How does it feel to be laid off by Zuck or Elon?

“This all reminds you what f*****g b******t all this corporate b******t actually is.”

According to a tech website, 140,000 tech workers have been laid off globally this year. We’ve been talking to some of them.

😩 This really hurts
Behind every one of those 140,000 is a person whose income, identity and sense of place in the world has been shaken. Many literally, because their visa depends on them being employed to stay where they are.


⏱ Regrets, I have a few
Only this summer Mark Zuckerberg complained that too many people were coasting and there was no space for them. But Meta insiders report a minimum of 12-hour days, covering London, the West Coast and China—plus ad hoc calls late into the night. Damaging their well-being and personal relationships.

Bruce Daisley, ex-Twitter head in the UK and Europe, says people often assume social media jobs must be easy. But the goals and the pressure is massive, time-consuming and stressful.

The old joke was that the 'Facebook 15' was the 15lbs you put on from the on-site catering—now it’s the weight you put on because you’re always working and never get to hit the gym.


👯‍♀️ Whole self
And then there is the bringing your “whole self” to work thing—encouraging employees to be authentic, socialise with colleagues, and become friends… only to be selected for termination by an algorithm that seeks to balance the genders, ethnicities, and other factors… but doesn’t so much as inform your own boss that you’re on the list.

An email issued at dawn closes you out of the systems you work in, and then—silence. No one involved in the decision ever calls to see how your whole self is feeling or thanks you for not coasting.

Implications:

• Bruce Daisley says it is a buyer's market for the next year, but top talent is still in demand. He wonders: will these companies lose the most sought-after talent because they are treating others so badly?

• Others are asking whether the cutbacks are just realistic market adjustments that will prove over time that these companies were bloated by people doing a lot but delivering little. (This doesn’t excuse the way they are doing it though)

• Pete Trainor (tech writer and positive change activist) asks why we expected these companies to behave differently…. he might have a point.

• Many seem to think that the job adjustment in the sector was needed and there are still enough jobs to go around—if you’re willing and able to work globally, that seems true (for the moment).

What do you think? Tell me!!

Next week

Big trends for 2023.

Christine