene says that in the Washington, D.C., area, the gap between what an engineer could earn at the VA versus at a tech company is as high as 66%. But the VA and other federal agencies have been pushing the government to allow a “special salary rate” for specific job functions, and so far, it appears to be working: In January, the change was approved for certain tech positions. “I want to make this the best place [for tech employees] to work in the federal government,” says DelBene.
There’s another type of organization that’s attracting some of the laid-off tech talent: tech companies that don’t often make headlines. They’re big, but their lower profiles can make it more difficult to compete for talent against buzzier names in social media and fintech. “I’m hearing a lot of interest in places like Intuit and Adobe,” says Jana Rich, founder and CEO of Rich Talent Group, an executive recruiting firm, referring to the tax-software maker and the company behind tech tools like Photoshop. “These are very well-run companies, profitable, with growth and high retention rates, but they are also continuously evolving their business models. You are going to gain skills and be promoted there.”
One area that doesn’t appear to be generating as much interest from the laid-off crowd? Early-stage startups. It makes sense: According to Rich, candidates today are interested in the financial health and viability of a company. A young startup doesn’t have much of a track record, to begin with. But it also may not have a future, if it needs a fresh round of funding anytime soon. Because of the economic downturn, venture capital has slowed considerably for new tech companies.
Of course, not everyone is rushing to land a new gig, owing partly to the relatively cushy severance packages most tech companies give laid-off employees. At business software giant Salesforce, for example, the 8,000 workers who were cut recently have been promised five months of pay, plus health insurance. Meta is offering 16 weeks of pay and benefits, and an additional two weeks for every year worked at the company.
The packages soften the blow of layoffs, for sure, as does the fact that techies are still in high demand across different sectors. But getting laid off is no fun, and some out-of-work employees are worried that, with the economy souring, other industries will pull back as well in the coming months.
“Emotionally, I was bracing myself for it,” says one former DoorDash tech employee who did not want to be mentioned by name. (The restaurant delivery app announced layoffs of 1,250 employees in November, representing about 6% of its workforce.) But when the moment came, and she realized she was locked out of her work accounts: “There is a slew of emotions that you feel.” Several weeks after the layoffs, the former employee says she is still taking her time to decide on her next steps. And opportunities exist, especially for techies who are willing to try something new: “I’ve spoken with a few headhunters and recruiters, and they are saying the same thing—that nontraditional tech companies are bullish on tech talent right now.”
As for Baker, formerly of Twitter, her reaction to being laid off, or at least one of the emotions she felt, was relief, given all the tumult at the company amid Musk’s takeover. There was a sense of camaraderie as well, considering that so many people were going through a similar experience. She’s taking time to figure out where she wants to work, but is optimistic given the interest—and interviews—she’s already getting. “There is hiring out there, and most people I know are finding jobs,” says Baker, whose CV includes tech giants like Cisco and Google.
As for what her next role, and company, will be? That’s still TBD. After three years at Twitter, she says, one thing is for sure: “I’m open-minded.”
*****
Land of layoffs
Tech companies big and small have been laying off employees in recent months. Here are some of them and the number of jobs they have cut:
Amazon
18,000
Meta
11,000
Microsoft
10,000
Salesforce
8,000
Cisco
4,000
Twitter*
3,700
DoorDash
1,250
Stripe
1,000
Coinbase
950
Carbon Health
200
*Only the first round of Twitter’s layoffs is included.
This article appears in the February/March 2023 issue of Fortune with the headline, “The great tech-job reshuffle.”