The Economy of Big Tech and the Job Openings in the 21st Century: A Perspective from a Career Services Manager at FlexJobs

Suzanne Bates, partner and Managing Director of the corporate strategy firm told us that everyone is feeling whiplash. There is a lot of whispering in the hallways about hiring freezes, but they still have needs, clients and customers, and everybody has been busy.

The job market last year and earlier in 2022 was like musical chairs, offering record opportunities for hopping from seat to seat. Many believe that the music is about to stop.

The economic angst is audible in workshops that train and support job seekers. Toni Frana, a career services manager at FlexJobs, hosted a webinar last week on recovering from layoffs, with tips on topics like how to explain gaps on a résumé. It seemed necessary to bring the session back this fall, since Ms Frana had offered this program early in the Pandemic.

A year ago, she had switched to a new team at her company, buoyed by the labor shortage. She thinks that the economy has turned on her. On top of the narrowing job pool, everything — soda, bacon, gas — keeps getting pricier.

“After the shut down, everything was coming back to life, you had chances to chose from and it was getting better,” she said. It felt like everything went south in the economy.

A group of workers at the company fear they will not be given their contracts renewed if a recession occurs and have created internal chat forums so they can inform one another of job openings.

In total, more than 118,000 people have lost their jobs in tech this year, according to Layoffs.fyi, a site that tracks publicly reported job cuts in the industry. At the same time, companies including Amazon and Apple have slowed or frozen their hiring, reducing the number of open roles in Big Tech that can soak up people suddenly out of work. Tech workers still face a strong outlook and must find new jobs. Their skills are in high demand and they have helped laid-off workers find new jobs with their grassroots support.

Big Tech companies are not the only niches in the tech industry. Many smaller firms and companies in adjoining industries are still hiring tech workers, however at slower rates than tech giants recently did, and with the potential for lower salaries. Some companies are now jumping at the chance to attract people previously monopolized by recruiters from the largest companies.

Big tech companies have been able to lure the industry’s top employees for years while government jobs remained open due to the high salaries and perks in Silicon Valley. But as companies like Meta, Amazon, and Google have cut jobs or slowed hiring, government, nonprofit, and smaller companies are now seizing the moment and looking to catch the attention of out-of-work technologists. The US Department of Veterans Affairs is seeking tech workers to fill 1,000 roles. They’ll work on solving problems like modernizing benefits software and revamping medical appointments scheduling. The information technology office said that Silicon Valley is not the only place for tech innovation. Employers that work in Big Tech could be a big beneficiary of the losses.

The Big Tech forced exodus is also opening new opportunities for startups and investors aiming to create the next big thing. “To everyone affected by the Meta layoffs: Monomi Park is hiring,” Nick Popovich, CEO of an independent gaming studio, tweeted this week. Day One Ventures, a venture capital firm, responded to Big Tech’s cuts by launching an initiative aimed at laid-off workers offering to invest $100,000 in 20 different ideas for new companies. PitchBook, which tracks startup data, recently estimated that VCs have about $290 billion on hand to invest, suggesting there’s plenty of funding available for new entrepreneurs.

Remote work. Competitive salaries. The hiring process is streamlined. Prospective tech workers are being offered perks by the US government.

The VA’s chief technology officer says the confluence of events is very interesting. “There’s this increased interest in public service. There’s obviously new headwinds in the tech industry that are leaving more people needing a job. And then there’s these great opportunities at the VA.”

Jessica was the chief experience officer at US Digital Response, a nonprofit that helps governments with digital expertise, and she said people are taking this moment of uncertainty to consider if there is an opportunity to work on something different. It has seen more applications for in-house roles and more interest in government tech roles.

Some governments have long struggled to secure top tech talent and younger workers. The divides in the private and public sector extend beyond the US. In the UK, public sector pay has fallen to a 19-year low, making competition with private industries harder. But in China, some young workers are ready to leave behind a volatile tech industry for greater security. In 2021, the country gave foreigners 90 day visas to try out life in the city, because of the government’s desire for tech workers.