Where the Tech Layoffs Are Hitting Hardest

The hiring burst of 517,000 new jobs in January ran contrary to the conventional economic wisdom, namely that the Federal Reserve’s war on inflation is slowing interest-rate sensitive sectors like finance and technology and presaging a broader slowdown. Tech and finance did, indeed, show some losses—just not enough to offset huge hiring increases in services, retail, and health care. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also went back to revise prior months’ numbers adding even more to the nation’s job total over the past 12 months. 

The tech sector is reportedly taking a beating after a decade as the darling of the economy and the market. On the ground it looks more like a scolding, as terrible as that feels when you’re suffering a Fed-induced financial hangover. There’s been some talk about the “virality” of tech layoffs—firms cutting jobs not for any underlying economic reason but just because others are doing it. There’s nothing more Silicon Valley than piling on to a trend.