Comment on U.S. Tech Layoffs Hit Two-Decade High in October
jtj4135@lemmy.zip 6 hours ago
Atmospheric and Oceanic science has been heavily defunded this year. A quarter of my program at NOAA has been laid off this year.
If I lose my science job, I was planning on going into tech. Now where do I go??? It feels like the walls are closing in.
I should have gone to a trade school instead :/ STEM was a bad choice.
Tech is a field where there’s always infinite work to do, and it’s always only limited by the budget.
We had very low interest rates for over a decade, which made investments more profitable and thus there was always a ton of money to go around. The current financial downturn is the main reason of all the tech layoffs with no budget there are no jobs.
The upside of that: Even with all the talk of AI and stuff, once the interest rate goes down and investments go up, all the jobs will be back.
IDK. Tech companies are bringing in more revenue than ever. The trend seems to be companies reporting great revenue growth, then laying off shortly after, to which the investors seem to reward. In the past, layoffs would usually bring stock prices down, since they have less human capital to generate profit from.
The layoffs are usually due to a race to meet quarterly projections; when the projections slip, the fastest way to match them again is layoffs. And for companies to keep their stock prices up, quarterly numbers have to keep climbing.
Don’t wait, go straight into training in another field. Send out your resumes for a tech job, but start working on a backup.
That’s a good idea! And if I get rejected, at least I’ll know which new skills to focus on. In the meantime, I’ll try to figure out what other career besides tech would fit my education and skill set.
I have a master’s of science in atmospheric and oceanic science, which unfortunately is a very niche field. I made a miscalculation that my field would grow due to the increase in severe weather and negative affects from climate change.
Thanks for your advice :)
Education, perhaps? I know it’s under attack as well. Maybe there are some opportunities though.
Globally, there’s going to be continued need for your skills.
Locally, it may vary.
Look globally. And good luck with finding your path. I have done the unemployment track and it is unpleasant.
I feel this in my soul. I should’ve just went to law school.
I am probably older than you and just wrote the lsat to bail on tech. You can too!
Thanks for the encouragement homie.
Are you working for the government?
NOAA is run by the US government, yes.
Yes, I’m a contractor for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Sorry misread the parent comment. My dyslexic ass skipped “my”
IronBird@lemmy.world 3 hours ago
uironically, leave the US. plenty of countries/international research orgs are pouching all sorts of US-intelligencia right now.
YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 3 hours ago
This is not entirely true and blown away out of proportion by the writers of all the articles you’re seeing. For example that big one that got a bunch of attention in France was only for 15 applicants. Also outside of a few exceptions, most STEM workers lack the resources to pick up and leave where they are at.
ripcord@lemmy.world 2 hours ago
You say this like it is easy/simple
themaninblack@lemmy.world 2 hours ago
I left and got two Sr SWE positions within 3 months. It’s like the 90’s down here
jackal@infosec.pub 1 hour ago
Where did you land? How much paperwork was involved in the transition?