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Amid big tech layoffs, some see a wave of change in the workforce

Ryan Bass

A black and a caucasian young woman are sitting in a business meeting in a modern office.They discuss something over papers and a laptop while one of them is pointing at the computer screen. Both are wearing glasses and pie charts are visible in the background.

(NewsNation) — Fears of a recession are sweeping Silicon Valley, as tech giants like Google, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft slash jobs and cut costs.

“The signals are there, for a not-as-frothy of an economy. Let’s just say that,” said Jason Averbook, Co-founder and CEO of Leapgen.


But is it a sign of things to come for all?

“What the tech people see as the writing on the wall, really can affect all of our lives. So this is the beginning of something,” said. Michael Gibbs, CEO of Go Cloud Careers.

Layoffs have become common in the tech world, with more than 1,000 tech companies laying off 150,000 people since 2022, according to Layoffs.fyi — especially after rapid growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, but other sectors of the job market aren’t seeing the same cuts.

The economy added 223,000 jobs in December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and unemployment fell to 3.5%, a half-century low.

The agency says hospitality is projected to see a massive boom in hiring. So too will gigs in renewable energy and cybersecurity.

Averbook has seen a wave of change in the workforce.

“I’d like to say there’s a massive talent shift going on in the world today,” said Averbook. “And right now, we’re right in the middle of it.”

The largest employer in the U.S. today is healthcare — and while medical professionals are always in demand and job growth is expected more than any industry over the next decade, over-work is an issue.

“Burnout is a word that should cause fear and concern and runs very deep within healthcare,” said Roy Bejarano, CEO of SCALE Healthcare. “We have a shortage of doctors, we have a shortage of nurses.”

Same story for public sector jobs — like police officers and school teachers. They’ve seen a decline the last two years, with no end in sight.

“I see every day how scared people are to be a police officer,” said Averbook. “Not because they’re worried about that they’re going to do something like what happened here in Minneapolis, but just how hard that is to do that job, based on how the public feels about that role today.”