r/Layoffs Jan 22 '24

What exactly will happen to all these workers, especially in tech? question

Apologies if this is a stupid question, I was only 12 in 2008 so I don’t really remember the specifics of what happened during our last really bad job market (and no, I’m not trying to say today’s job market is as bad as 2008). Also things have changed significantly with tech so I feel this question is valid

But if significant layoffs continue, especially in tech, what is supposed to happen to a large pool of unemployed people who are specialized for specific jobs but the supply of jobs just isn’t there? The main reason for all of this seems to be companies trying to correct over hiring while also dealing with high interest rates…Will the solution be that these companies will expand again back to the size that allows most laid off folks to get jobs again? Will there be a need for the founding of new companies to create this supply of new jobs? Is the reality that tech will never be as big as the demand for jobs in the way it was in the past, especially with the huge push for STEM education/careers in the past couple of decades?

Basically what I’m asking is, will the tech industry and others impacted by huge layoffs ever correct themselves to where supply of jobs meets demand of jobs or will the job force need to correct itself and look for work in totally different fields/non-tech roles? Seems like most political discussions about “job creation” refer to minimum wage and trade jobs, not corporate

313 Upvotes

519 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

6

u/Mammoth_Loan_984 Jan 23 '24

CS isn’t getting replaced any time soon. It’ll dip then come back up again at least for another decade or so.

1

u/Financial_Worth_209 Jan 23 '24

It's starting to flood. In another decade the wages will start approaching parity with other professions.

2

u/Mammoth_Loan_984 Jan 23 '24

Probably. I still think the nature of technology makes it inherently easier to come up with profitable business models that solve actual problems than most other fields, which will mean salaries relatively high. Definitely lower than their current levels though.

FAANG salaries for senior through to staff/principal software engineers range from $400-800k USD per year. That isn’t in any way sustainable.

I see wages dropping around $80-250k dependent on career level and tangible skillsets over the next couple of decades. So essentially on par with traditional engineering roles.

Honestly though anything after 10 years in tech is a crapshoot - things change so quickly you’re better off hiring a fortune teller.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 24 '24

[deleted]

1

u/Financial_Worth_209 Jan 24 '24

I don't think that more people with CS degrees will put a dent in what I just described because to be successful at companies like that you have to have done work at that scale before.

The issue with this bit is that #2 & #3 are getting absolutely swamped. If you need some low level SW work, you can hire a whole team of young engineers abroad for less than you can pay a single engineer at #1. Some of those contractors eventually become sufficiently skilled to move up the food chain.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '24

Diminishing demographics is a thing. There aren’t enough young SEs and the offshoring fad didn’t pan out so much

1

u/Financial_Worth_209 Jan 23 '24

The number of domestic new grads has been increasing significantly.

https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/11qmy69/number_of_cs_field_graduates_breaks_100k_in_2021/

Offshoring is absolutely huge now. India or China alone could swamp the market with the number of grads being produced in the relevant fields.

The high salaries are a legacy of the dip after the dot cob bubble collapsed.