Tech layoffs: The Great Correction?

Amazon. Meta. Twitter. A lot of tech companies are letting workers go. According to one estimate, nearly 140,000 have been laid off in the industry this year. And while that’s small compared to job losses during the dot-com bust, the vibes are not great. 

“I think many people see this as more of a reshuffling back to an equilibrium as opposed to something that we’ve never seen before. This is almost going back to the way things probably were before a lot of these patterns shifted with the pandemic,” said Rucha Vankudre, a senior economist at labor analysis firm Lightcast.

On the show today, Vankudre walks us through what’s driving the latest layoffs across the tech industry and what it all might mean for the U.S. economy. Is it a sign of things to come? (Fyi: We expect JOLTS numbers and the November jobs report this week.)

In the News Fix, it’s all about the Democrats. We’re taking a closer look at their position on the railroad strike along with plans to shake up future Democratic presidential contests. 

Then, we’ll hear about the world’s greatest eggnog recipe, and a listener calls in to share what she got wrong about being laid off. 

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• “Tech Layoffs Are Here. That Doesn’t Mean the Sky Is Falling.” by Rucha Vankudre in Barron’s
• “Tech layoffs show why managing growth can be so tricky for companies” from Marketplace
• “Congressional Leaders Say They Will Act to Prevent Rail Strike” from The New York Times
• Twitter thread from the NYT’s Binyamin Appelbaum
• “Democrats prepare to upend presidential primary calendar” from Politico
• “World’s Greatest Eggnog” from Garden & Gun magazine

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