How Working For Google, Amazon, And Microsoft Lost 'Dream Job' Status

Summary

The tech industry, once renowned for its lavish perks and job security, has seen a shift in perception due to a surge in layoffs in recent years. Companies like Google, Netflix, and Salesforce, known for their employee benefits, now face workforce reductions. The industry's allure has dimmed as job stability becomes a top concern for new graduates and workers, who are reevaluating their career choices. Despite the layoffs, the tech sector still offers competitive salaries and prestige, prompting some to seek opportunities in smaller, less publicized companies or other industries where their skills are valued.

Takeaways

• 🏆 Google has been ranked as the top company to work for by Fortune, offering extensive perks such as free food, Wi-Fi-enabled shuttles, and recreational facilities.
• 👶 Netflix provides generous parental leave, allowing parents to take as much time off as needed during their child's first year after birth or adoption.
• 🧘 Salesforce has created mindfulness areas in the workplace, designed with the help of monks, to promote employee well-being.
• 💸 Airbnb offers employees a travel stipend of two thousand dollars, encouraging them to explore and experience different cultures.
• 🎶 Pandora, a music discovery platform, goes beyond traditional benefits by covering the costs of gender affirmation surgery for its workers.
• 🎨 Smaller tech startups are also enticing workers with unique perks, such as custom oil canvas paintings for top performers and secret meeting rooms.
• 📉 The tech industry has faced significant layoffs, with big names like Google, Microsoft, and fintech companies Block and PayPal making cuts in various divisions.
• 📈 The surge in tech layoffs in 2023 was influenced by high interest rates and a shift towards generative AI, with the trend continuing into 2024.
• 🧐 Workers who were laid off are now viewing the tech industry differently, realizing that job security and company culture are not as stable as previously thought.
• 📊 The tech industry's dominance in headlines during the 2010s was due to low-interest rates, venture capital, and the rise of smartphones and social media.
• 💼 Having a major tech company on one's resume was considered prestigious and an advantage when seeking new job opportunities.
• 📉 Tech stocks took a hit when the Federal Reserve raised interest rates in 2022, leading to mass layoffs as a cost-saving measure, which paradoxically boosted stock prices in 2023.
• 🔄 The post-pandemic tech industry is adjusting to changing consumer demand, with companies focusing on profitability over growth, leading to a 'new normal' of layoffs.
• 📉 Despite the layoffs, the overall labor market remains strong, with the US economy adding jobs and the unemployment rate decreasing.
• 🤔 Tech graduates are now considering a wider range of career options beyond the tech industry, with stability becoming a significant factor in their job choices.
• 💼 Tech companies are no longer seen as disruptors but as established entities, which may affect their appeal to new talent seeking innovation and growth opportunities.

Q & A

Why was Google ranked as the top company to work for in the tech industry?

Google was ranked number one due to its extensive employee perks, including free food, Wi-Fi-enabled shuttles, recreational facilities like horseshoe pits and volleyball courts, and a culture that was seen as innovative and supportive.

What benefits does Netflix offer to parents of newborns or newly adopted children?

Netflix allows parents to take as much time off as they need during the first year of their child's birth or adoption, providing significant flexibility and support for new parents.

How does Salesforce create a mindful work environment for its employees?

Salesforce has mindfulness areas designed with the help of monks, aiming to provide a serene and focused atmosphere for employees to work in.

What is the unusual benefit that Pandora offers to its employees?

Pandora offers to pay for gender affirmation surgery for its workers, showing the company's commitment to diversity and inclusion.

What is the unique feature of the secret room in the New York office of an unnamed tech startup?

The secret room, which is revealed by a custom oil canvas painting, is used for meetings, poker games, and even closing deals with a shot of whiskey.

How did the tech industry's job landscape change from the 2010s to the 2020s?

In the 2010s, tech companies were known for their innovative perks and a culture that put employees first. However, by the 2020s, the industry has seen a surge in layoffs, with companies like Google, Microsoft, and fintech firms implementing job cuts.

What factors contributed to the surge in tech layoffs in 2023?

The surge in tech layoffs in 2023 was sparked by high interest rates and a strategic pivot towards generative AI, leading to a significant shift in the tech industry's landscape.

How has the perception of working in a big tech company changed after the recent layoffs?

The perception has shifted from seeing big tech companies as a secure and prestigious place to work, to realizing that they operate much like traditional companies, with the possibility of being laid off at any moment.

