How To Survive LAYOFFS
Nowadays, Where you look at there are all so many news articles covering the Layoffs, of various big Tech companies. As, also it was big numbers of Layoffs, so the reaction was obvious. Some developers were also concerned that there would not be any open positions for them. Students were likewise anxious about graduating at this particular period. So, this article will try to tell you how to survive Layoffs and be recession-proof.
Data related to Layoffs at this point
According to various data reports, In 2022 alone the Tech industry announced layoffs with an increase of 649% which is a total of 97,171, which is the highest since the dot-com crash.
If we look at the numbers and companies laying off employees. We found that Meta (previously: Facebook) laid off 11,000 employees, Amazon laid off 18,000, Microsoft laid off 10,000, Google laid off 12,000, Twitter laid off 3,700 and Salesforce laid off 8,000 employees. So, Indeed these are big Companies with big layoffs. And, it is not like they are small valuation companies, Google Parent Alphabet values $2 Trillion, Microsoft values $3 Trillion, and these other companies are also valued in Billions as well.
Probable Reasons For LayOffs
1. Over Hiring - One of the main reasons for Layoffs that the companies hiring data shows are that they hired so many between 2020-2021, In the chart, you can see that number of employees grew in that period is so much. Like: in the case of Amazon the growth is whopping 800,000.
According to analysts - An increase in the number of Employees should always be less than the pace of revenue growth, but in the case of these big companies, the pace was the same. So, this is not a sustainable pattern. So, the Hiring was too fast in a short span of time, which is not sustainable. Leading to becoming one of the reasons for LayOffs. Only Apple is an exception as their revenue grew by 52% since 2019, but the number of employees growth was only 19%.
2. Misjudgement Of Growth - When Covid started, people started to be more inclined towards online, and e-commerce was growing heavily. So, companies started to invest more in future Technologies. But, as soon as the pandemic ended people were too quick to move back to their previous habits. So, growth was misjudged and thus resulted in wrong decisions. As this was a risk taken by Tech companies if it will have succeeded they will have got tremendous growth. But, it backfired resulting in undoing investments in form of layoffs.
3. Economy Downturn World Wide - Definitely, this is the most obvious reason for layoffs, as inflation is rising, with rising interest rates and gloomy economic forecasts. The Inflation caused higher operating costs and rising interest rates contributed to borrowing money being more expensive making businesses think twice about taking risks. And recession, with some frightening forecasts of economic downfall, is causing companies to be so careful in drawing revenue growth curves.
How To Become Recession-Proof
While no roles in companies are 100% safe but there are some roles that are comparatively safer than others. It has been observed that Marketing and Sales People were most affected by these layoffs. So, Below are some of the roles that seem to be safer:
1. Revenue Generating Teams - As it is obvious that the ultimate goal of most companies is to be more profitable and there are areas of companies that contribute the most to their revenue. And it is very probable that their core business Technology will be the one with the most shares in revenue generation.
So, If you try to work in the teams that are most close to the core business technology, the risk of getting laid off is too low. For Example the Ads team at Google and Facebook and in Microsoft, Azure, Windows, and Office. So, probably no one will try to cut the cost by cutting their core business technology. It is like no one cuts off the branch of a tree sitting on it. So, Ultimately, it is the value that employees provide to the companies that they charge for.
2. Necessary Teams - If a company wants to lay off employees they will need HRs who will carry out the whole process. You can think of it as a necessary team. As if a company first lays off all HRs, who will do that process? So, probably HRs will be the last ones to be laid off. One more example is Finance Teams, as companies need their financial data in order to make certain decisions. So, if you are part of these teams you may be less likely to be laid off.
Lastly, Legal Teams and those dealing with Taxes are also safer. As, if a company is laying off employees, it should not get into lawsuits. And where there is money there is also a Tax, so managing it is also a necessary part of the business. So, they are less prone to layoffs.
3. Future Technology Teams - If you look into companies like OpenAI and Tesla you will notice that even after losing money and getting nothing out of Research and Development Teams they still invest in those. Thinking, that it is not profitable now but if it succeeds it will be a heavy revenue generator. You can take the example of Meta VR projects, even after losing $9.4 billion, Zuckerberg is still investing in it. So, if you are in those teams which are contributing to the company’s vision, you are also safer.
Conclusion
If you are pursuing Software Engineering you should not be scared, and stop learning software development. As per a study, Software Engineers who got laid off were able to find new jobs in less than 90 days. And, in these layoffs mostly Sales and Marketing Teams were affected. As obviously companies are not going to lay off their Developers who developed their core technology and are improving it. So, ultimately if your work and the value that you provide are irreplaceable then you are not the one to worry. People who are doing the same tasks and repeating them over and over are the ones who may be affected as well. So, try to do smart work and Automate tasks that are repetitive.