Where did more than 100,000 laid-off US tech workers go?

In January, Google announced plans to lay off 12,000 workers. That same month, Microsoft said it would lay off 10,000 people. Meta is cutting its workforce in four rounds, from November 2022 to May 2023.

According to Megan Slabinski, president of global talent solutions at recruiting firm Robert Half, major layoffs happen almost every month.

Much has been written about the wave of layoffs that has rocked Silicon Valley, from employees tweeting in real time to CEOs penning lengthy essays explaining their decisions. But what happens next to the thousands of people who lose their jobs has been less talked about.

Some people immediately find new jobs at smaller software or Internet companies or switch to other fields such as consulting, healthcare , finance, etc. Others rely on their severance pay, savings, or other sources of income to rest and recover from the stress and shock of being laid off.

Looking for new opportunities in non-tech industries

Bobby McNeil worked at Amazon Web Services (AWS) for more than a year before being laid off in January. He called his time at AWS a dream come true. Although he had been through other layoffs, this one was still a shock.

Bobby McNeil has experienced many layoffs in his career. (Photo: CNBC)

The 39-year-old former recruiter still remembers scrolling through LinkedIn in shock and seeing countless posts from other tech workers in the same boat. He wanted to start working again immediately but thought the situation would be more competitive given the recent layoffs.

So he turned his attention to job openings in other industries. After a few weeks of networking and submitting dozens of resumes, he landed a job at a Fortune 500 company. He said he could leverage his tech experience to land an even better job at a non-tech company, whether in finance, government , or healthcare.

Going through multiple layoffs also taught McNeil the importance of separating his values from his work. “It’s good to find value in what you do, it’s good to work hard and be a dedicated employee, but you shouldn’t be tied to what you’re doing 40 hours a week,” he said. “You can find value in other aspects of your life, whether it’s your hobbies or your business pursuits.”

"The gold standard has changed"

When Melissa Zlatow read the email announcing she was among those being laid off in the first round of cuts at Meta (November 2022), she thought it was a joke.

“I opened the email at 5 a.m. on my day off and thought, ‘This can’t be happening.’ None of us expected it,” Zlatow recalled.

Her first step was to reach out to other affected colleagues on Facebook. She said it was a blessing to have a community to lean on. There were plenty of high-performing directors and vice presidents who had lost their jobs. While she went through a roller coaster of emotions over the course of a week, she and others worked through things like compensation and health insurance.

Melissa Zlatow took a year off before starting her new job. (Photo: CNBC)

This also gave her an idea: what if laid-off tech workers had a safe place to connect, vent, share their work, and work together?

Within weeks of losing her job, she started a business incubator to connect laid-off workers with startups, career coaches, and other resources. She also began speaking at tech conferences and workshops on UX design, artificial intelligence, and more to mentor and inspire young people.

Surprisingly, being fired has enriched Zlatow's personal life. She moved from San Jose to Chicago in July, became a certified scuba diver, and is in the process of getting her paragliding license.

She decided to take a full year off before taking another full-time job and realized that this was a privilege not everyone had. After talking to her financial advisor, she decided to focus on her health and try things she couldn't do as an employee of a large company.

A year has passed, and Zlatow has been reassessing the next chapter of her career. For her, it’s been a reminder that “the gold standard has changed.” While working at a big-name tech company was ideal five years ago, the wave of layoffs has taught Zlatow and others that you can impact the world in other ways.

(According to CNBC)