Tech Layoffs More Than Double In Bay Area (mercurynews.com)

An anonymous reader shares an article on Mercury News: In yet another sign of a slowdown in the booming Bay Area economy, tech layoffs more than doubled in the first four months of this year compared to the same period last year (could be paywalled, here's an alternate source). Yahoo's 279 workers let go this year contributed to the 3,135 tech jobs lost in the four-county region of Santa Clara, San Mateo, Alameda and San Francisco counties from January through April, as did the 50 workers axed at Toshiba America in Livermore and the 71 at Autodesk in San Francisco. In the first four months of last year, just 1,515 Bay Area tech workers were laid off, according to mandatory filings under California's WARN Act. For that period in 2014, the region's tech layoffs numbered 1,330. The jump comes amid a litany of other signs that the tech economy may be taking a breather: disappointing earning reports from stalwarts like Apple, an IPO market that has come to a near standstill, a volatile stock exchange and uncertainty in China.

Comments

Number H1B requests to go up as well.

[Joe_Dragon]

Number H1B requests to go up as well.

Re:Number H1B requests to go up as well.

[Anonymous Coward]

Number H1B requests to go up as well.

I like how everyone here is a Libertarian until their jobs are at stake. Makes me laugh every time.

(What should we name these types of hypocrites? I propose Glib-ertarians.)

Re:Number H1B requests to go up as well.

[Maltheus]

What IS there for them to DO?!?

Well look, I already told you! I deal with the goddamn customers so the engineers don't have to! I have people skills! I am good at dealing with people! Can't you understand that? What the hell is wrong with you people?

Is it a slowdown?

[Anonymous Coward]

Just looking at layoffs only shows half the equation. How many jobs were added during the same period?

From TFA:
"Today the Bay Area's total employment of 3,353,600 as of the end of March still reflects job growth, with102,600 workers added from March 2015 through March 2016."

Re:Is it a slowdown?

[110010001000]

What the hell is wrong with you? Stop with your facts. We need clicks!

The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!

[__aaclcg7560]

In other news from TFA, big companies are still adding workers while other companies are laying off workers:

The Bay Area's skyrocketing tech layoffs reflect a transformation in the sector, said Stephen Levy, director of the Palo Alto-based Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy.

"We are being increasingly driven by the growth of the large companies," Levy said. "What you did not see on the list is layoffs from Apple or Google or Facebook or LinkedIn ... which are all expanding. This is the era of the large companies."

In short, it's not all doom-and-gloom in the Valley.

Re:The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!

[110010001000]

Well at least you are modest...

Re:The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!

[swb]

its a wonder tech ceo's have not been targets of violence. just give it time, though. to create local 'terrorists' all you need is to push people to the edge where they think they have nothing left.

If you look at the history of labor conflict in the US, it's often staggering how much violence there was. And not just sticks and stones conflict between police and pickets, but armed conflict waged more like a militia battle where it took Federal troops to impose order.

And the ugly side of it was sometimes racially motivated, with groups killing Chinese or other ethnic groups wholesale, believing their lower wages were stealing jobs.

It's hard to see that happening these days, but I'm not entirely sure why. Maybe we're better people, maybe because the economics of it aren't as dire as being an unemployed miner in Montana in 1880.

Re:The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!

[Karl Cocknozzle]

I'm really tired of this shit. work a job for a bit, then get laid off and be off for months if not longer. for now until I die, it will probably be like this.

FFS, isn't it obvious: Leave Sillicon Valley and run for your life! The obscene cost of living leads to sky-high wages which means that when a small company hits a speed bump, mathematics requires them to dump staff much much faster than it would in a market where, say, a VMware admin (not architect, but admin) makes a salary more reasonable than the $140k that seems to be the floor for that role out there. For much of the United States, that's like 35-40% premium.

Move someplace less "trendy," and more "stable," and you'll find your job disappearing far less often. Besides the dot-com bust, I've never once lost a job I didn't want to lose. And even that dot-com situation wasn't really my fault: Our company restated earnings and laid off thousands at the same time Arthur Andersen went under in Chicago, so I was competing with people 20 years older than me with 20 years more experience, and the only offer I fielded was for like $25k--take it or leave it!--so I left. Moved to less trendy, less exciting Indianapolis, and have been employed ever since. Cost of living is low, and I still make a good six figure salary--which goes a helluva lot further than $140k goes in the Valley.

Net number of tech jobs actually increased

[JoeyRox]

From the article:

"Today the Bay Area's total employment of 3,353,600 as of the end of March still reflects job growth, with102,600 workers added from March 2015 through March 2016."

In other words, the tech job market is healthy as ever, which includes a natural migration of jobs away from unproductive and unsuccessful companies to those which are better managed.

Re:Net number of tech jobs actually increased

[110010001000]

How dare you inject facts into this discussion!