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Why widespread tech layoffs keep happening despite a strong U.S. economy

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/24/why-widespread-tech-layoffs-keep-happening-despite-strong-us-economy.html

The number of tech sector layoffs in 2024 has been outpacing the number of terminations in 2023.

Why widespread tech layoffs keep happening despite a strong U.S. economy::The number of tech sector layoffs in 2024 has been outpacing the number of terminations in 2023.

39 comments

SnotFlickerman

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There’s also the stock market effect. Companies that conducted layoffs haven’t been punished, either by investors or on their bottom lines. In fact, they’ve been rewarded with rising stock prices.

I like how they portray this like it is a fluke and not literally what happens every time. You get rid of a bunch of workers and save money? Line goes up.

shortwavesurfer

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Because the economy is not good. That's why. The media wants to say it's good in hopes that by saying it, they can manifest it and make it so. But that's not how real life works.

SlopppyEngineer

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Okay, this is outside looking in, but economic indicators seem to be all good. However, the spreading of the gains is what's totally wrong. It all flows the a small section of the population. Tax cuts for the rich and the like didn't help with that, and the richest people in the country are pushing for an even larger share of the gains.

Badeendje

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The economic indicators are not indicators that work for the populace at large. We need better indicators.

Just look at china's economic growth. They have built entire ghost cities and values all they built at market prices, as if they where in hot demand. And this skyrocketed the economy. It was a massive ponzi scheme., but the numbers looked great.

In western Europe, housing is scares, skyrocketing the house prices, this adds to the value of the housing pool, in turn to the total value of the economy.. and we call if growth and increase in wealth. But no one who owns their house will be able to cash in that value increase until they die. Stupid indicator if you ask me.

SlopppyEngineer

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The indicators are correct. People are working very hard and money is flowing around. In this case it doesn't matter if that's sustainable growth are not, people are still working hard even if it is to build ghost cities.

But that other indicator like the Gini index is also correct. There is a lot of money earned but it doesn't go to the labor class. And that's where usually unions come in. In my country unions were started to negotiate because the labor class started to torch the mansions and factories of the owner class, sometimes with said owners still inside. Negotiations and some strikes were preferred above the torch and pitchfork style of handling things.

That's history of course, and especially in USA the owner class if very good at dividing and gaslighting the labor class to keep this from happening, so members of the labor class start pointing at ghost cities in China instead off what's happening and who's pulling their strings.

willington

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It all depends on what you measure and what you don't.

Selective measuring of the economy will let you say whatever you want.

"More jobs!!!11!!1!1!!!1111!1!1!!!!!"

"More precarity and high turnover, high pressure, shit conditions, shit pay, shit flexibility, shit benefits, no real pension commitment, underemployment."

Even if all the measures do exist, you don't have to report them if they go against the narrative.

shortwavesurfer

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And how many of these jobs are real full-time jobs instead of people looking for a second or third job as a Uber driver and how many of them are government jobs, which of course just suck people dry and are unproductive because they are paid by theft called taxes

willington

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Taxes are not theft.

shortwavesurfer

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So people demanding a ransome from your paycheck to fund atrosities around the world is not theft.

Badeendje

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Well then be active in your politics on what the money is spent on, but you rely on stuff paid for by your taxes every day.

Just imagine how much "the strong" will run roughshod on you if the government did not exist. The Republican hellscapes that allow companies to poison communities, exploit workers and more are good examples.

shortwavesurfer

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The things that I rely on my taxes for are way smaller than the things my taxes are spent on. For example, why is my tax money being spent on weapons to kill people halfway across the world when no Americans are being threatened? We could eliminate somewhere around 3-4ths of the military industrial complex right now and not have any issues and get some of that money back. I consider myself a libertarian, not a republican. Big difference is Republicans still want to tell you how you can live.

Badeendje

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If you are truly interested in learning why, I could link you some resources.But the long and short of it is, the US is as rich and powerful because one of their big exports is safety for their allies.

You can bet your ass thatany US allies are watching the shit show in congress regarding Ukraine and wondering if they will be left out to dry if push comes to shove, and will hesitate to back US plays in the power competition with China.

willington

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Profit is theft.

Economic rent is theft.

Mojojojo1993

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Answer most of these questions with.

Money. Obsessive greed

demesisx

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If they can’t even admit that the economy is BAD, I don’t feel the need to entertain their other opinions.

balancedchaos

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It's fascinating, how the media tries to prop up their "side" despite the obvious reality.

Fox News praising Trump during COVID (which he absolutely blundered), and now the left media saying we have a great economy when me and all my friends are slow at work. So slow it's concerning.

rdyoung

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I really hope you are being facetious here.

The economy is booming. Your slow at work because it's winter/spring when everything slows down. I drive for a living and can tell you that from what I see, people definitely look like they feel more flush and everywhere is hiring. Not all companies have upped their starting pay to bring in the real talent but some have and those are the companies who will flourish longer term.

I'll bet you also think that global warming isn't real because you saw snow and felt cold this winter.

CaptainSpaceman

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The Fed is your #1 trusted source? Cool

Do you know who runs the Fed? Hint: its not the US Gov because the Fed isnt actually a Federal entity.

