POV 1: Software Engineers are not Recession Proof
Times are tough and the going is only gonna get tougher for everyone, no matter the field or job role. Companies in this economy are just looking for an excuse to kill a project or lay off a department. The last year or so witnessed a crazy amount of hiring with employees getting offered 2-3x more than the acceptable market rates. Either the company had poor projections or sheets needed to be balanced, whatever may be, the time is now for a market correction. The safety jacket has started drifting away.
1. Extensive Layoffs Across Tech Companies
From startups to FAANG, layoffs are happening across the software engineering field. Netflix laid off 450 positions, while Meta right after having gone public slashed off its projection to hire 10k engineers to about 6-7k. Microsoft let go around 1,000 engineers, Twitter had roughly 3,700 jobs cut and Ola laid off 200 engineers.
2. Aside From Layoffs, Hiring Plans Have Slowed Down With the Hiring Freeze Across Major Companies
The news is that jobs are open either at managerial levels or through strong referrals. Mainly hiring is going to be treated as a privilege for firms. Uber announced that it is only focusing on the most important positions and freezing hiring across. Intel froze its hiring efforts in the desktop and laptop chips department. Spotify slowed down its hiring process with targets cut by 25%.
Are Software Engineers Recession Proof?
‘Software Engineer‘ – it has been a very stable career for a very long time. The demand for software engineers in the last few years has grown exponentially, most probably because of some prominent factors like lucrative salary packages, career growth opportunities, better work environments, learning exposure, remote working, etc. But the pandemic has caused an economic reckoning and the current unprecedented times have set upon the careers of everyone, leading to rising layoffs, hiring freezes, and rescinding offers.
Under these circumstances and with every expert and news now foreseeing a global recession, are software engineers recession-proof?
Yes, various questions related to this scenario are roaming in the tech world, like –
- Are developer jobs recession-proof?
- Will the demand for software engineers decrease?
- Will software engineer salaries decline?
- Are software engineers being laid off
and many others!