Career coach on tech layoffs: 'This happens. This is why we prepare.'

Mandi Woodruff-Santos, Yahoo Finance Contributor and Co-host of the Brown Ambition Podcast, breaks down hiring slowdowns and layoffs happening in the tech industry and how job seekers can professionally prepare for and position themselves after a layoff.

Video Transcript

RACHELLE AKUFFO: Welcome back, everyone. Tech layoffs and job freezes at Netflix, Meta, Better, Tesla, Peloton, and others are setting off alarm bells about the tech job bubble bursting. And now, according to Business Insider, Microsoft is significantly slowing hiring, with additional focus to hiring growth over the next year. That's according to an internal memo.

So let's break all of this down and take a look at what's happening with this bubble. I'm joined by Mandi Woodruff Santos, Yahoo Finance contributor and co-host of the "Brown Ambition" podcast, breaking this down for us. So, Mandi, a lot going on there. It seems like every day, we're getting one of these announcements. Give us some context about the reality about the panic that we're seeing and the reality of what's happening on the ground with some of these tech firms.

MANDI WOODRUFF-SANTOS: You know, I've been covering business and finance for over a decade now, starting out as a journalist and now as a career coach. And I can say this sounds familiar. I think we've heard this song before. This tends to happen. Companies need to have flexibility to pivot and make corrections when the economy changes. And we have fundamentally seen our economy go through so many changes, so many ups and downs through this pandemic. So I honestly think it's been a long time coming.

And what I've been telling my career coaching clients is, it's going to be OK. This happens. This is why we prepare. It's why we keep our resumes fresh, our LinkedIn profiles optimized, and we take steps now so that if and when you're on the cutting room floor of a company, like tends to happen when businesses ultimately care more about their bottom line than people-- that's just the reality-- that you're ready to bounce back. So I'm pretty optimistic.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: So then as we look at the kind of jobs involved here, how much is it about the specific types of jobs that are being laid off versus, say, general layoffs across the board?

MANDI WOODRUFF-SANTOS: Well, look, on Friday, we just found out that 390,000, almost 400,000 jobs were added, you know? And although you do see scary reports about, oh, 4,000 jobs in tech were lost in May, hundreds more in other sectors, you also have to factor in the other side of that. Yeah, we lost a few thousand jobs in tech, but we also added 16,000 jobs in tech, OK? Thousands more in information technology, so-- and that's coming from sites like Glassdoor. Indeed is also reporting 50% increases in new job postings.

So it's not like companies are not hiring. You do see some companies-- you mentioned a bevy of names earlier. You do see some companies who are saying, hey, our coffers are a little bit tighter. We're seeing trends. You know, no one's getting stimulus checks anymore. People are shopping less. And if you look at the jobs report, the sector that's having probably the most-- struggling the most is not tech, but retail, which I think makes sense when you think about the fact that inflation is much higher, people are much more worried about their kitchen table finances these days, and those stimulus checks have dried up, right?

So I think you just want to understand those news alerts, but you want to also-- what I'm trying to do is give some additional context so that job seekers recognize that we still are in a really strong job market. Maybe it's shifting and changing, and we should be aware of that. But the jobs that everyone is going after, the ones that have the juicy benefits, the ones that have hybrid work and remote work and flexible PTO and all those great benefits, they still exist. Maybe they got a little bit more competitive, but they're still out there.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: So then, in terms of these shifts, though, if you're someone who's working at a tech company-- and you might be a little bit worried. You might be thinking, when is that next announcement via Zoom or wherever it's going to come from that's going to tell me I'm out of work? And you talk about building professional resiliency. What is that? And how should people go about building that so that they're not in panic mode and perhaps are preparing for their next move?

MANDI WOODRUFF-SANTOS: Oh, absolutely. I mean, I feel like getting laid off at the age of 22 was the best thing that could have happened to me because I learned to always stay ready to just kind of expect that something may happen, whether it's a personal financial emergency or your boss or your company lays you off. It's totally possible. So if you're someone who's feeling anxious, then I would just face some facts. And I would say, well, what can I control? You can absolutely control the fact that you aren't waiting to be laid off to stop-- to start job searching, to start optimizing your LinkedIn profile so that recruiters can find you now.

One of my career coaching clients just got a job at Google today. You know what I mean? Like, there's jobs out there. But you have to keep your professional brand strong. Keep your network warm. Talk to people. Keep them engaged with what you're doing. Let them know how amazing you are. Don't be anyone's best kept secret because when recruiters are looking for those jobs, it may not be happening the day after you get laid off. It may be a month later or a month before. But that's why I'm really big on that professional resiliency, making sure that you're taking steps today that you can control so that you're finding those jobs down the line.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: So if you're someone who is like, look, I've not really worked on my network. I'm not sure what's happening here. What is the first step that someone should take if they think that they're in a job that perhaps they're seeing these sort of positions getting laid off? What should their first steps be?

MANDI WOODRUFF-SANTOS: You're describing so many of my clients right now. The first step is, let's do a LinkedIn audit. Let's look at your LinkedIn page. Are you actually describing the work that you're doing? Are you talking about the impact that you've had at the job that you're at right now? And that impact, being able to demonstrate, well, here's what impact I've had on my company, on my team, sharing numbers and stats, those are the things that are going to really influence and attract attention from recruiters.

So, also looking for the jobs that you want to have in the industries that you're in, what are the key words that they're using in those job descriptions? And how are you working those into your profile and LinkedIn? Of course, resumes matter and all of that, but so many recruiters are starting at LinkedIn. So we just got to go word that audience is at, right? So LinkedIn first and foremost, and my favorite question to ask my clients, who have you told that you are interested in a new opportunity?

And so often, it's crickets. It's like, well, I mean, I told you. But tell people. Tell your network. Tell your friends. It doesn't have to be a big public post. But let your network know so they can go to work for you and actually let you know if there's opportunities. In a very competitive job market, like the one that we have right now, referrals can go a long way toward getting your resume at the top of the pile. So I would not feel shy about letting your network know that you're open and ready for a new opportunity.