Laid-off tech workers turn to LinkedIn, therapy and each other

Tech workers are adjusting to a new reality of less-than-airtight job security in an industry unaccustomed to extended periods of deep, widespread cuts.

More than a year out from the most brutal round of tech layoffs since the dot-com bubble burst, workers are reckoning with the loss of what some saw as airtight job security in an industry that’s still downsizing.

The tech industry recorded about 34,000 layoffs in January, the most in a single month since January 2023, when almost 90,000 people were let go, according to the job-loss tracker layoffs.fyi. While the latest cuts in Silicon Valley aren’t as deep as those early last year, tech remains one of the few soft spots in a strong labor market in which unemployment has held below 4% for over two years.

“There was a time when working in tech seemed like the most stable career you could have,” said Ayomi Samaraweera, who was laid off as chief of staff at the content creator platform Jellysmack in December 2022. After about 10 years in the industry, she said, “tech does not seem safe and secure.”

There was a time when working in tech seemed like the most stable career you could have.

Ayomi Samaraweera, founder of social app Canopy

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/tech-workers-layoffs-job-cuts-careers-rcna141735

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