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Equity

Tech layoffs don't happen to companies, they happen to people

Equity

TechCrunch

Entrepreneurship, Business News, News, Business, Technology

4.2372 Ratings

🗓️ 11 May 2022

⏱️ 27 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This is our Wednesday show, where we niche down to a single topic, think about a question and unpack the rest. This week, Natasha and Alex asked: What does the most recent wave of layoffs mean for tech workers? The question comes after Natasha’s recent Startups Weekly column, "The Great Resignation, meet the Great Reset." In the piece, which included a round up of recent tech layoffs, she explored the idea of employee whiplash, and why this moment in pullback is different than what we saw in March 2020. The goal of the episode was to humanize the tech layoffs we've seen ripple across the startup ecosystem, from buzzy, big names like Cameo, On Deck and Robinhood, to B2B platforms like Workrise and Thrasio. As our piece last week notes, the common thread between most of these layoffs, according to founders, is that there’s been a shift in the market and a serious pivot in business is required. A pivot, that is, that hurts the employees that built your product up after high demand. Let us know how we did? If you or a friend has recently been laid off, tip Natasha Mascarenhas or Alex Wilhelm on Twitter @nmasc_ and @alex.  Equity drops every Monday at 7 a.m. PT and Wednesday and Friday at 6 a.m. PT, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups

0:15.7

where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. I'm Natasha

0:19.2

Masqueriness and this is our Wednesday show where we niche down to a

0:21.7

single topic, think about a question and unpack the rest.

0:24.8

There's been a ton of layoffs across tech right now and we've been covering them all on TechRunch.

0:29.6

But we want it to take this week's Wednesday episode to talk about the employee impact

0:33.6

because as my co-worker said layoffs don't happen to companies they happen to

0:36.9

people at companies so this week we're asking what does the most recent wave of

0:41.2

layoffs mean for tech workers?

0:43.2

As always, I am joined by the wonderful Alex Wilhelm

0:46.2

who has covered a few layoff cycles here and there.

0:48.4

Covered a few layoff cycles been part of one or two,

0:51.1

you know?

0:51.8

I feel like this is just part of the

0:53.0

ebb and flow of technology. Natasha, every time we have a multi-year period of

0:56.7

euphoria and Abulians? Yeah, sure. Yeah, you end up with the hangover and

1:01.3

we're gonna focus on the people today but we will make fun of the companies and we will empathize with the folks.

1:05.8

It's like our sweet spot of episodes and it's weird I agree I think in a way this was like the thing we knew was going to happen the moment startups

1:13.7

started to boom and really react positively to pandemic habits. We knew that layoffs

1:18.6

were going to be inevitable because companies were acting without discipline, but

1:22.4

I guess because of that numbness,

1:24.1

I was surprised when I last week felt such a heaviness

...

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