Extra Strain for Laid-Off Workers
The pandemic has caused a significant increase in the number of laid-off workers in recent months, with many technology companies cutting tens of thousands of jobs.
According to Layoffs fyi, over 150,000 tech jobs were cut in 2022, compared to 80,000 in 2020 and 15,000 in 2021, making it a challenging time for laid-off workers. The continuing economic downturn and stagnant sales have prompted these layoffs, which are primarily impacting the tech sector, the Journal reported.
Twitter is among several major corporations that have many laid-off workers since they implemented significant job reductions in the new year, following the lead of other tech companies such as Google and Microsoft, as well as financial giants like Goldman Sachs.
Fast Turnaround for Laid-Off Workers
Despite the alarming headlines about the increasing number of laid-off workers, however, unemployment in the U.S. is not rising, and the job market remains unusually tight. A recent survey by hiring company ZipRecruiter found that most laid-off workers today are quickly finding new jobs.
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According to Yahoo, among the laid-off workers in December or January, just over half have already found other work, while another quarter said they have a job offer in hand, according to the poll of 2,000 people taken in late January. Laid-off workers who are most likely to have received job offers are those from jobs in advertising, the auto industry, and transportation. Somewhat surprisingly, 80% of workers who found new employment after getting laid off said they didn’t have to take a pay cut.
The findings suggest that some laid-off workers are being pushed into the job market at a time when conditions are still fairly favorable. The companies that have laid-off workers are concentrated in a few industries, and job cuts were mostly in finance, construction, technology, and real estate, relative to their share of the overall workforce. Workers in customer service, sales, IT, and operations were more likely to be laid off than in other functions.
In conclusion, while layoffs can be devastating for individuals, the current labor market conditions are still fairly favorable for those who have been laid off. The ZipRecruiter survey suggests that most laid-off workers are quickly finding new jobs, and some are even discovering that their market value is higher than they thought.
