Last year wasn’t the best year for tech jobs here. The cuts were deep and swift, as companies large and small were forced to adjust their workforces in line with a leaner economic scenario.
While the industry may have been hoping that widespread job losses would end, there wasn’t much reason for optimism on that front in January. The year is just getting started, with Amazon announcing hundreds of staff layoffs across its streaming and studio operations, followed by cuts to its Buy with Prime and Audible streaming businesses.
This was followed by some high-profile layoffs at other tech companies. In recent days, Salesforce has announced layoffs, and video platform TikTok is also cutting jobs to cut costs.
“It’s cheap to blame the lowest paid people for the challenges in our economy.”
Closer to home, there are concerns about employment at Activision Blizzard after Microsoft announced that it would cut its gaming division workforce by 1% worldwide. Google is making more job cuts, with a small number of its advertising team expected to lose jobs in Ireland, jobs in its hardware division responsible for Pixel, Nest and Fitbit, and its advertising team also being cut. Meanwhile, mobile phone company Three Ireland is cutting 150 jobs here.
These latest cuts weren’t completely unexpected. Employers in Ireland’s tech sector expect further job losses in the first quarter of this year, according to a Manpower survey published in December last year.
And there are still reasons to be optimistic. IBM, for example, may cut some jobs but says it plans to hire for more AI roles. The same Manpower Survey also found that companies continue to struggle to find candidates with the specialized technical skills they need.
So, although there may be some losses, there is still work left for more specialized engineers.
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