With more than 90,000 jobs cut by Big Tech companies, how bad is the Silicon Valley job market today?
Layoffs in the Silicon Valley—typically defined as Santa Clara and San Mateo counties—rank the area above all other counties in the state, outpacing even cuts seen in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
In fact, more than 10,000 workers have been laid off by leading companies in the Silicon Valley since July 2022, according to WARN reports filed with the state, which mandate that companies report significant staff cuts.
The biggest culprit? Menlo Park-based Meta, which let go of a total of 2,552 employees in the Silicon Valley. Last year, the social media company announced plans to cut 11,000 employees worldwide and also drastically reduced its office leases.
This week, Meta got its reward for the painful cost-cutting: A big share-price jump for beating its fourth-quarter revenue estimates.
Labor Market Still Strong
The waves of layoffs come after months of dire warnings from market analysts: Many tech companies scaled rapidly during the unexpected pandemic boom, but are now cutting back with sweeping layoffs and other cost-reduction measures.
Though layoffs have put many tech workers on edge, other indicators point to a South Bay pattern similar to the one seen in San Francisco: The Silicon Valley labor market appears stronger than ever and is, in fact, recovering at a rapid pace from the depths of 2020’s pandemic slump.
In fact, San Francisco and San Mateo counties added 4,400 jobs in December, and like Santa Clara County, report an unemployment rate that hovered around 2% at the end of 2022.
Indeed, throughout the pandemic, new job creation in these innovation-driven regions kept unemployment in San Francisco and Silicon Valley well below both statewide and national yearly averages.