Layoffs can’t dim promise of tech sector

Massive

layoffs in technology industries

globally have alarmed the workforce that powers the sector and aspirants waiting to enter its hallowed precincts. According to one website tracking the numbers, 160,997 tech employees were laid off in 2022. The dismal momentum has picked up, with 108,754 employees already being laid off in 2023, just two months into the year.

Singaporeans have been affected,

along with their international tech counterparts. Globally, major tech brands have shed staff, including household names such as Google, Microsoft and Amazon.

Concerns over jobs are understandable. However, the tech downturn should not cloud the prospects of an essential industrial sector. The downturn is not a structural but a cyclical one driven by corporate worries of a recession, among other factors. Looking beyond the immediate future, observers note that job vacancies will return because the world awaits

an imminent artificial intelligence boom,

network speeds continue to increase, and the accelerating collection and storage of data will benefit Big Tech. Many of those retrenched now will be headhunted again.