Recession storm casts shadow over US tech job market

While low-income workers still find job opportunities relatively easily, experts and senior managers are facing fierce competition.

Workers wait to find jobs at a job fair in Uniondale, New York (USA). (Photo: Reuters/VNA)

The US job market, judging by economic data, appears to be holding up.

However, hidden beneath that stable exterior is a bleak reality for “office workers,” especially in the technology sector.

The story of Jon Bach, a 13-year veteran of eBay, is a vivid illustration of the recession that is quietly sweeping the tech job market.

After being laid off earlier this year, confident that with 30 years of experience in the industry and record-low unemployment, he thought finding a new job would be easy. But the reality was much harsher. More than 130 applications, dozens of rejection calls, and not a single offer—Bach found himself in a spiral of uncertainty, questioning his worth in the midst of a job downturn.

Bach’s story is not an isolated case. It reflects a worrying trend: the sharp stratification of the job market. While low-income workers still find jobs relatively easily, professionals and senior managers, with salaries in the six figures or more, are facing fierce competition and scarce opportunities.

In other words, a "white-collar recession" is quietly taking place, casting a shadow over the technology job market.

Data from LinkedIn, a social networking platform focused on business and jobs, paints a picture of the downturn. Hiring in the tech sector has dropped sharply in recent months, with job openings in IT down 27%, quality assurance down 32%, and product management down 23%.

Notably, even the engineering sector, which is considered a “steel shield” against economic fluctuations, was not immune to this trend with a significant decline of 26%. The stark contrast with the post-pandemic period, when technology “giants” continued to expand and hunt for talent, further shows the severity of the current situation.

So what is the cause of this dizzying reversal? Part of the reason comes from the "overzealous" recruitment policy of technology companies in the post-pandemic period. Worried about the wave of "mass resignations," they have increased recruitment, leading to a surplus of human resources when the economy entered a difficult period. To rebalance the team, companies were forced to implement personnel reduction measures, from mass layoffs to hiring freezes.

Another reason tech companies are slowing hiring is that their current employees are less likely to move jobs, instead seeking stability. Data from Visier, a human resources software provider, shows that voluntary turnover at tech companies is less than 20% this year, down from nearly 27% in 2022.

In addition, the rapid development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is also an important factor affecting the technology job market. Advanced AI tools, such as ChatGPT, are helping to significantly increase labor productivity, making companies less likely to need to hire more staff. This is especially true in the field of programming. Google recently said that more than 25% of their new code is now generated by AI./.

(Vietnam News Agency/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/con-bao-suy-thoai-phu-bong-den-len-thi-truong-viec-lam-cong-nghe-my-post998694.vnp