The Great Tech-Job Reshuffle

After a decade-long boom, high-profile tech companies are laying off thousands of workers. But many newly unemployed are in demand in other industries.

- MICHAL LEV-RAM

Twitter is among the many tech companies that have cut jobs.

THE EMAIL LANDED on Nov. 4. The subject line: Your role at Twitter.

"It was my first time getting laid off," says Grace-Ann Baker, a former director of product management at the social media company. As it turned out, Baker wasn't alone. New owner Elon Musk would eventually let go of nearly two-thirds of the 7,500 employees he'd inherited at the beleaguered company. And in the coming weeks and months, the trend continued across the broader technology sector. Just as fast as tech companies had hired employees during the pandemic, they now quickly shed them as the economy slowed.

At Amazon, more than 18,000 people were laid off; at Google parent Alphabet, 12,000; at Facebook parent Meta, 11,000; and at Microsoft, 10,000. Smaller companies downsized too, with layoffs announced at payments provider Stripe, online video hosting service Vimeo, and e-tailer Stitch Fix.

All of a sudden, legions of tech workers-once in demand and showered with big salaries and generous perks and bonuses-found themselves looking for jobs, in the unfamiliar position of having to update their résumés and wait for callbacks from recruiters.

But instead of struggling to find new work, many are discovering that their skills are still a hot commodity. Many employers outside tech, some of which had trouble attracting tech talent during Silicon Valley's decade-long boom because of their stodgy reputations and lower pay, are scooping up unemployed software engineers and web designers now that the tech industry is in retreat.

Those non-tech employers? Think sectors like health care, finance, and government. They offer more stability and, in some cases, the opportunity to join huge tech teams built up over the years.