Recent tech layoffs offer HR a prime opportunity to scoop up talented employees

Big tech. Big job cuts. Bigger recruiting opportunities.

The tech industry spent most of 2023 shedding employees the way a shaggy dog loses fur, and it continued to do so into 2024, the Wall Street Journal reported. So far this year—and we’re less than two months in—tech giants including Snap, Amazon, and Google parent Alphabet have announced layoffs affecting more than 41,000 employees, according to tracker Layoffs.fyi.

“Management experts say the barrage of tech layoffs largely reflects new efforts by companies to operate leaner and more efficiently,” the Journal noted. “Companies expect new artificial intelligence tools to help them achieve those goals, albeit slowly, as they are still trying to determine which jobs those technologies can replace or minimize.”

But tech’s loss could be another industry’s gain.

Tech employees bring a unique set of analytical and programming skills to the workplace, as well as an ability to adapt to quick changing environments, Adam Levy, managing partner at recruiting firm Ikon Search, told HR Brew.

“A lot of tech employees are specialists who have expert level skills that can be transferable to another company,” Levy said. “We deal with a lot of finance firms here who work heavily in high frequency trading or algorithmic trading, where they need heavy [program language skills] and someone coming from a tech company is extremely valuable to them.”

It’s up to HR to show them why they should consider switching industries.

Ramping up recruiting. Recruiters interested in hiring recently laid off tech employees should meet them where they are—whether in a LinkedIn group, at a networking event, or with the help of a search firm—and highlight why their organization is right for them, said Reed Parker, senior client partner for digital and technology markets at Korn Ferry.

Once they’ve infiltrated those ecosystems, Parker said, the key to attracting tech talent is to make sure they know they won’t just be a “cog in a wheel.” Most tech employees want to work on innovative projects that drive change.

For example, Parker said he worked with a healthcare equipment company that needed to hire software experts who could improve the user experience of a surgical robot. The employer had hundreds of employees on its hardware and robotics team, but only 10 on software, and he helped find the right tech professionals for the job.

“It was a completely uncharted territory for a company that was already growing and almost doubling in size given the success of their robot,” Parker said. “So, that’s what drew the personnel that went over there.”

Tech employees relish a challenge, Parker told HR Brew, so when it comes to recruiting, HR should emphasize the aspects of the position that haven’t been done before at the company.

“This is actually what attracts these tech workers to other industries,” Parker said. “They like the idea of completely white space or greenfield.” These employees appreciate when a prospective employer says things like, “we don't know how to do this, can you help teach us or show us? That’s what’s exciting to them.”