Mass tech layoffs have left the rest of the workforce on their toes, unknowing of these cuts will soon penetrate their industry.
Household names like Amazon, Meta and Twitter have all experienced historically high layoff rates as recession fears mount.
And the main reason for the industry specificity? Hiring sprees that occurred during the pandemic.
However, these headlines tell only one side of the story. According to the November U.S. Department of Labor jobs report, the country added a higher-than-expected 263,000 jobs, while wages saw a slight uptick.
“I do think what’s happening in the tech sector isn’t really representative of what we’re seeing in the overall economy right now,” said Nick Bunker, head of economic research at the Indeed Hiring Lab.
In fact, layoffs are still below pre-pandemic levels, with Bunker adding that the current rate would need to jump by 400,000 to meet levels seen from 2017 to 2019.
While layoffs were certainly led by the tech industry last month, a report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas shows that job cuts are still the second-lowest on record since the firm started tracking data in 1993.
