Uma Iyer reflects on the future of layoffs in a post-pandemic economy witnessing the rise of Artificial Intelligence
The prospect of being laid off has been the terror for employees since COVID. Although this fear eventually eased off, it was viewed as inevitable in view of rising inflation and an impending recession.
The current Google firing has brought it to fruition and it is hard to say if it is one of many to come in the wake of tools like ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence taking over the mantle from the unfortunate employees.
Right from Elon Musk to the bosses at Google, the who’s who of the tech industry had been predicting of conversations of a future ridden with layoffs. In reality though, when women who were on maternity were laid off as were people who had just joined, these were not conversations, but a blanket email. The bottom line of stakeholders in a company is what runs the machine and akin to colonial rule where the ‘East India Company’ made the rules and everyone followed. No questions asked!
Downsizing Dilemma
Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft have each announced job cuts of 10,000 or more in January, following the approximately 1,60,000 total layoffs last year!
Three of the largest individual rounds of layoffs since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic have taken place in January.
November was a particularly brutal month for Silicon Valley workers, with Bloomberg reporting that the sector was on track to reach early pandemic levels of layoffs just over one week into the month. The total number of tech job cuts in Q4’22 ended up being 79,953-19,812 more than 2020’s second-quarter peak.
The tremors in silicon valley were also seen offshore in India and all other countries as well. Where there was an issue with retention, now the attrition has subsided given the flux in the industry.
The scenario has now changed where talent retention is a less problematic topic and permanent hiring positions have seen a significant improvement in getting traction from an HR point of view.
Closer Home
The top Indian companies that have laid off are quite staggering as well. These are companies that have raised substantial capital in the past few years but have been unable to sustain the momentum.
The movie Up in the Air has been my repeat watch! It’s quite surreal to see the times pan out again where George Clooney in his nonchalant fashion tells a guy getting fired that he can now pursue his cooking skills!
However terrible this may sound, the season of firing has brought to light a new way of working. As Aiyoo Shraddha in her new reel casually points out, “When calculators were invented, everyone did not lose their jobs! So when ChatGPT is released, the universities now have to teach how to put creativity and ChatGPT together!”
As humorous as this observation is, it does open eyes to the way now employees view the companies they work for!
Getting laid-off is now one of the most talked about topics in the world. When anyone is looking for a new job or moving to a new role, the first aspect anyone is keen on is an understanding of the work pipe-line the company has to ensure that they are not in a similar wagon to the Google joiners.
Some of the tips for the future that we all need to be aware of and keep in our mind:
a. Upskill: No job is permanent, we all require to continuously upskill ourselves. Full stack is no longer a mantra, but is becoming a reality.
b. Stay in touch: We need to constantly be on a lookout and keep our resumes up to date. This is a new age survival system. Neanderthals had to hunt to get their daily grub and they had to make arrangements for the winter in advance. Similar ways of working have started to sink in the corporate world.
c. Hustle: Have plenty of hobbies and hustle options. Spending hours on your desk working may give you the pink slip, but your hobbies and family will keep your morale high!
d. Value Self-worth: Ensure that you are aware of your self-worth. Your job is not your reflection of your self-worth.
e. Stay Curious: Creativity is the part and problem solving is the thing AI may not yet be able to emulate and solve. For every technical advancement, humans are able to create better solutions using the technology.
Conclusion
While we all really do enjoy our jobs and always seek to find meaning, as the video in Aiyoo Shraddha says in the end, everyone will now be tempted to say, “I don’t want to be your employee, I just want to be your vendor!”
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