[flutas]

> Tens of thousands of people are now out of work, with more to join them soon.

...and?

This is such a common thing in tech we have entire websites built around it to track the layoffs.[0] In fact, using that site you can see in February (only 20 days so far) we've had 10,950 tech workers laid off. Expanding it further, in 2024 alone there were over 152,000 tech workers laid off. 2023? Only a mere 264,000 layoffs.

Where is the outrage and emotional blackmail over this for the lowly tech worker, yet we're supposed to bend over and take it while saying this is a bad thing for government workers?

Personally, I think they're just finally experiencing the America they run and they don't like it when it bites them like it bites the average American, and I have to assume that's why it seemingly has such high approval ratings among independent voters.[1]

[0]: https://layoffs.fyi/

[1]: https://www.axios.com/2025/02/14/arizona-voters-trump-elon-m...

[blharr]

In tech, you get absurd salaries that mean even if you get laid off, you would still take home a lot more than your average government employee.

The number one attraction for working for the government is stability, and that's baked into the salary.

If you want to attract skilled workers to work for the government, have the same experiences getting laid off, and get paid less, they're just going to turn to private industry.

[gottorf]

> In tech, you get absurd salaries that mean even if you get laid off, you would still take home a lot more than your average government employee.

Apparently, as of late 2023, the average federal employee made over $101k[0]. "Tech" is vague, but assuming software engineers, the BLS estimated in 2023 a median of $132k[1]. That's not a big enough difference that you wouldn't be worried about layoffs in the private sector. Not everyone gets paid $400k working at a FAANG, and plus, federal jobs have a lot of benefits beyond that headline salary figure.

> The number one attraction for working for the government is stability, and that's baked into the salary.

The longstanding deal was that career civil servants don't get fired every time the White House changes hands and in return, they behave apolitically and implement the decisions made by political appointees (who are responsible to the electorate) in a neutral and expert manner.

That was the whole premise behind stability in government jobs. Back in the days it used to be the case that everyone did get fired between administrations, and they realized this was pretty inefficient.

But career civil servants broke this rule with Trump's first term, with a lot of opposition to political decisions brought on by people who are supposed to be neutral to the politics of it all. What is being reaped now was sown back then. Of course, it sucks for the people who did their jobs as they were supposed to; there is certainly an element of the whole class being punished for the misbehavior of a few.

[0]: https://www.fedsmith.com/2024/01/22/average-federal-salary-t...

[1]: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/...

[TomK32]

> But career civil servants broke this rule with Trump's first term, with a lot of opposition to political decisions brought on by people who are supposed to be neutral to the politics of it all. What is being reaped now was sown back then.

Well, you can't enter a consistent, efficient and well-maintained system with the intention of throwing things around. Resistance is the only natural reaction to such a disruptive approach and now this resistance is missing we see the chaos Trump 2.0 and Musk cause as they follow the Project 2025 playbook.

[hooverd]

I feel bad for tech workers they were laid off. And civil servants. It's the same people orchestrating both!

[jarsin]

Exactly! Do they not realize they all sat around (poorly) administrating systems like h1b that have caused millions of us to be laid off with no notice or reason.

I can't imagine crying on linkedin like some of these .gov workers showing up in my feed. I would never be hired again.

[nobankai]

I can't imagine a talented employee crying to HN about how they can't compete with the ESL labor pool.

What's the matter? The market feeling a little too free for your tastes?

[hooverd]

You do realize it's your bosses that hate you and want to replace you and not random civil servants?