What was the impact of the Federal Reserve's interest rate policies on the tech industry after the 2008 financial crisis?

The Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates near zero for years allowed tech companies and startups to borrow money at low costs, leading to an influx of venture capital and a boom in the tech industry.

How did the COVID-19 pandemic initially affect the tech industry's job market?

The tech industry thrived during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates back to near zero, which boosted tech stocks and led to an increase in tech jobs as people stayed home.

What has been the stock market's reaction to the tech industry's layoffs?

The stock market has reacted favorably to the layoffs, with tech stocks like the NASDAQ climbing significantly in 2023, as investors favored profitability over growth.

How are recent college graduates responding to the tech industry's instability?

Recent college graduates are considering other options beyond the tech industry, such as government jobs or starting their own businesses, due to the perceived instability and layoffs in tech companies.

What advice would you give to those who are still interested in pursuing a career in tech?

Keep your options open, be realistic, and consider smaller companies that may not be in the headlines but offer great work environments. Also, be prepared for the possibility of job instability and focus on building a versatile skill set.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Golden Age of Tech Industry and Changing Perceptions

This paragraph discusses the shift in perception of the tech industry from a golden era of employee benefits and company culture to a more uncertain landscape marked by layoffs. It highlights how companies like Google, Netflix, Salesforce, and Airbnb once offered lavish perks to attract talent, but now even giants like Google and Microsoft are cutting jobs. The paragraph also touches on the emotional impact on workers who believed they were part of a secure and meaningful culture, only to face unexpected layoffs. It reflects on how the tech industry's allure has diminished as it faces challenges similar to traditional industries.

05:00

📉 Tech Industry's Shift from Growth to Layoffs

The second paragraph delves into the economic factors contributing to the tech industry's shift from growth to layoffs. It explains how the Federal Reserve's actions during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as lowering interest rates, initially boosted tech stocks and job growth. However, as rates began to rise in 2022, the industry started to downsize, with mass layoffs becoming a method of cost-cutting. The paragraph also discusses the market's positive reaction to these layoffs, as investors began to prioritize profitability over growth. It notes the ongoing trend of layoffs in 2024 and the impact on job seekers, who are now looking for stability in sectors like government jobs, which are perceived as more secure.

10:03

🔄 Adjusting to the New Reality of the Tech Industry

The final paragraph addresses the new reality of the tech industry, where the excitement and allure of working for major tech companies have been tempered by the harsh realities of layoffs and economic shifts. It suggests that while the industry still holds some appeal, particularly for the prestige and potential resume boost, job seekers are now more open to considering other options, such as starting their own businesses or working in government or other industries where they can have a significant impact. The paragraph concludes with advice for those still interested in tech, encouraging them to keep their options open, be realistic, and be prepared for a changing landscape where tech giants are no longer seen as disruptors but as established entities.

Keywords

💡Tech Industry

The tech industry refers to the sector of the economy that includes companies focused on creating, developing, and selling technological products and services. In the video's context, it highlights how the tech industry was once considered the 'golden age' for workers due to its attractive perks and job security, but has since faced layoffs and a shift in perception.

💡Layoffs

Layoffs refer to the termination of employment for a group of workers, usually due to economic conditions or company restructuring. The script discusses how layoffs in the tech industry surged in 2023 and continued into 2024, affecting major companies like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, and changing the way workers view job security in the tech sector.

💡Perks

Perks are additional benefits provided by employers to their employees beyond their regular salaries. The video script mentions various perks offered by tech companies, such as free food, Wi-Fi-enabled shuttles, and mindfulness areas, which were once seen as a major draw for talent but are now juxtaposed with the harsh reality of layoffs.

💡Stock Options

Stock options are a form of compensation offered to employees, giving them the right to buy a certain number of shares of the company's stock at a set price, often lower than market value. The script explains how employees at tech companies often received a significant portion of their compensation in stock options, which increased in value as tech stocks rose.

💡NASDAQ

NASDAQ is a stock exchange platform that is home to many tech companies. The script uses the NASDAQ's performance as an indicator of the tech industry's overall health, noting its rise by about 347% from January 2010 to December 2019, and its climb in 2023, reflecting investor reactions to tech company layoffs.

💡FAANG Stocks

FAANG is an acronym for five major technology companies: Facebook (now Meta), Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google (Alphabet). The script mentions Netflix as the biggest gainer among FAANG stocks, surging more than 4,000%, to illustrate the rapid growth and wealth generation in the tech sector.

