Yeah I’ve given up all hope of things ever going back to normal. Where normal = 50 applicants per job instead of 500
I think the key question to ask is why are we in a tech layoff/recession? My personal take: 1) IRS tax code section 174 changed how software devs are classified, costing tech companies R&D amortization over a period of five year making companies pay a lot more for software development salaries in taxes. This especially hurt startups. 2) High interest rates made it very expensive to borrow money and reduced VC funding overall. 3) AI may not be stealing jobs just yet, but a lot of entry level/junior positions are no longer needed as AI makes everyone more productive. This trend will only accelerate as AI gets better. 4) Elon Musk. He's not directly responsible for most tech layoffs, but when he eliminated 80% of Twitter staff and the company could still operate as a leaner version of itself, tech companies took notice. 5) Everyone's doing it. If you are the only tech company doing layoffs it's bad PR and your competitors benefit. If everyone is doing it you get rewarded by shareholders and employees have fewer options to help competitors. I think the job market will continue to be competitive and harder for the foreseeable future, this is the new norm. The golden run of the past decade is over.
For jobs, it's only going to get worse. Stocks always go up though.
There is no tech recession. 2018-2022 was the anomaly, not the norm. We are seeing normal demand for tech talent. We just happen to have way way too much supply.
How did supply increase so much 2018-2022c
1) Bootcamp grads + lowered requirements for hiring 2) Overseas hiring 3) Mass layoffs