I Will Not Give Up On A Career In Technology, The Tech Downturn Notwithstanding

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As a budding programmer, I am quite concerned by the happenings in Silicon Valley.

Silicon Valley’s honeymoon with wealth seems to be ending. Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has announced that it will cut 13% of its workforce.   Other than Meta, Twitter, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Netflix, and Patreon have also fired employees in droves.

On November 11, 2022, FTX, one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, filed for bankruptcy. FTX’s CEO and founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) resigned from his position. SBF is now under house arrest. Alameda Research, a hedge fund run by Fried and FTX US, which is the US-based subsidiary of FTX, has also filed for bankruptcy. Millions of customers’ funds is apparently missing from the crypto exchange, for which FTX is being investigated. Apparently Mr. Bankman-Fried is addicted to League of Legends, but his investors didn’t mind at all, until the cookie crumbled.

Remote working is coming to an end at various companies, especially Twitter.

Twitter on November 5, 2022, launched a subscription service for $8 a month that includes blue checkmark ”verified” badge.  Within three days, Twitter halted its $8 blue tick subscription offering after a number of accounts impersonating big brands received the blue tick.

What exactly is going on?

Until now, tech companies just focused on growth, without worrying about being profitable. They had investors willing to invest in them, though profits were not visible. Now the Federal Reserve is aggressively raising interest rates to fight inflation, venture capitalists are being stingier with their investments, forcing companies to focus more on profitability than growth. Tech giants are doing the same, as higher prices cut into their revenue, forcing them to cut costs.

All of this has led to what some are calling a “white-collar recession," with at least 140,000 layoffs at tech companies in recent months. More than $7 trillion has disappeared from the tech-heavy Nasdaq index. Some of the biggest tech companies hit record-high valuations in 2021, and are now down 50% or more.

Does this mean, I will give up on my dreams of building a career in technology? Not at all. Economic downturns have happened before, such as in 2001, when the dotcom bust happened. Technology is an integral part of human life and it is here to stay. In fact, some good may come out of this current downturn, such as an end to the cult of the founder.

 

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