What’s Going on with the Market?

As a recruiter I’m often asked what I’m seeing. What I am seeing is not good.

I appreciated this Bay Area news summary of ongoing tech layoffs where “nobody is safe.”  While better than last year, times are still tough. Meta is closing three offices in Fremont, and Block (formerly Square) is laying off 240 California employees, for example. Veteran tech analyst Rob Enderle calls current conditions of A.I. and tariffs “the perfect storm” hitting the tech market.

Here’s the not so bad news: tech boom and bust cycles have always happened, and the Bay Area has always recovered. As SJ State engineering professor Ahmed Banafa notes, “We have seen it in the 2000s, 2008; we have it after the pandemic; we have seen how many people lost their jobs — thousands and thousands of people because nobody knows the future.” But he also says, “I know the future is here, I know technology is here, the next invention, the next ground zero for technology is here in Silicon Valley, but you have to be patient, you have to be ready.”

What to do? Experts advise workers to learn relevant skills for the latest technology. “You have to be part of that technology because nobody is safe,” Banafa said. I agree. Lawyers are often seen as a cost center, so be ready to show your value and pick up new skills.