💡Interest Rates

Interest rates are the cost of borrowing money and are set by central banks. The script explains how the Federal Reserve's decision to cut interest rates to near zero after the 2008 financial crisis allowed tech companies to borrow money cheaply, which fueled their growth and the attractiveness of the tech industry.

💡Venture Capital

Venture capital refers to funds available for start-up companies with perceived long-term growth potential, in exchange for equity. The video script notes that the availability of venture capital money, along with low interest rates, opened the floodgates for tech companies and startups to grow rapidly.

💡COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic refers to the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus that began in late 2019. The script discusses how the pandemic initially caused economic struggles but paradoxically led to the tech industry thriving, with tech stocks and jobs increasing as people stayed home.

💡Efficiency

Efficiency in a business context refers to the ability to produce the maximum output with the minimum input, often through cost-cutting measures. The video script mentions 'efficiency' as a common mantra in recent tech industry earnings calls, indicating a shift towards cost reduction and layoffs as a means to achieve this.

💡Job Security

Job security is the degree of certainty that an employee will be able to keep their job for a reasonable period of time. The script contrasts the previous perception of job security in the tech industry with the current reality of layoffs, leading to a reevaluation of stability as a priority for job seekers.

Highlights

Fortune unveils its top 100 best companies to work for, with Google ranking number one for multiple years.

Google offers extensive perks such as free food, Wi-Fi-enabled shuttles, sports facilities, and more.

Netflix allows parents unlimited time off during the first year of their child's birth or adoption.

Salesforce has mindfulness areas designed with the help of monks, promoting employee well-being.

Airbnb provides a $2,000 travel stipend for its employees.

Pandora pays for gender affirmation surgery for its workers, showcasing inclusive benefits.

Tech startups offer unique perks like custom oil canvas paintings and secret rooms for top performers.

New Relic prides itself on an abundant supply of company-branded swag for employees.

Layoffs in the tech industry have surged in 2023 due to high interest rates and a shift to generative AI.

Tech industry layoffs have persisted into 2024, changing workers' perceptions of job security.

The tech industry's appeal has diminished as companies like Google and Amazon announce layoffs.

The tech industry is now seen as similar to traditional industries, with growth and layoffs cycling.

Low interest rates post-2008 financial crisis fueled tech company growth and stock market dominance.

Tech companies' growth and innovation made working for them prestigious and a mark of honor.

Having a major tech company on one's resume can significantly boost job prospects.

The COVID-19 pandemic initially boosted the tech industry, but the Federal Reserve's rate hikes in 2022 led to stock declines and layoffs.

Tech industry job postings saw a significant increase during the pandemic but have since cooled down.

The stock market reacted positively to tech layoffs, with investors favoring profitability over growth.

Tech layoffs have prompted job seekers to consider other industries for greater stability.

Despite layoffs, the tech industry still offers high pay and can add prestige to a resume.

Job seekers are encouraged to keep options open and consider smaller tech companies and other industries.

Big Tech needs to evolve its workplace culture, expectations, and benefits to remain attractive to early talent.

Transcripts

Remember the golden age of working for the tech industry.

Fortune is unveiling its top 100 best companies to work for.

Google's number one again this year, it was number one last

year and the year before. Google has everything - free food

everywhere a Wi-Fi enabled free shuttle. They have horseshoe

pits, volleyball courts street hockey, like you know pools.

Netflix's letting you parents take as much time off as they

need during the first year of their child's birth or adoption.

Salesforce has mindfulness areas designed with help from monks.

Airbnb gives employees a two grand travel stipend. Music

discovery platform Pandora even pays for its workers to have

gender affirmation surgery.

Let's pause here. It's not only big names like Google, Apple and

Amazon that entice workers with these perks, smaller tech

startups were also offering workers outlandish extras,

everything from performance based prizes to an endless

supply of company branded swag.

Top performers every month to the New York office, get an

actual custom oil canvas painting.

If you pop it actually reveals a secret room. And we have like

meetings in here do poker and maybe even close the deal have a

shot of whiskey or something.

Here is a must come spot for anybody who comes to New Relic

is where we have all our swag all our New Relic pride. And the

great thing is, is you can just come and grab whatever you want.

Well, that was the 2010s This is how tech companies are grabbing

headlines these days.

