- Elon Musk buys Twitter, lays off half of the workforce
- Meta announces layoff soon
- Why is the tech industry facing a financial crisis at this time?
- What does this mean for the Tech industry and Talents?
Elon Musk buys Twitter, lays off half of the workforce
In the past weeks, the tech industry has seen unprecedented staff layoffs for several reasons. Recently, the new CEO of Twitter, Elon Musk, laid off about 3700 tweeps a few days after his resumption.
Elon Musk bought Twitter for a $44 billion deal. Not long after, he fired top Twitter executives such as the Chief executive Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal and Vijaya Gadde, head of legal policy, trust, and safety, Sean Edgett, the company's general counsel and other staff. It is estimated that about 50% of the entire staff was sacked in line with Elon Musk's proposal and reformation plan to buy Twitter.
As reported by the Washington Post "He wants to execute a financial turnaround of the company by firing nearly 75% of its workforce. Lean into new business opportunities, including having people subscribe to exclusive content from popular influencers on the service."
Well, that's only part of the latest on the bird app. In addition, musk states plan to offer verification ticks to all users for $8 per month. This is to combat the class divide in the app.
As a verified user, you're to pay $96 every year for exclusive benefits such as:
- Priority in replies, mentions and search
- Ability to post long video and audio
- Half as many ads
- Paywall bypass for selected publishers
As it is, the social media platform is experiencing many changes and transformations in such quick successions.
Tech Industry - Meta announces layoff soon
In a related development, Meta announced it would cut a heap of roles this week as part of its cost rationalisation efforts.
Unlike the parent company of Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram, it's not planning to cut off half of the workforce. Meta's workforce is larger than Twitter.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal:
"Meta is planning to begin large-scale layoffs this week, according to people familiar with the matter […] The layoffs are expected to affect many thousands of employees. An announcement is planned to come as soon as Wednesday, according to the people."
The cuts will be another blow to the once-thriving tech industry, but they could also be the turning point that leads to the next big tech shifts.
According to Crunchbase, "The public markets have been hit hard in 2022, and that's trickled down to the private markets. Inflation concerns, rising interest rates and geopolitical issues have contributed to a roller-coaster stock market.'
On the other hand, Reports from LinkedIn news say firms are posting jobs for ex-twitter staff. According to the news, companies including eBay and Spotify are sharing job listings with people who have recently been let go from Twitter following Elon Musk's takeover. This could be a sign that although the tech industry may be facing a tough time, there are still opportunities.
Why is the tech industry facing a financial crisis at this time?
LinkedIn Economist explains to Yahoo news that the tech industry faces a boomerang effect from the pandemic growth and its decisions. The industry thrived during the pandemic and increased hiring and spending decisions. But as people have a normal work routine, spending less time at home, as investors reduce investments, fearing less interest in companies boosted by the pandemic.
Companies like Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Zoom have experienced a significant drop in their earnings due to the post-pandemic lifestyle effect. In the past quarter, Apple and Amazon have laid off staff and announced they wouldn't be hiring for a while.
Also, rising inflation and interest rates have raised recession fears, causing investors and companies to cut down expenses, including laying off staff.
But what does this mean for the Tech Industry and Talents in general?
With the advancement of Web3, associated technologies, and expanding VR and AR experiences, many of these seasoned IT employees may find new opportunities to jump into the next big breakthrough and steer the future in new ways.
This means that the next significant breakthroughs could come from companies other than the established tech behemoths.
That won't help people out of work, but it could be the start of the next big trend.
Do you think the talent deficit gap will still exist? Will there still be job opportunities if the layoffs continue?
