Business startups are finding it easier to find talent as tech giants keep up the layoffs

If you asked a tech worker what their favorite place to work was a year ago, the answer was most likely to be a well-known tech player’s name. With the recent layoff sprees of the big tech businesses, IT professionals are expressing a sort of reluctance to apply to large tech firms. Many tech workers are beginning to look elsewhere for employment opportunities, making it easier for small tech businesses and startups to have access to talent.

Big tech businesses laid off over 150,000 people this year alone. Around 50,000 of these workers were laid off in November. Twitter cut off almost half of its workforce in the last month, to the disappointment of many tech workers. Amazon and Meta too had massive layoff rounds. Workers at Google were also concerned about the possibility of a large-scale layoff, while Cisco too announced job cuts. This trend of cutting the workforce to balance costs also seeped into the entertainment and media industries. Recently, PepsiCo announced job cuts as well, taking the layoff trend to the food and beverage sector.

The tech industry has been steadily expanding since over a decade ago. The economic turmoil of 2022 was too much for most tech businesses to handle. Most tech employers remedied the economic situation with layoffs, while others announced hiring freezes. As the big tech businesses started layoffs and froze hiring, most people began to turn to small businesses in search of opportunities.

Many startups and midsize companies may not be able to offer the same level of stability those big tech businesses once did. But they offer equally tempting work flexibility for their recruits. In most cases, applicants feel as if their work will have a bigger impact on the business and that they will be valued more. Even though most well-paid tech workers are receiving fewer offers than they did in previous years, the tech market still hasn’t lost its competitive edge.

As we entered 2022, the shares of all FAANG companies (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google) were at record highs between June and December of the previous year. The tech giants were secure in their position in the job market as the dominant players. Most of them faced difficulties this year. Meta has lost more than half of its value as it laid off 13% of its workforce. Amazon announced hiring freezes and is down by half.

Startups don’t have to compete over talent with the big tech businesses anymore. And many small businesses are finding it easier to retain their workers because recruiters are not calling them nonstop. Many small and midsize tech businesses have plans of increasing their hiring in the coming year. Small tech businesses are experiencing an influx of tech talent as the laid-off tech workers flood the job market. Most startup founders are saying that t is one of the best times to be hiring.

A lot of tech workers are looking for more than just fair compensation today. They want a company that offers them a stronger sense of value and a clear mission. They believe they can make a bigger impact for a smaller employer than when working for a large tech business.