Layoffs in technology just keep coming. the latest Google

cutting hundreds of jobs in its engineering product and hardware

divisions.

So this is the latest round of layoffs we are hearing about in

tech today. It's two fintech companies Block and PayPal.

Microsoft cutting almost 2000 jobs at Activision Blizzard and

Xbox as the tech landscape resets.

Layoffs in the tech industry surged in 2023, sparked by high

interest rates and a pivot to generative AI. The pace of

layoffs in the tech industry has persisted well into 2024.

Workers who were laid off now see this industry in a different

way.

When you work for a big tech company, you had this assurance

that you were going to be okay that you were part of this

greater thing that you were part of this culture that really

meant something - you were making a difference. At any

moment -snap- you could be axed.

Before 2020, people were interested in the tech industry

just because I mean, the high pay prestige, I think just

seeing it as different, right? You have all these traditional

companies. And then you have all these companies that are just

doing things different, and they look like kind of the future of

work, people thought it was gonna be like a huge shift

towards these fun environments and flexible environments and

places where they put employees first. Now that sort of shifted

anything. Well, these aren't too much different than these older

traditional companies that people were already working at

in the early 2000s.

The tech industry as a whole has completely lost its luster

because people are starting to recognize that the tech industry

is just like any other industry. It was up one day and now it's

down. You consider what's going on a companies like Google.

Consider what's going on in the companies like Amazon, the

moment they started to announce layoffs, people start to

recognize that these companies these tech giants are just like

every other company. They hire today and they get rid of you

tomorrow.

The tech industry completely dominated the news headlines in

the 2010s. After the 2008 financial crisis, the US Federal

Reserve brought interest rates to near zero and kept them there

for years. That allowed tech companies and startups to borrow

money at rock bottom prices, and open the floodgates for venture

capital money too.

Boosted by ultra low interest rates and a ready supply of

venture capital money and skyrocketing adoption of

smartphones and social media, tech companies took over the

stock market as well.

Working at one of these tech companies became a way to get

rich. Employees often got a good portion of their compensation

paid out in stock options. As tech stocks rose, workers got

richer and richer. The tech heavy NASDAQ for example, rose

about 347% from January 2010 to December 2019.

Netflix was the biggest gainer among the FAANG stocks surging

more than 4,000%.

I think for a long time working for a major tech company like

Google or Meta, Microsoft was really seen as a badge of honor,

because these were companies that were growing tremendously.

And through most of the lifetime, for many of our

current students right now in our recent graduates, all they

saw their entire childhood was growth.

They saw these companies get larger, they saw them innovate.

They saw new products that really transformed their day to

day life. So to be able to work in those companies was seen as

prestigious, and it was seen as a very positive step in building

their own careers to be able to contribute to the technology

that they themselves and their families used every single day.

People definitely look at you differently when you have

Microsoft or a larger tech company on your resume. People

have called it the easy door into your next job or whatever.

I don't know if it's that far. But definitely if you especially

if you're going to a place that is built on Azure and you have

Microsoft experience that seems like a no brainer. Or if you

have going to somewhere that's a Google based company, you have

Google on your resume or Amazon, I think it probably puts you

towards the front of the line.

When COVID-19 began, the economy initially struggled, but the

tech industry thrived.

The Federal Reserve's swift actions, such as cutting

interest rates back to near zero boosted tech stocks. This in

turn led to an increase in tech jobs, primarily as people stayed

home.

However, tech stocks took a hit once the Fed started raising

rates in 2022. So the industry started using mass layoffs as

one of the many ways of belt tightening. Wall Street loved

this move, reflected in the bounce in tech stocks in 2023.

The tech heavy NASDAQ climbed to 43% in 2023, its best years

since 2020.

In the pandemic, the tech industry saw some pretty big

pickups in job posting games on Indeed platform. We saw really

strong hiring. People were at home, they were consuming more

kind of these tech goods and services. And many tech

companies adjusted to that and hired more workers.

So we saw a big run up in 2021-22. And then in 2023, we

saw some of that demand start to kind of cool down and soften. In

2024, so far, we've seen somewhat similar to 2023, some

layoffs being announced, we've seen kind of a continuation of

pull back and job postings in the tech industry.

But again, a lot of these layoffs that we've seen so far

this year in 2024, have really been about right sizing and

adjusting to a world of post Covid consumer demand and trying

to figure out what does the world look like after Covid. So,

a lot of it really comes down to businesses making moves to

really understand, you know, where their consumers are, and

trying to fit their workforces to that demand.

