Technology

I’ve worked in the SaaS world for nearly a decade. I’ve never had an issue getting a new job every couple of years. The best path for promotions and salary increases in this world. I was unfortunately part of a layoff back in the summer, and I have never had such a hard time finding work in my life.

Every time I go to apply to a job that’s fairly new, I can see there are already a couple thousand applicants. Suddenly my decade of experience isn’t enough to land an interview, much less a job.

It. Sucks.

As much as I feel for the people hit hard right now, I think this is an economic indicator that‘s going to cause many downstream consequences if it continues.

On top of the downward trends by the tech titans, venture capital funding is plummeting. That’s because the VC investors can see that the likelihood of a big successful buyout is decreasing, mostly because the big fish are tightening their belts and facing higher borrowing costs (interest rates).

Many big companies have effectively outsourced R&D, waiting until a startup creates something worth buying instead. Then the VC employees either got a nice payout or employment with the big company (or both).

These often massive transactions were the source of serious economic growth. Those people had stability to spend in a way that many others wish. In the face of crappy outlooks and flat wages in tons of other fields, tech has long been the outlier making plenty of middle income people shoot up in wealth. And it did bring along others for the ride.

That growth drying up is not good for anyone. Well, unless you’re waiting on a market crash.

This is probably more of a localized situational matter than most of us realize. The US (and the world for that matter) is a big place of extreme diversity.

I’ve been unemployed for 14 months and I don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. I left with plenty of savings and moved to a country where I spend less than $1000 a month but I’m running out soon. It’s kinda scary and I’ve contemplated some dark shit

Doesn't match my experience in Toronto area having worked in tech for 15 years. We struggle to fill vacancies yet we have more perks, benefits, and fully unionized. I switched roles this year and was looking at job postings in the area, saw postings that had been up for months.