Expert Insights: 2022 Tech Redundancies

Oakstone International’s Divisional Directors, Tristan Heywood, gave some inside knowledge on the tech redundancies being witnessed globally.

According to layoffs.fyi, over 760 tech companies have laid off employees in 2022. Some are letting go a handful of employees. Others, like Meta and Twitter, are laying off thousands of workers.

Tristan has over 22 years hiring in the SaaS sector, hiring from mid-senior level to C-Suite. Tristan has helped build entire teams for some of the industries leaders including IFS, Icertis and PROS.

What have you been witnessing in the recent marketing

“The redundancies in tech companies started around August 2022 and has escalated rapidly since then. We are seeing that medium to large companies are making the majority of major cuts. This is directly linked to the size of their operations, however there is also a feeling within the industry that many of the larger companies have been ‘over hiring’ over the past few years. These companies don’t have particularly ‘lean’ operations because of this.”

Which countries or regions are seeing the largest redundancies?

“I am not seeing any single geography affected more than others. In terms of % related to headcount the mainstream markets of the US, UK, Germany, France are being impacted equally.”

Will other sectors benefit from the extra talent in the market? Which ones?

“It is difficult to call that at this stage, however I think that is unlikely. Technology has proven to be very robust during previous economic downturns, and the global impact is not currently isolated to the tech-sector.

Whichever direction you look, business is being impacted – whether that’s manufacturing or financial services.

In addition, the vast majority of growth in non-tech is actually driven by tech (digital banks, digital commerce, etc.”

What are some of the reasons behind the cuts?

“I think there is a combination of factors. It’s clear that the global economy is severely impacted, and many factors have caused business’ to apply caution, Ukraine/Russia, Post-Pandemic and Brexit are all factors. Short term, everyone will need to restate their expectations, however there will still be tech-innovation taking place during the downturn and I strongly believe that tech will be the leading industry coming out of the downturn.”