Now we see the stock market reacted quite favorably to this

round of layoffs. We see these record stock prices for a lot of

these tech companies. The investors really favored

profitability, really favored this lean year that these tech

companies had. And so instead of rewarding the growth that we saw

in them all pursue years ago, they're now rewarding profit.

And so the layoffs have continued, people have become

used to them, and regrettably, and sadly, it seems that the

layoffs is going to be the new normal.

Layoffs in tech show no signs of letting up. In fact, more and

more companies have embraced quote, efficiency, as a common

mantra in recent earnings calls.

A memo sent out by Elon Musk to the staff outlining that the

company will be cutting more than 10% of its global staff.

Layoffs are the first for Apple since the pandemic and come

shortly after the company shuttered its self driving car

project.

Amazon is cutting hundreds of jobs from its cloud computing

division Amazon Web Services.

Even though mass tech layoffs continue dominating headlines,

the labor market still seems strong. The US economy added

303,000 jobs in March well above the Dow Jones estimate for a

rise of 200,000 with the unemployment rate edging lower

to 3.8%.

The tech layoffs have prompted new workers to seek other

opportunities according to Handshake, a popular free job

posting site for college students and graduates. So the

share of tech majors job applications submitted to

internet and software companies dropped by more than 30% between

November 2021 and September of 2023, while the share of

applications submitted to government jobs, more than

doubled.

And part of the reason why this is happening is because

stability is such a major factor in student's decision around

what types of jobs they apply to and what types of jobs they

accept. 77% of this recent class of 2024 cares about stability as

the number one factor. And the government, for example, is an

entity that provides a strong level of stability, whereas

they're looking at the headlines and the news. And they're paying

attention to all of the layoffs that are happening in Big Tech.

And that makes them feel unstable.

The layoff pandemic is not necessarily impacted tech the

way we thought it was - largely because of the fact that these

jobs still pay really well. And there's still a degree of

luster. It's not nearly as exciting as it was 20 or 30

years ago. But it's still exciting. And people really want

that bullet point on the resume. Even if they only lasted a

Google, for let's say six months or a year, they can still say

they work there. I think what we're starting to see ultimately

is that people are starting to consider other options. Whether

they're deciding that once they get their degrees, they're going

to go create their own businesses, they're going to get

government space, they're going to get in other industries,

where there is a need for their technical skill set where they

can essentially be a big fish in a small pond, which in many ways

gives them job security that they don't necessarily get in

the tech industry.

People that are wanting to work in tech and wanting to still

stay in tech. I think we just have to be a little bit more

careful, and little bit more guarded about keeping our

options open and not feeling the need to be extremely loyal and

dedicated to one company. Because they surely are not

dedicated and loyal to us, no matter what your manager no

matter what your director is saying, no matter what praise

you're getting, it doesn't really matter sometimes at the

end of the day, at a lot of tech companies, unfortunately.

These layoffs have, to an extent hurt the luster of the tech

industry, but not to the point that I think that people all of

a sudden are going to decide not to go work for them anymore. But

even we consider that recent college grads, five years ago,

they couldn't wait to go to work for the big tech industry.

But now they're considering things whether I go to tech,

whether I go to government, whether I go someplace else, I

want to go someplace where I feel like I'm part of something

bigger than myself.

Tech companies are just not offering that anymore, because

they're not necessarily disruptive. And I'm talking the

big giants. I'm talking about the Amazons of the world, the

Microsofts of the world, the Googles of the world. They're

not seen as disruptors. Now they're seen as more established

companies.

To the people who are chasing like a tech dream job, I think,

keep your options open and be realistic. Don't just focus on

one company and feel like you have to get into that one

company because it's the dream. Pay attention to the other ones.

Pay attention to smaller companies. There's a lot of

really good smaller companies that are not in the headlines

that are great places to work, but also don't hold back. Drive

towards something and have a goal. Just temper your

expectations.

I think the glory days of the tech industry will certainly

continue to flow back into the existence in the eyes of our

early talent. I think it will look different as it continues

to evolve. I think the values and the needs and the desires of

our early talent will continue to change as the macro economic

situation around them also changes. And I think Big Tech if

they want to remain an attractive option for early

talent will need to continue to evolve their workplace, their

expectations and their benefits.