Mass layoffs in IT and tech are no longer just headlines; they are becoming a lived reality for many professionals. One Reddit user wrote, “Lately I’ve been reading about mass layoffs almost daily. Big companies, especially in IT and tech, are cutting hundreds or even thousands of jobs at a time. What’s even more worrying is that I’m starting to see it around me too, smart, experienced friends struggling for months to find a new role.”
They added, “It feels like the market has shifted. Companies are hiring less, demanding more, and playing it safe. Meanwhile, talented people are being left behind, ghosted, or forced to take roles far below their level just to survive.”
Recruiters Call It a Fragmented Market
In response, one user commented, “Recruiter here, and the job market is terrible. It has been since late 2022 when it crashed and has been getting worse. The reason you hear people say ‘the job market is good’ is because the job market is not the job market, the job market is 100 job markets in a trench coat, and 2 out of those 100 are good and thriving, but the rest are getting worse.”
This highlights how uneven the hiring landscape has become, with only a handful of industries showing positive trends while most continue to decline.
AI and Tariffs Deepen the Crisis
Another commenter pointed to technology’s role in the current climate: “I think AI is the excuse used by companies at this point. When it does get good enough then we will see some real layoffs.”
Meanwhile, tariffs have created additional challenges in niche industries. A third commenter wrote: “When the tariffs kicked in we got royally screwed. We sell specific specialized machines for the promo and apparel markets worldwide. Before we would pay about $9k per machine in tariff/taxes. Now its about $140k in tariffs alone. We sell the machine for around 90k. Everything parts wise is from China. We have had 2 layoffs and we are told our company can’t afford another. Meaning its closure soon.”.