Chavez is among the hundreds of thousands of IT workers who have lost their jobs during tech layoff in the last two years due to seemingly unending budget cuts that have completely changed Silicon Valley's culture and the expectations of employees at some of the wealthiest and most influential corporations in the country.

Over 260,000 people were let go by tech companies last year, according to a tech layoff tracker. FYI, the reductions were primarily attributed by executives to "over-hiring" during the epidemic and high interest rates, which made it more difficult to fund new company endeavors. However, the tech worker is feeling discouraged and bewildered since those tech layoffs have continued into 2024 despite stabilized interest rates and a strong job market in other areas.

The East Coast and West Coast tech hubs accounted for about equal shares of the startups that announced layoffs this week.

DocuSign, a San Francisco-based company that revealed a restructuring plan earlier this week that involves a workforce reduction, is reporting the biggest number of layoffs. Estimated at 440, or 6% of the startup's overall employment, the decrease will mostly impact the sales and marketing divisions.

This week, Big Tech returns to the radar with Seattle-based Amazon's revelation that, as part of ongoing cost-cutting measures, it is terminating employees from both its One Medical and Amazon Pharmacy divisions. 

Why do companies layoff their employees? 

Presumption of an impending recession: 

It's possible that the executives of these large IT companies are planning for the upcoming recession by conducting these broad layoffs. While certain countries and, to a lesser extent, specific industries may be more susceptible to a recession than others, all industries need to adopt preventative measures to guard against this inevitable. 

Over hiring during the pandemic: 

There was a notable spike in the use of technology during the height of the pandemic as everything shifted online. During the quarantine, many streamed their preferred television shows, worked from home, and ordered groceries and meals online. 

Record-high profits for tech companies resulted from this spike in online activity, which in turn sparked a hiring frenzy to meet demand.

Investor pressure:

When revenues decline, investors urge corporations to cut costs. Businesses like Microsoft and Meta likely had negative feedback from investors due to their large workforce size in comparison to other businesses.