Bill Gates is a reference for many. The tech guru always has something to say, and when that happens, his followers shut up and listen. The founder of Microsoft made a few predictions at the beginning of 2023 about what was to come in this new year.
The American businessman, who always leaves interesting pills in his predictions, concluded that 2023 will be a tough year due to the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic and the rebound in the disease that China is experiencing, which is unable to stop it. Added to this is the war between Russia and Ukraine as well as inflation.
The philanthropist has predicted that it will be a very tough year
ARND WIEGMANN / Reuters
“Five difficult years await us because we have debts due to the pandemic, due to the war in Ukraine and the economic cycle is changing,” Bill Gates wrote on his personal blog. One of the sectors most affected by this disastrous scenario is technology. It is only necessary to take a look at the main companies to realize it.
46,000 layoffs in 2023 alone
When Elon Musk arrived at Twitter after disbursing 44,000 million dollars, a bleeding of employees began. The South African tycoon changed the entire board and began laying off workers from all possible sectors. His mission was clear: to make Twitter profitable, and that meant reducing the thickness of the workforce. Experts predicted a disastrous future for the company with this decision, even a hypothetical end of Twitter was put on the table. After several turbulent months, it seems that everything has stabilized.
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Musk’s pulse did not tremble when it came to getting rid of what he understood as surplus. And despite the numerous criticisms of him, he has not been the only one who has made this decision. What’s more, there’s probably no tech company that hasn’t done the same.
2023 has only just begun, but according to a Crunchbase News count, there have already been 46,000 workers for US tech companies so far this year. This number includes the dismissal of 10,000 Microsoft professionals, the 12,000 from Alphabet, Google’s parent company, and the 18,000 from Amazon – the biggest cut in its history – recently announced in order to adapt to the new world reality.
What do the main technology companies say?
Amazon will carry out its biggest wave of layoffs
PASCAL ROSSIGNOL / Reuters
From Amazon, which has led one of the main waves of layoffs in the technology industry so far this year, they have argued that these changes “will help pursue our long-term opportunities with a stronger cost structure.”
In Alphabet they have chosen to suppress the Other bets division, which has been cut off this January. This branch was in charge of the projects that the technological giant does outside of its main business. Those affected have been Verily, the health unit, and Instrinsic, Alphabet’s robotic software company.
In Microsoft, for its part, they have forecast that they will register a sales increase of 2% in the second fiscal quarter, which is the slowest increase in revenue since 2017. Given this situation, the technology giant has decided to cut around 5% of its staff, including the video game division.
back to harsh reality
The coronavirus pandemic turned the whole world upside down, including production and supply chains. For this reason, tech companies started investing in hiring again. They were bound. But this trend has continued until they realized that the market was not on an upward trajectory.
The invasion of Ukraine came along and central banks around the world thought it best to hedge against a recession. So in this situation, and in order to remain profitable, the big technology companies have had to adapt to the current reality.
They understand that these cuts are necessary at this particular economic time. It should help them to stay alive during these months, until a time comes when the situation calms down and the financing conditions are much better than the current ones.
