The big picture: For decades, having a job in tech meant stability, regular raises, and lucrative perks. However, that has changed, perhaps permanently. The tech labor market is currently in upheaval, with firms letting go of employees by the thousands and tightening hiring requirements when they are looking to fill positions. The only safe space appears to be in AI.
Since the start of the year, more than 137,500 employees have been laid off from 438 tech companies, according to Layoffs.fyi. Meanwhile, postings for software development jobs have declined by over 30 percent since February 2020, according to Indeed.com.
Companies across the industry spectrum are cutting tech positions, including some of the largest names in the game. Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft have all downsized this year, along with eBay, Unity Software, SAP, Intel, PayPal, and Cisco.
Furthermore, employees who still have jobs are experiencing stagnant wage growth, according to Pequity, a compensation-planning startup. Wages have increased by an average of just 0.95 percent in 2024 compared to last year.
This is not new information for those in the industry seeking employment. Last year, over 260,000 workers across nearly 1,200 tech companies lost their jobs, making 2023 the second-largest year of layoffs on record in the technology sector, behind only the dot-com crash in 2001, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
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