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Posted on 04/28/2025 3:19:45 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Evan Richardson grew up in Silicon Valley, surrounded by big tech companies that transformed how people live, socialize and work.
As a curious kid, Richardson took apart electronics and put them back together. A career in technology seemed like a natural and safe path after his service in the military.
“Tech was always an industry you go into, you’re going to make a lot of money and you’re never going to get fired,” he said.
For thousands of tech workers like Richardson, those days are over. In March, the 43-year-old Hayward resident was caught off guard when he learned his employer, payment company Square, was eliminating his role as a development and operations engineer because of a reorganization.
Square’s parent company, Oakland-based Block, planned to shed 931 jobs, or 8% of its workforce, citing performance issues and the need to create a more streamlined operation.
In California, the cuts will begin next month and affect 240 employees, including engineers, designers and writers, according to a notice sent to the state’s Employment Development Department.
Block is among major San Francisco Bay Area tech companies slashing their payrolls this year. Meta, Google, Autodesk, Workday and others also announced job cuts. Intel is planning to cut more than 20% of its workforce, Bloomberg reported. On Thursday, the Santa Clara-based chipmaker confirmed it would be laying off workers to “drive better, more efficient execution across the business.”
“I’m a big believer in the philosophy that the best leaders get the most done with the fewest people,” Intel Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan told employees in an email. The company lost $821 million in the first quarter.
In a region known for boom and bust cycles, these tech industry layoffs are delivering a blow to a sector that is vital to...
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
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They act like they’ve never seen a tech sector downturn before…
I remember when ATT workers thought they had a lifetime job and they didi until...one day things changed...
As a curious kid, Richardson took apart electronics and put them back together
***
I did the same thing! Well all except for the putting back together part.
Only three things guaranteed in life - death, taxes, and hard times. Did not read the entire article, but regardless of being fired from the company he was working at, I am sure there are other companies - if not where he lives, somewhere in the United States - that he could apply to for work.
Look for productivity rates to rise.
Good analogy.
When I read “Tech was always an industry you go into, you’re going to make a lot of money and you’re never going to get fired,” he said
My first thought was that he obviously doesn't remember the dot-com bubble burst.
Welcome to reality.
They will bring as many Indians into the USA to take ALL the tech jobs as is possible. Young American kids don’t have a chance.
Tech isn’t as secure a field as people like to think.
Dang dude.
Hope you got a cut rate on that ticket you bought for your trip deep into de-nile.
Said the guy who shoveled coal into a railroad engine; followed by the sales clerks at Sears, and Wards; and the department secretary at any office in town; and ......
It sucks to find out that you are the other guy. You know, the guy who is supposed to pay the bill.
How many H1B jobs will be axed? Cynical minds want to know.
Same in Australia. Who is making these decisions?
Glad he is out of the service. That lack of rational thought will get people killed.
LOL! I drove my parents crazy that way!
This has been going on for 2 years.
Intel has been in serious trouble since 2015.
The LA Times is trying to blame Trump.
Well, Evan could always learn to code........oops. He could learn how to mine coal, drill for hydrocarbons. I understand that Drill Baby Drill is back in vogue.
Sounds like these companies are hitting the ground running dealing with the new paradigm, hiring COOs to parachute in to identify synergies and move the needle towards capitalizing on greater efficiencies. Once they’ve done their deep dive they should be able to identify their pain points which will help their decisioning to rightsize their talent pool. As always, mindful of the optics.
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