Oct 12, 2022

With Tech Layoffs Sweeping the Globe, How Can Engineers Stay Competitive?

Has the tech hiring boom faded? This year has seen a wave of layoffs across the global tech industry. Last month Apple reportedly cut 100 contract workers, Netflix let go of 300 employees, and Facebook's parent company Meta, Amazon contractor Marketplace, Tesla, Alphabet, Microsoft and many other internet and tech companies have all announced layoffs. Engineers who were in red-hot demand just last year now face the risk of being let go.

Image source https://www.pexels.com/zh-tw/photo/4226221/

"Tech hiring hasn't faded. It overheated last year, and this year it is simply returning to normal." Mu-Fan Teng, co-founder of 5xRuby, believes the market as a whole is still short of talent. Because of the pandemic, last year saw a hiring frenzy driven by remote positions. Skilled engineers rode that wave and had the chance to advance their careers, but junior engineers without enough ability may now be the first to be cut.

Now that the pandemic has become part of normal life worldwide, many companies are rethinking their business strategies. Teng sees three reasons behind this year's downsizing across the global tech industry. First, companies want to reduce personnel costs and improve operational efficiency. Second, companies are adjusting their service strategies, reshuffling how staff were previously allocated. Third, the need for outsourcing vendors and contract hires is being redefined or reviewed.

"Adapting to Change" Is Not the Same as "Drifting with the Tide"

Every company has its own culture and its own criteria for layoffs. If you want to be a competitive engineer, you can't make a single company's standards your long-term goal. Some people treat "changes in the broader environment" as the reason they are drifting at work, but layoff wave or not, companies regularly review whether their employees continue to contribute.

That said, there's no need to live in fear. Teng notes that this round of layoffs involves many detailed factors, and anyone could be next. You need to recognize that "adapting to change" and "drifting with the tide" are two different things. People who drift with the tide set salary as their goal; if they lack the ability to justify the pay they've been offered, they will naturally be weeded out when layoffs come. "When companies hire, they naturally want to get the most value out of every employee." Those who truly adapt to change first observe their surroundings and what others are doing, and then think about what they themselves want.

Engineers Are Evaluated on More Than "Technical Skill"

Tsehau Chao, co-founder of 5xRuby and also responsible for performance reviews, explains: "We usually review our engineers every six months, assessing their soft and hard skills and their performance in every area." In the workplace, technical ability is never the only thing that counts. Using 5xRuby as an example, she says: "Almost 100% of our company is engineers, and we don't judge whether they are competitive by 'technology' alone." If an engineer works at a company with few technical staff, an HR team without a technical background or with little experience can only judge engineers from a single angle. Engineers with solid fundamentals may not be greatly affected, but junior engineers bear the brunt.

Want to Be More Competitive? Ask Yourself These Two Questions First

Junior engineers most often run into the following two situations at work. If you recognize them and improve, you have the chance to outperform others and avoid coming under close scrutiny during company reviews and ending up among those laid off.

Are you an engineer who digs deeper for understanding?
When some new engineers run into difficulties, they ask their manager for help. Yet after the manager explains and gives an answer, the newcomer only wants to "get the answer" and sets no higher bar for themselves. Technology is an engineer's core business. If you don't seek a real understanding of it, you'll be weeded out quickly, and that has nothing to do with the broader environment.
Are you willing to communicate with your team?
Engineers are often seen as socially awkward, only able to write code and not fond of communicating. While this is a biased stereotype, it does happen often, especially when engineers are unwilling to explain the reasoning behind their work to teammates and PMs (project managers), which over time leads to communication gaps. When companies evaluate employees, "teamwork" is also a very important factor.

3 Problems Companies Face When Hiring Engineers In-House

As for outsourcing vendors also being among those cut, Teng says it comes as no surprise and is nothing new in Taiwan. Some companies believe that bringing a few engineers in-house will give them more security or save the budget they would spend on an outsourcing firm, but this can lead to three problems. First: if the company's internal technical resources are immature, engineers will be constrained and face enormous pressure (including on performance). Second: communication breaks down; at traditional companies or companies that don't value technology, engineers may find themselves isolated with no support when it comes to communication. Third: it puts heavy demands on each engineer's personal experience, and the company has no way to evaluate engineers objectively on technical grounds. When making budget decisions, companies are advised to consider hidden costs, so they don't save a little only to lose a lot.