Throughout the pandemic, tech companies added workers at a rapid clip. Now, with worries of a looming recession and sky high inflation dampening consumer spending, many of these same companies are looking to cut costs and shore up capital. Amazon almost doubled in size over the past few years as it needed to staff up its warehouses to meet customer demand. Now, announcing last month that it reduced its headcount by 99,000 people to 1.52 million.
people, or 10% of its global workforce. CEO Tobi Lutke, in a memo to employees, acknowledged that he miscalculated how long the pandemic-fueled e-commerce boom would last.Changing demographics are also at play in the current labor picture. George Washington University management professor Christopher Kayes points out that constricted immigration policies have led to fewer workers, as have the significant number of people retiring, and retiring earlier since the pandemic.
Dannie Combs, chief information security officer at Donnelley Financial Solutions, says he's never seen an environment like this. He works primarily in Austin, Texas"and there's not a recession here that I can see. There are thousands of jobs available." At the same time, he recognizes that inflation is an undeniable factor for the company, and that he's had to be"creative in our compensation packages and our offers in terms of location and flexibility.
Tech companies have been stealing from us...they moved into LA and began stealing salaries, jobs, communities...job discrimination....