[rafiki6]

It's important to put this in perspective.

1- layoffs are happening primarily to non-technologist roles

2- even with the layoffs, we're still no where near head counts for 2019.

Companies are taking advantage of the macro situation to clean house. It serves a dual purpose. Get rid of low performing employees and clean up any non essential functions, while also pleasing investors.

[dehrmann]

> even with the layoffs, we're still no where near head counts for 2019.

So then the question is where did all these people come from in just 2 years?

[rafiki6]

I just want to say I find it very enlightening to see my previous post have dual interpretations because I wasn't precise. It really explains why ancient literature can cause so much grief!

To clear it up, I did mean that despite the massive increase in workers, with today's layoffs most of them have not yet reverted back to their pre-pandemic 2019 headcounts.

Where did all of these workers come from? Overall as an industry we did not actually substantially increase our headcount. We're about at par. Why?

- People did retire/leave the industry due to 2020 layoffs/Covid - Big tech, who had the largest "influx" actually just vacuumed people from other non-big tech (e.g. banks, mid-size, startups, etc.) - Much of the headcount growth was actually in non-technology positions, especially HR, marketing, sales etc. because many companies wanted to capitalize on pandemic growth

[irrational]

Where did what people come from? I read OP’s comment as meaning that there were more people working in the field in 2019 than today. So, it is a question of where did all those people go in just 2 years? Presumably a lot died in the pandemic. Others fled the cities and perhaps still work in tech but do so in a more rural location. Perhaps many returned to their home countries.

[vineyardmike]

Not OP but many notable companies have nearly doubled headcount since 2019 (Google, Snap, etc). Surely OP meant that where did this influx of workers come from.

And I think the answer is that this is the population that would work for big tech if they didn’t have to move, or if they didn’t have to work long hours, or whatever. (IMO the last few years have been cushier at big tech than usual).

[dehrmann]

> Presumably a lot died in the pandemic

Deaths weren't a big labor market driver. Around 1 in 300 Americans died from covid, but only a quarter of those were working age, and tech skews even younger. Long covid could be another story.

That said, I read the comment the same as vineyardmike. More people are working in tech today than in 2019, and that's beyond if the 2019 trend had held.