Did you say "All the major bank heads in America"? If so, you win a prize!!!!

Yes, those people are always so above board, eh?

rdyoung

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I didn't say what my source was. The fact that you think it was "the fed" or the head of any bank tells me that you have no idea how any of this actually works.

I'm talking about real numbers and what I see day to day.

You have a nice day now.

CaptainSpaceman

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c/iamverysmart comment right there fam

Who do you think publishes the data you are calling "real numbers"?

metallic_substance

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This guy posts waaaay too much around here. Practically all he does is argue his ignorant opinions. I've considered blocking him, but sometimes he writes something so unbelievably dumb that it makes me laugh

CaptainSpaceman

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You're welcome!

balancedchaos

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And honestly? I'm tired of being gaslit by both sides. Fuck you all.

balancedchaos

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I also drive for a living, and boy is it slow out there.

And ohhhh, you think I'm a solipsist because I used personal experience to back up my claims. Cool.

That's what's going on in reality, though. Try touching some grass rather than believing what you see on a screen.

HobbitFoot

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What do you drive?

balancedchaos

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Semi truck for a company known for something else. Private fleet.

HobbitFoot

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The economy looks to be good, but the tech sector isn't the economy. We're at the popping of another tech bubble as recently developed product lines aren't generating the returns that were expected of them. Outside of AI, there isn't a reason to invest in tech, so why people to develop in tech?

balancedchaos

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What looks good about the economy, out of curiosity.

HobbitFoot

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Unemployment is still low. The stock market is still high. Inflation is down to below historic averages.

The raw numbers look good. And if you want to complain about inequality, unions have been winning major concessions in a lot of their contracts recently, so wages have been going up as well.

webhead

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Not to mention inequality isn't some new thing that's happening now. It's been happening for decades. It's not good but that doesn't mean the economy isn't doing well by the usual standards. We still need to do something about how shitty things are on that front but if we're trying to compare how the economy is doing compared to previous years, it's doing well.

The reason it feels bad imo is because money isn't free anymore so a lot of tech companies are laying people off. Also inflation wiped away many gains we all made with our salaries. We're doing better now, information stopped going out of control, but we're left with the shitty high prices that came with it and they aren't going down (because most of them are due to corporate greed, not real circumstances and costs).

rdyoung

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You've been brainwashed if you think the economy is actually bad. Let me guess, you think we would be having a great economy under the orange mussolini?

All metrics agree that we are doing fairly well economically speaking. The tech layoffs have nothing to do with the economy, it's 100% corporate greed and the games they play. They staffed up with cheap loans when interest rates were stupid low and paid themselves insane bonuses and now that interest rates are high again it's time to cut back on expenses.

For the record. The metrics I'm talking about DO NOT INCLUDE the stock market. While tech is seeing major layoffs, the rest of the economy is hiring like crazy. My wife's company for one is planning on doubling her team over the next year and just hired 2 more people, 1 to replace someone moving internally and a new position.

Nudding

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What about the record homelessness?

demesisx

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You guessed wrong. I stopped reading right there, shitlib.

Thanks for putting your tribalism brainwashed “Trump trump trump trump trump trump trump trump” accusation early on in that pile of drivel.

You: “Everyone I disagree with is a Trump supporter!”

TLDR.

Edit: to avoid future embarrassment, try this one: “the economy we are seeing right now is the delayed effect of Trump’s administration removing regulatory restrictions on oligarchic Industries.” If you had said that, I might have had an iota of respect for your perspective. But your perspective above is the equivalent of pissing on me and telling me it’s raining.

rdyoung

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Oh wow, you really told me.

The fact that you attacked first tells me that you are actually a trump supporter or possibly worse, you think that Bobby Kennedy or Cornell West would be better in the big chair than Biden.

I'm never not amazed at the lack of understanding of things like the economy. If all you do is listen to fox and others say how bad the economy is and you don't stop to analyze it yourself, you only have you to blame for your ignorance.

Have a nice day now.

demesisx

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Yeah Marxists are usually Trump supporters.

Please stop embarrassing yourself.

Snapz

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To discipline labor

slappy

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There is a fundamental lack of understanding on just how much can be automated. Major issues due to understaffing will come in time.

wizardbeard

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Unless you're automating business processes as a contractor brought in to be a hatchet man, the general momentum of a company and thr business politics at play are going to reduce what's possible significantly.

The big wigs might want to see cost savings, but they want to see big numbers fast. They don't want long term payoff from improved efficiency that also causes all the people under them to bitch and moan about how much they don't like change.

I say this as someone who automates shit and gets different systems to speak to each other in order to improve quality and efficiency as my job: the only way we're going to see major changes in this is if new lean companies somehow out-compete the existing monoliths by using automation. Otherwise we're just looking at incremental changes over time, not some unemployment event horizon where all goes to shit suddenly.

slappy

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What is great is when you hit an issue that requires support from the automation platform vendor and their response is “we don’t know why it broke or how to fix it”. An FTE worth of licensing and support fees, and zero to show for it.

electric_nan

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Business criminals pumping up the bottom line ahead of earnings calls.