Not a day goes by without a tech company announcing major job cuts. Today Paypal and Block (both payment service providers) have announced a total of 3500 job cuts, and recently Salesforce, Microsoft, SAP, Google, Ebay etc. have also done so. According to
https://layoffs.fyi, 25,000 documented tech jobs have already been cut this year.
What do you think?
Is it just a shrinkage and normalization after the strong build-up of the workforce during Corona or a long-term trend that will accelerate through the use of AI?Maybe both. Or maybe the effect of the pandemic over the "Big Tech" is kinda exaggerated. The pandemic ended in the first half of 2022(in the western world). Why didn't the big corporations start firing tech employees in 2022?
"Bullshit jobs" are a thing in big bureaucratic structures like the major corporations. AI will help the "Big Tech" to cut all the "bullshit jobs" and increase efficiency. Producing more with less people has always been the core principle of industrial capitalism. High tech capitalism is no exception to this rule.
Maybe the higher interest rates and the expectations of a future recession are also playing a big role in the decision to cut labor costs.