While the state of technology talent seems dire, the fallout is mainly confined to Silicon Valley as the bubble created by the pandemic has begun to burst. In the shadow of Big Tech layoffs, traditional firms should take advantage of the top talent on the market to advance digital transformation, according to a report from the Harvard Business Review.
The recent Big Tech layoffs provide the talent pool with some of the best talent in the industry. More than 100,000 tech employees have been laid off this year, according to Layoffs.fyi which tracks layoffs across organizations and industries. As traditional firms begin to look toward their goals for the new year, HBR recommends poaching laid-off employees to ensure success.
Before the burst of the Big Tech bubble, the competitiveness and prestige of most Big Tech firms like Meta, Google, Amazon, and Twitter lured top talent and new graduates with office perks, six-figure salaries, and stellar benefits. Other organizations, unwilling or unable to offer similar perks, have had a much more difficult time finding talented tech workers to aid in their digital transformation efforts. By recruiting former big tech employees, these organizations now have the advantage as they ramp up hiring efforts. Traditional firms are not the only organizations taking advantage of these layoffs—TikTok, the social media giant, is doubling its staff by recruiting former Amazon and Meta employees.
Overall, the technology industry continues to see growth in hiring as traditional firms are trying to ramp up digital transformation in the new year. A recent survey by the CIO Professional Network reports that, although many CIOs expect a decrease in hiring rates, there has been an increase since Q3 in CIOs who expect to increase their hiring rates in the first six months of the new year.
The state of talent has wildly fluctuated over the past year as employers have dealt with the Great Resignations, pushback to return-to-office initiatives, and an excess of talent. Tech talent in particular is not nearly as scarce or volatile as at the beginning of 2022, or even six months ago. Traditional firms certainly have the advantage over startups and technology companies as job seekers are looking for stability in an increasingly unstable market.
