多年來,科技行業(yè)似乎發(fā)展最輕松,職業(yè)生涯也非常穩(wěn)定。然而隨著福利消失,多家公司裁員數千人,有些人在懷疑自己的選擇究竟是否正確。
2024年才過去兩個月,PayPal、思科(Cisco)和亞馬遜(Amazon)等公司就紛紛宣布裁員,數千名員工受影響,這是去年大規(guī)模裁員的延續(xù)。據裁員信息統(tǒng)計網站Layoffs.fyi的數據,過去一年科技行業(yè)共有近30萬人失業(yè)。
盡管宏觀經濟環(huán)境總體向好,就業(yè)人數也超過預期,但并非所有行業(yè)均等受益。在科技行業(yè),員工即便未被解雇也會發(fā)現(xiàn)企業(yè)減少了福利,而且提高了要求。
在谷歌工作曾被當成舒適的典范,公司提供免費餐食、按摩,還有睡眠艙。然而如今種種免費福利逐漸減少。部分福利消失是因為疫情,例如餐食供應調整、免費按摩暫停和健身中心關閉。但據《商業(yè)內幕》(Business Insider)報道,一些員工聲稱疫情之后谷歌仍然在削減食品和團隊社交預算,還規(guī)定員工只能為“關鍵業(yè)務”旅行。
與此同時,科技公司提高了對員工的要求,具體形式包括返回辦公室辦公或更嚴格的績效評估等。
Meta可能是對員工提高要求的最明顯案例。首席執(zhí)行官馬克·扎克伯格稱2023年是“追求效率之年”,此后公司裁員22%并精簡中層管理人員,還要求一些員工要么競爭上崗要么走人。盡管員工人數已大幅減少,本月早些時候扎克伯格還是表示,“追求效率之年”將不斷實施下去。
在社交媒體和在線論壇上,在職和離職科技員工紛紛感嘆行業(yè)充滿不確定性,以往舒適的科技行業(yè)崗位已不復存在。
上個月,谷歌前雇員、加拿大軟件開發(fā)商蒂姆·布雷在個人博客中說,2010年他入職時,谷歌是“全世界最酷的工作場所”。但他補充說,隨著商界“瘋子”加入和晚期資本主義的影響,科技巨頭的吸引力已逐漸消弭,如今的谷歌總是跟“充滿敵意的國會聽證會、大規(guī)模裁員和混亂的反壟斷訴訟”聯(lián)系在一起。
在X也就是之前的Twitter上,一些曾經在科技行業(yè)工作的人們講述了被解雇后的掙扎。其中包括39歲的阿德里安·杰克遜,他在最近一條推文中表示,從科技行業(yè)失業(yè)后,他不得不搬回父母家。
Reddit上昵稱為Catgut66的被裁員工表示,從業(yè)13年,公司將質量保證工作外包后宣布他被解雇。他們在Reddit上寫道,感覺必須找新工作養(yǎng)家糊口。
“我躺在床上想到家人,感覺一片迷茫!妻子根本賺不到錢,所以一切都得我來扛,”該用戶寫道。
雖然裁員人數已達數十萬,投行Jefferies專門研究科技行業(yè)的分析師布倫特·蒂爾告訴英國《金融時報》(Financial Times),裁員仍將繼續(xù),而且力度可能更大。蒂爾補充稱,一旦公司發(fā)現(xiàn)其他同行員工更少還能完成更多工作,就可能也選擇裁員。
“已經在四處傳染了,”他說。(財富中文網)
譯者:梁宇
審校:夏林
多年來,科技行業(yè)似乎發(fā)展最輕松,職業(yè)生涯也非常穩(wěn)定。然而隨著福利消失,多家公司裁員數千人,有些人在懷疑自己的選擇究竟是否正確。
2024年才過去兩個月,PayPal、思科(Cisco)和亞馬遜(Amazon)等公司就紛紛宣布裁員,數千名員工受影響,這是去年大規(guī)模裁員的延續(xù)。據裁員信息統(tǒng)計網站Layoffs.fyi的數據,過去一年科技行業(yè)共有近30萬人失業(yè)。
盡管宏觀經濟環(huán)境總體向好,就業(yè)人數也超過預期,但并非所有行業(yè)均等受益。在科技行業(yè),員工即便未被解雇也會發(fā)現(xiàn)企業(yè)減少了福利,而且提高了要求。
在谷歌工作曾被當成舒適的典范,公司提供免費餐食、按摩,還有睡眠艙。然而如今種種免費福利逐漸減少。部分福利消失是因為疫情,例如餐食供應調整、免費按摩暫停和健身中心關閉。但據《商業(yè)內幕》(Business Insider)報道,一些員工聲稱疫情之后谷歌仍然在削減食品和團隊社交預算,還規(guī)定員工只能為“關鍵業(yè)務”旅行。
與此同時,科技公司提高了對員工的要求,具體形式包括返回辦公室辦公或更嚴格的績效評估等。
Meta可能是對員工提高要求的最明顯案例。首席執(zhí)行官馬克·扎克伯格稱2023年是“追求效率之年”,此后公司裁員22%并精簡中層管理人員,還要求一些員工要么競爭上崗要么走人。盡管員工人數已大幅減少,本月早些時候扎克伯格還是表示,“追求效率之年”將不斷實施下去。
在社交媒體和在線論壇上,在職和離職科技員工紛紛感嘆行業(yè)充滿不確定性,以往舒適的科技行業(yè)崗位已不復存在。
上個月,谷歌前雇員、加拿大軟件開發(fā)商蒂姆·布雷在個人博客中說,2010年他入職時,谷歌是“全世界最酷的工作場所”。但他補充說,隨著商界“瘋子”加入和晚期資本主義的影響,科技巨頭的吸引力已逐漸消弭,如今的谷歌總是跟“充滿敵意的國會聽證會、大規(guī)模裁員和混亂的反壟斷訴訟”聯(lián)系在一起。
在X也就是之前的Twitter上,一些曾經在科技行業(yè)工作的人們講述了被解雇后的掙扎。其中包括39歲的阿德里安·杰克遜,他在最近一條推文中表示,從科技行業(yè)失業(yè)后,他不得不搬回父母家。
Reddit上昵稱為Catgut66的被裁員工表示,從業(yè)13年,公司將質量保證工作外包后宣布他被解雇。他們在Reddit上寫道,感覺必須找新工作養(yǎng)家糊口。
“我躺在床上想到家人,感覺一片迷茫!妻子根本賺不到錢,所以一切都得我來扛,”該用戶寫道。
雖然裁員人數已達數十萬,投行Jefferies專門研究科技行業(yè)的分析師布倫特·蒂爾告訴英國《金融時報》(Financial Times),裁員仍將繼續(xù),而且力度可能更大。蒂爾補充稱,一旦公司發(fā)現(xiàn)其他同行員工更少還能完成更多工作,就可能也選擇裁員。
“已經在四處傳染了,”他說。(財富中文網)
譯者:梁宇
審校:夏林
For years, the tech industry seemed like the best place to grow a cushy, stable career. But as benefits disappear and companies lay off thousands, some are questioning whether they made the right choice.
In the first two months of the year alone, PayPal, Cisco, and Amazon, among others, have announced layoffs affecting thousands of workers, a continuation of the mass layoffs from last year. All in all, nearly 300,000 workers in the tech industry have lost their jobs in the past year, according to Layoffs.fyi.
