Basically, all of the headlines seem to be speaking of a major crisis. These days, job seekers feel petrified because of the massive cooling of the previously super-hot market. In fact, the past week was marked by the news of massive layoffs 2022. So, the hiring is slowing down, and a huge slippery slope is showing on the business horizon.
But is it time to panic? What do the experts say? Were there many tech layoffs in 2022? Get ready – we’re about to delve into this shocking trend.
2022 layoffs and the bear market
So, what is a bear market, and what does it have to do with layoffs in 2022? Well, let’s start from the top. The basic definition suggests that the bear market is a phenomenon tied to an economic recession. It’s labeled as a sustained period of downward trending stock prices. Now, this sounds a bit mystified and tricky to comprehend. But if we truly want to see how devastating its effects might be, we should take a brief trip down the past. For example, the Great Depression and Great Recession were both connected with bear markets.
Back to the present day now. As we could have guessed, the global pandemic has triggered a new wave of mass layoffs. So, the downward spiral actually started back in March 2020. However, the world has been facing a brand-new peek in cutbacks and unemployment. In fact, it seems that things have started downhill in the US. And it’s yet to see whether the rest of the world will also be sloping downward when it comes to dismissals from the jobs.
The wave of 2022 layoffs is huge!
In the past few months, a giant wave of layoffs swept across American businesses. On the one hand, we are witnessing rising labor costs. But also, there’s a matter of slower business growth. And the thing that surprises us the most is that even companies like Facebook (Meta) have a hard time hiring and retaining employees. Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber CEO, also mentioned that recruiting brand-new staff feels like a major privilege in this climate. Finally, Netflix, everyone’s favorite time-pass, has taken a step further. In fact, this company has started laying people off. Their firm lost $54 billion in market value in just one day. Their Hollywood & Wall Street colleagues forecast that we have a messy year ahead. So, is the business world on the verge of an apocalypse?
Feels like a reckoning. But is it?
News and figures like these make us feel like now’s the perfect time to enter full-on panic mode. But experts have a different opinion. The whole planet, and the US in particular, is facing some massive changes in the economy. In addition, the alterations in consumer behavior were also triggered by the global pandemic. However, analytics suggest that these ups and downs are actually quite normal. These flows happen when worldwide occurrences dictate so. And if we incline to believe in the financial professionals, there is no indisputable evidence of the “imminent recession.”
Here’s an encouraging piece of information to hold on to – according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, American employers added 428,000 new jobs in April 2022. So is the bear really coming? One definition suggests that the bear market pops up when investors become more risk-averse than risk-seeking. So maybe the consequences of this volatile business era are yet to be spotted and interpreted.
Recognized companies laying off 2022
Companies of all sizes were hit by the current state of the market. However, the startup ecosystem felt the impact more strongly. So, recent startups like Peloton have laid countless employees off in the past few months. But they’re not the only ones. In fact, it turns out many layoff-resistant organizations also had to cut back and let people go.
Better, a famous mortgage lender had to lay off nearly 3000 staff members in March. And now, they’re accepting voluntary resignations. According to their CEO, this company lost $100 million in one quarter in 2021. A popular weight-loss app-making company Noom has recently let go of more than 400 coaches. They are turning toward video-based coaching now. SaaS companies were not spared either. Mural, for instance, has cut dozens of workers in a very short period. So, what’s the tech scene like at this very moment?
Tech company layoffs 2022
One thing was certain over the past few years – tech jobs were always in-demand, and talents with the necessary hard skills had no trouble landing a new gig. So, is this market cooling off as well?
Well, some industry giants had to slow down their hiring processes. Uber, Netflix, and Facebook indeed are the most buzz-worthy names on this list. Also, the digital trading app Robinhood had to pause its recruitment efforts and let go of 9% of its workforce. Interestingly, they’ve seen steady growth over the last few years. In 2019, this firm had around 700 employees, and by the end of 2021, the number of its members skyrocketed. They’ve reached a whopping figure of 3800 workers. This year, however, the situation turned for the worse.
Also, Amazon’s CFO has announced that the organization has “too many employees” at this point. How did it come to this? Well, the Omicron variant has paralyzed the retail giant. With numerous workers on sick leave, they were urged to admit new applications and continue growing.
Finally, a California-based financial platform MainStreet is rumored to be laying people off. According to Twitter news, they’re about to let go of nearly 30% of their labor pool.
Tech companies & layoffs [2022]: What’s the prognosis?
It’s safe to say that we have a fluctuating market on our hands. This downward trend has spread across the US like a wildfire. But what will happen next? One thing’s certain – the investors in both the public and private market will change their course of action and the parameters they value. So, instead of the fast growth, they’ll turn to appreciating strong cash flow and profitability as the key factors.
Still, none of the experts tend to foresee a catastrophe nearing. And the tech sector will live long and prosper – according to all sources and by all accounts. Sure, the road is a bit bumpy at this point. And it will cause a headache or two in the months ahead. But it’s far from bloodcurdling.
Massive layoffs in 2022 are part of the post-pandemic reset
The next few quarters will certainly have the American businesses struggling. The startup scene will take the most severe hit. But the economy is likely to recuperate. And as for the tech firms, the well-established ones, as well as brand-new players, many will bounce back. The employees that were laid off by these companies will still be able to land a new career quite effortlessly.
And even though the massive layoffs in 2022 aren’t likely to stop fully, digital workers and technology professionals won’t be (that) affected by bears & utterly cataclysmic scenarios.
