Tech layoffs aren’t really about AI. From the inside, the warning signs were there long before ChatGPT. I spent seven years at Amazon, including five as a senior manager. I watched the company slowly change in ways most people outside never see. This video isn’t a rant. It’s a personal, insider view of how big tech actually works, and why layoffs often feel sudden to some, but predictable to others who were paying attention. If you work in tech and are wondering whether to wait things out or move early, I hope this perspective is helpful. Good luck. #techlayoffs #techcareers #amazon
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5:25 "explaining things to leaders who proudly remain non-technical" - nailed it. I've seen many companies calls themselves a "tech company" but their leaders don't actually understand technology. They know "about" them but not enough to understand when they are getting swindled.
Focusing on achieving everything within 1 quarter seems to be a huge problem where I am at. No one wants to look at long term solutions, only short term fixes, as you mentioned. In the 4 years I’ve been in my role I don’t think I’ve seen one project actually reach an end. I mocked up a super quick data dashboard in a day 2 years ago and they’re still using it to this day for the entire company because they moved onto other projects before that project could be finished
Your video is like a fresh wind that suddenly opens the window ☺In my big corporate job, I’m watching something very similar happening with AI now. It’s often just a cover for "transformation”, and that word has become the easiest legal way to carry out massive layoffs.
I was also laid off from a big fintech company, our team's project has been closed (it was actually making a 3M-5M$ profit monthly). We are all experienced and hardworking engineers but the C-level guys decided to close it suddenly. I haven't been working or looking for a job since then. Right now I feel exhausted by the pace and trying to slow-down and do some pet projects just for fun and for the new experience. I'm predicting a new 2020 (in terms of vacancies) somewhere in the nearest future, otherwise I'll just jump into this rat race again, but at least rested :P
I‘m so glad you made this very important clip, thank you!! And I think there are other areas bloated up, SEO being the biggest one. I‘m wondering when that bubble will finally and hopefully completely burst.
Thank you for this sharing. You are so well spoken and articulated. When you said "I felt I wasn't worth the money my company paid me for, and my work wasn't worth the life I am giving it for", it's such a honest but wise observation. These two facts can be true at the same time, is a great reminder for many of us.
Left tech and management when they forced us back to the office and I was spending my entire days in mostly virtual meetings. Am much happier now. Tech is a rotting carcass of an industry.
fantastic video. It's great to hear from someone working in a large successful tech company. Vast over hiring during the pandemic leads to layoffs now. Everyone trying to take credit for fixing a big bug, mis-aligned incentives for dev teams, higher level non tech GMs making decisions they might not understand. It's a tale as old as time. Brave to be so honest about it.
Former L7 in Retail. Everything you said is spot on. I left because I spent 90% of my day discussing who gets HC, who doesn't, and who gets PIPped.
Great call out, Becky! When the return to work and business efficiency rhetoric starts, it usually signals widespread changes for an organization.
You are an absolutely brilliant person and this is an awesome deep look of what I've been seeing just looking at things from the outside!
This video is one of those rare cases where nothing needs to be added or debated. The message is clear whether people accept it or deliberately look away is a different matter. Either way, every single word spoken here reflects the truth in big company management
Great video Becky. As an Amazon shareholder I was always shocked by the very high employee headcount when they also have over 1 million robots. Please create more videos on employment and also on skin care. Your skin is beautiful and absolutely flawless. I am so jealous.
I'd hire you tomorrow for any job. Some people are just very, very smart, and you are clearly one of those people (I am not). I have had the opportunity to work with people, some of whom were much younger than me, but could tell they would surpass me in no time. It's great to be around people like you and these folks. No idea how you ended up on my YouTube, but this was a fun watch!
I soooo mu h appreciate that you, as a former amazon manager, talk about this stuff. I also worked at Amazon for 2 years so I hit subscription very quickly:)
Thank you so much. It really explains why Amazon is continuously selling 10TB USB memory for $20 - it is so obvious it is fake, but Amazon cannot filter them out. And that's why when I was searching external HDD, the capacity filter ends at 10TB and never fixed it. They don't work for the end customer inside there~!
Thanks for making this video, Becky. It gave me a lot of answers to questions I've had for years selling managed services in the tech space. Wishing you the best on your content creation journey and career!
Congrats on sharing your history. I have been working in tech for 25 years and this is the worst generation of companies and leaders. You're completely right about the industry collapse.
This is a “normal” phenomenon. The problem is that pretending to work- and producing results that appear better than the actual effort- often looks more impressive than genuine work. If managers are not attentive and allow this to slip through, it becomes inevitable that people who truly contribute will be replaced by those who merely appear productive. Preventing this is not easy; it requires deliberate and sustained effort. However, if leadership relaxes and lets things drift, organizations will naturally move in this direction. The larger the company, the more effort is required to prevent it.
I am so glad you brought this up, this is the same case in every MNC, people thrive on chaos and ambiguity to justify head count without setting proper process, roles and responsibilities or in the worst case, not sticking to it.