How I Survived the LAYOFFS

With the right strategies, you can protect yourself from even layoffs. Wanna listen to how I survived the tech bloodbath? 😎

100,000

Meta? 11,000. Amazon? 18,000. Microsoft? 10,000, and Google? 12,000. The numbers don’t end with just FAANG. Twitter? 3,700, and Salesforce? 8,000. What are these numbers? You guessed it! The headcount each company has announced for a layoff! If you think about it, that’s a huge number! The total workforce losing jobs from FAANG + Microsoft alone is over 50,000. And last year, nearly 100,000 people lost their jobs. If the number still doesn’t surprise you, that’s the size of an entire football stadium! But guess what? The worst is yet to come because we still don’t know when this brutality will end! While there isn’t much we can do about the bloodbath, the good news is that it still IS possible to protect yourself from it and prevent it from happening to you no matter the economic downturns! As a survivor of the tech layoffs, I’ll discuss the very strategies to survive the cutbacks. We’ll explore ways to become “recession-proof” together, so make sure to stay until the end to find out!

Incredibly Talented People

According to Challenger’s numbers, the tech industry in 2022 increased its announced job cuts to a total of 97,171, amounting to the highest since the dot-com crash more than 20 years ago. So then, let’s start by answering the fundamental question first. Why are companies laying off employees? Why are they letting go of the so-called “incredibly talented people” they fought so fiercely to hire just a year ago?

One. Unsustainable Growth

The number one reason is that they grew too fast. The decoupling came after Microsoft added 58,000, Google 52,000, Meta 27,000, and Amazon a whopping 800,000 over the course of three years. Yes, you heard that right. 800,000 for Amazon! They doubled their size since the pandemic! You see, for companies to sustain and grow, the revenue needs to grow faster than the headcount. But the big-tech employee headcount is actually either growing at the same pace as their revenues or even slower. What does it mean? They added too many people too fast. The only company “standing out” is Apple, having grown its revenues by 52% since 2019 while its headcount rose only 19%. But does that mean that Apple is safe? Only Tim knows.

Two. Misjudgment

The second reason for the massacre is a misjudgment. During the pandemic, many tech leaders made optimistic projections treating the pandemic-level habits as a permanent acceleration that would continue post-pandemic. The sunny forecast led companies to hire aggressively and invest heavily in future technologies. However, what’s happening now? Not only has the online trend returned to the prior levels, but people also quickly reverted to their old habits, meaning that the permanent acceleration many predicted to continue was only temporary. Now, we all make mistakes. Not everyone’s perfect. However, wrong decisions can be costly. And for companies with tens of thousands of employees, they can cost billions of dollars. And nobody likes losing that much money. Solution? Layoff.

Three. Macroeconomic Downturn

The third reason for the downsizing is the macroeconomic downturn. This includes inflation, rapidly rising interest rates, and gloomy economic forecasts. Inflation made everything more costly, including the operating cost. High-interest rates caused borrowing money to be more expensive, making businesses take fewer risks. And the fear of recession is pressuring companies to be more cautious and less daring. For businesses to withstand the storm, they need to be nimble. And to move fast, they need to cut the bloat.

This Too Shall Pass

Just a side note here. If the recent headlines of tech layoffs have scared you from becoming a software engineer, you really shouldn’t be. Layoffs do happen, but they’re rare. Even if you lose your job, a recent study shows people usually find a new one within two months. Also, companies over-hired software engineers, but it was mostly the sales and marketing that were impacted and not software engineers. Take this with a grain of salt, but the economy will improve, and things will get better. So instead of giving up, continue pursuing your goal. There’s a free software development curriculum on my website. You can also get a $1,000 discount for Springboard bootcamps with the promo code PIRATEKING. I was a mentor at Springboard, so I know their programs are legit. If you are already a software engineer looking to accelerate your career with the help of industry pros, try Pathrise. Pathrise can help individuals find jobs through 1-on-1 mentorship, personalized coaching, and workshops. The first two weeks are free, and I used to be a mentor there as well. Lastly, take a look at my recommended courses if you’d like to take things on your own.

The Recession-Proof Strategies

So how do you survive the layoffs? How do you become recession-proof? While there are no industries and jobs that are 100% “recession-proof,” my experience working at big techs has taught me that at least some roles are relatively safer and more secure. I identified three such roles, so let’s go over them one by one together.

One. Money-making Teams

One, stay at profitable teams. The ultimate goal of any for-profit company is to make profits. And to do that, a company needs to have a core business. If your job is close to the most profitable business activities of the company, your risk of getting laid off is low. If you think about it, this makes sense because you wouldn’t cut costs by eliminating the core business, right? You would do so by reducing the workforce not directly tied to an immediate income. For example, the ads team at Google and Facebook. Why? Their core business is selling digital ads on their platforms. What about Microsoft? I would stay at the core technology teams at Azure, Windows, or Office because they are the revenue drivers. Amazon? AWS, order checkout, payment, and, again, ads. Do you see where I’m getting at? Try to find and join the teams that are key to the company’s success. They are the foundations that helped the company become what it is today and why it’s still standing.

Two. Necessary Teams

Two, stay at necessary teams. Even though some teams aren’t directly associated with generating revenues, companies can’t simply get rid of them due to various reasons. For example, the human resources team. When you conduct layoffs, who’s going to execute it? The HR, right? Companies planning to lay off employees will need HR to administrate that process. Of course, if things get really bad, they can axe HR too, but again, they’ll probably do it AFTER cutting others first. Similarly, join the teams that manage the company’s finances. Most layoff decisions are based on the company’s financial status. So those involved with building and operating the company’s financial platforms are less prone to getting cut. Lastly, stay at teams that are necessary due to legal reasons. Some teams exist simply because the law necessitates them. The human resources team is, again, an example of one. Companies can conduct layoffs, but they’ll have to execute it properly in compliance with local laws or risk getting into lawsuits. Another good example is teams that deal with taxes. Where there’s money, there are always taxes. Companies have a legal obligation to comply and pay taxes. And to do that, you’ll need to implement the right tax systems.

Three. Important Teams

Three, stay at important teams. Now, this one’s a little vague because profitable and necessary teams are important, too, right? But this raises a question. Can a team still be important despite losing money? Yes! Some research teams and products in the infant stages are like that. Even if the business loses billions of dollars, some companies invest in technologies and products that have the potential to become the next innovation. If you think about it, many tech companies start like that. Think of Uber, Tesla, and Coinbase. It took them years to be profitable, and some are still losing money to this day! Another example of this “important” product is the virtual reality project at Meta. The company reported a loss of $9.4 billion last year for their Metaverse org and expected the loss to continue for multiple years. Although the company cut 11,000 jobs last year, the chances of the teams core to the company’s vision getting cut are very low. However, this draws an interesting comparison to Microsoft because Microsoft made drastic cuts to mixed reality and virtual reality teams; they decided to deprioritize the headset hardware from their business plan. So then, will Metaverse ever become relevant in the near future? Only time will tell 🤷

Summary

Alright. We explored various ways to survive layoffs and become “recession-proof.” What do you guys think? Do you think the strategies make sense? Let me know in the comments below. Don’t forget to check out my website for free coding-related resources. Make sure to like and subscribe. I’ll see you at the next one. Bye.

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