After she was laid off in September, Jenny Richards didn’t expect to spend more than six months trying to find her next job. She had worked in product management roles at Seattle tech companies like Expedia, Tableau, Microsoft, and Accenture. Her most recent gig was at a startup developing recruiting software, so she knew the intricacies of tech hiring.
But after applying to hundreds of jobs, many with internal referrals, nothing stuck. She was on the verge of losing unemployment benefits. Finally, she made it to the final round of an interview process — but then was abandoned, with no explanation.
“I couldn’t get a job,” Richards said. “I couldn’t get anybody to call. Nothing.”
Her experience is not unique. Recent posts on Reddit this month show other longtime tech workers also struggling to find new roles as continued layoffs and a pullback in hiring add to a tough job market.
Paul Malhi, a senior director at recruiting company TalentReach, is seeing this trend play out. He said employers are placing a premium on specific skills and expertise, especially in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and cybersecurity.
That creates challenges for seasoned professionals, Malhi said, as they may struggle to meet rapidly evolving skill requirements or encounter ageism.
Another notable trend: as companies look to increase efficiency, middle managers are making up a larger percentage of layoffs, Bloomberg reported this week, citing Live Data Technologies. “Middle managers may appear more often in the crosshairs because of their higher salaries and their less direct contributions to completing projects or tasks, such as coding,” LinkedIn News noted.
Last year, VC-backed startups prioritized individual contributor additions over manager-level hires, according to data from equity management platform Carta.
Layoffs continue, hiring slows
The tech downturn in 2022 led to widespread layoffs that continued throughout last year, when more than 250,000 tech workers lost their jobs.
The pace of layoffs has slowed but companies are still shedding jobs in 2024, with more than 50,000 jobs cut at more than 200 organizations, according to Layoffs.fyi.
Headcount growth at tech giants such as Amazon and Meta — which dubbed 2023 a “year of efficiency” — has screeched to a halt or even decreased. Their stock prices, meanwhile, have increased.
Smaller tech companies are prioritizing profits and some are fighting for survival amid a tightened venture capital market. Startup headcount on Carta’s platform shrank throughout 2023, a notable reversal from the past several years.
The current state of tech hiring is a far cry from an industry long defined by seemingly limitless expansion and unending job opportunities, and a contrast from just a few years ago, when companies went on hiring sprees and raised compensation in a war for talent.
But there are still tech companies looking for new employees. LinkedIn reported that hiring in the technology, information, and media industry was up 11.6% in January, compared to last July.
Workers may find luck looking for roles outside the traditional tech industry. JPMorgan Chase, for example, has been growing its Seattle engineering hub.
Some laid-off workers are launching their own businesses.
Nikita Gupta, COO of job search startup CareerFlow, advised job seekers to focus on companies that recently raised funding and to learn new technologies — particularly artificial intelligence. “Learn how to use it as it’s in demand and every company is looking for such candidates,” she said.
Ironically, some say the current use of AI tools in hiring is actually screening out the most qualified job applicants.
Richards, who ultimately found a new job this month, said she’s worried about the psychological effects that the current market will have on job seekers.
“There are a lot of really smart and capable people who are now starting to suffer from some pretty bad mental and emotional problems,” Richards said. “Not only are they worried about losing their houses, and how they feed their kids, but they’re internalizing a lot of what they’re seeing as being somehow their fault.”
If you’re trying to help people land a job, Richards advised to ask what they need — and just connect. “Talking and connecting is a salve to someone who feels isolated by unemployment,” she wrote on Linkedin.
