Bay Area layoffs not indicative of massive market slump, experts say
After massive-scale mergers and acquisitions in 2015, the tech industry, in the Bay Area of California in particular, is experiencing a slight M&A slump, though Vince Cestone and Gabe Slate at KRON 4 would argue that it is not an industry-wide "bubble pop." Instead, they wrote, there is a market slowdown.
Officials at NOVA job center, an organization that assists those looking for careers in the tech industry or those who have recently been laid off, explained that this slowdown is indicative of change and growth in the tech industry. Across the country, significant layoffs are rare or largely unpublicized, though a NOVA spokesperson explained that in the highly competitive Silicon Valley, they are not that uncommon.
"For us, large layoffs are not abnormal, and in fact, the companies that are having large layoffs are often hiring at the very same time," NOVA spokeswoman Kris Stadelman explained Cestone and Slate. "And that is simply because of the churn, it's mergers, new products, old ones going away, it's new coding languages, old ones becoming obsolete. That the demands for skills from employers are changing rapidly and that has been happening, and companies lay off those who have obsolete skills and go search in the marketplace to hire those with the most up-to-date skills."
Essentially for those interested in pursuing a career in the tech industry, it may be more difficult to find a position over the coming year. This is especially true for new graduates, those with outdated tech skills and those without foundational networks or connections at major companies. Attributed to diversifying business models and expanding market reach, though layoffs may continue, it is just part of the growing process for many tech start ups and even industry giants.
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