While the wider macroeconomic environment is still good and job numbers have surpassed expectations, the good vibes have not rippled across all sectors. In tech, even those employees who were not laid off have seen employers scale back benefits while also demanding more of workers.
A job at Google was once seen as the epitome of a comfortable gig—complete with free meals, massages, and nap pods. Yet, gradually, those freebies have been pulled back. The pandemic was responsible for some cutbacks, such as changes to catering, a pause on free massages, and fitness-center closures. But even after the pandemic, some employees claim Google has also pared back its budget for food and team social events, as well as restricted employee travel to “business critical” trips, Business Insider reported.
At the same time, tech companies are asking their workers to show their commitment with return-to-office mandates or stricter performance reviews.
The pivot to demanding more from workers may be best exemplified by Meta. CEO Mark Zuckerberg labeled 2023 the “year of efficiency,” and since then has cut the company’s workforce by 22% while thinning out its middle management and asking some employees to reapply for jobs or be fired. Despite the massive scaling back on workers, Zuckerberg said earlier this month that the “year of efficiency changes” would be implemented permanently.
Some current and former tech workers have taken to social media and online forums to voice their uncertainty about the state of the sector, and the evaporation of the traditionally comfortable tech job.
One former Google employee, Canadian software developer Tim Bray, said in his personal blog last month that when he joined in 2010, Google was “was the coolest place in the world to work.” But he added that the entry of business-world “psychopaths” and the effects of late-stage capitalism have done away with the allure of Big Tech, and that now it is more associated with “hostile congressional hearings, mass layoffs, and messy antitrust litigation.”
On X, formerly Twitter, some former tech workers have detailed their struggles after being laid off. That includes 39-year-old Adrian C. Jackson, who said in a recent tweet that he had to move back in with his parents after he lost his tech job.
On Reddit, another laid-off employee by the username Catgut66, said they were fired after their employer outsourced quality assurance after 13 years. They wrote on Reddit that they are feeling the stress of having to find a new job to support their family.
“I am lying in bed thinking about family and freaking the F out! Wife makes shit for money so everything is on my shoulders,” they wrote.
Even after hundreds of thousands of layoffs, Brent Thill, a Jefferies analyst specializing in the tech sector, told the Financial Times that the layoffs will continue, and could get worse. As companies see other organizations do more with a leaner workforce, Thill added, they could choose to lay off workers as well.
“It’s become contagious,” he said.