The great tech job reset

As work gets redefined and companies reset hiring, expect more turmoil in the job market

- SHELLEY SINGH

The process is almost robotic. The office entry badge is disabled and laptop access denied before that final email from HR: ‘You were good, but are no longer required. A courier will deliver your belongings’

The sentiment is exaggerated here, but for thousands of employees across the global tech industry, it rings kind of true — it’s the new, automated way of getting a pink slip. Over the past year, technology giants from Amazon and Microsoft to Intel, Oracle and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) have announced waves of layoffs, with global moves impacting India as well.

Some cite “efficiency” while others call it a “strategic reset”. Whatever the label, experts see a structural transformation reshaping global employment: Artificial intelligence (AI)-driven productivity, where the “focus is shifting from headcount to skill count”, points out Rituparna Chakraborty, partner, India, True Search, a global executive talent firm.

Over-hiring during the pandemic amid a pivot to digitisation is also seen as a reason behind these layoffs, as companies reset, use more automated tools and cut the headcount. Around 30 per cent of code is written by AI and this is increasing. Companies like Amazon can run warehouses with robots.

“This isn’t a crisis — it’s a correction,” said Chakraborty. “Most large technology companies expanded rapidly between 2020 and 2022 to meet digital demand. As growth normalises, leaders are refocusing on margins, shareholder expectations, and capital efficiency. Today’s layoffs are more about redesigning for future competitiveness than undoing pandemic over-hiring.”

That pandemic hiring spree was driven by rapid digital transformation. Big Tech doubled down on ecommerce, cloud computing and digital collaboration. Amazon alone tripled its corporate headcount between 2017 and 2022. Microsoft expanded hiring by 22 per cent in 2021-22.