This video presents insights into the people
laid off by Big Tech companies like Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, and Twitter in late
2022 and 2023. To do this, 365 Data Science researched 1,157 LinkedIn profiles
of professionals impacted by the layoffs. We collected data on gender, age bracket,
position, time spent on the job, total work experience, educational degree, and whether
an individual could find a new occupation and list it on their LinkedIn profile by January 30,
2023. Company quotas were assigned to limit bias, and convenience sampling was employed
due to data accessibility limitations. Tech companies—especially Big Tech firms—conducted a hiring spree during the pandemic as
the world moved online.
Perhaps in 2022, they realized this isn’t sustainable
in the current economic situation. For example, the numbers show us that Apple—the
company which grew its employee base the least—has yet to announce any layoffs.
Some of the businesses that resorted to layoffs are very profitable.
According to Yahoo Finance, each of these firms posted impressive
trailing 12-month net income results. Moreover, these entities are famous
for their cash-rich balance sheets. Perhaps the true reason for the layoffs was not a
pressing need for financial resources but rather an adjustment to the new economic reality in
which tech firms expect to grow slower due to an uncertain macroeconomic environment and
fears of recession. Therefore, companies try to be more efficient by cutting personnel costs.
This is why we wanted to explore the profile of individuals impacted by layoffs and
provide independently collected data. Let’s look at the study’s findings and try to
understand who was impacted by the layoffs. Surprisingly, data shows that 56% of all
laid-off employees were female.
This is unexpected because Big Tech firms have been
famous for their efforts to promote diversity and decrease the gender gap in the tech sector.
According to our research, nearly half of those impacted are between 30 and 40 years old. More
junior hires accounted for 36%, and unfortunately, even some senior professionals aged 40 to
50 and 50 to 60 were among those who lost their jobs. This indicates that the layoffs did
not convey the letting go of junior personnel. The average length of working experience
in our sample was 12 years—that is, senior professionals who are typically expected
to be more productive and ready to contribute. On average, the individuals included in our
cohort worked for Big Tech companies for 2.5 years before being laid off. This coincides with
the lockdown period, which proves the theory that many who were recruited during the COVID-19 boom
are being let go now. Another valid question is whether big companies managed to onboard these
professionals as they should have, as this probably happened in a remote working environment.
Considering the hiring freezes in many companies that announced layoffs, it isn’t surprising
that many HRs and recruiters lost their jobs amid the 2022 and 2023 job cuts by Big
Tech firms.
