Wave of tech layoffs tips power back in favour of employers in sector

TORONTO – Members of Canada’s tech industry say another wave of layoffs the sector saw this week is tipping the power dynamic back in favour of employers.

Marissa McNeelands, chief executive of women’s tech collective Toast, says tech workers have had more power to negotiate better salaries and roles in recent years because they were growing so fast and needed top talent to keep up.

Now that cuts have become so common and there are so many laid off workers available, she says companies can be more choosy about hiring and less generous with salaries.

Her assessment comes as Google chief executive Sundar Pichai told staff today that his company would be laying off 12,000 workers because it had hired for different economic reality than the one that materialized.

Earlier in the week, Amazon laid off 18,000 staff, Microsoft slashed 10,000 jobs and WeWork cut 2,400 workers, while in Canada, Lightspeed said goodbye to 300 people, about 150 departed Clutch and Hootsuite ousted 70.

Tech companies have been reducing their workforces since last spring, when valuations began falling and investor interest faded as consumers returned to pre-pandemic habits.