The purge of the Big Tech is not over yet: the firing of middle managers is coming, according to FT

So far in 2023, tech companies have laid off more than 135,000 employees. Despite this dramatic figure, which contrasts with the almost 100,000 dismissals last year, there are some indications that the corporate purge is not over yet. The next wave of cuts, according to Financial Timespoint to middle management and you’re on your way.

As we have seen previously, one of the underlying problems of mass layoffs has been “overcontracting” in pandemic times. Changes in people’s habits after the emergence of COVID-19 translated into significant growth for Big Tech. That is, we spent more time than ever using technology products or services.

Too many middle managers are hired

Thus, between 2020 and 2021, while company finances flourished, hiring were counted in the thousands. It is even believed that some companies like Meta hired talent so that they would not end up working for their competitors, even if they had nothing to do. In the midst of this hectic scenario, many middle management positions were also opened.

Middle managers are those who are between managers and the general staff. We could say that they are like an operational bridge that is in charge of managing work teams under the roles of bosses or managers of certain areas. Now, corporate structures have changed substantially in the last two years, and these “bridges” are no longer so necessary.

According to the aforementioned American newspaper, technology companies began to offer more middle management positions. In general, each boss or person in charge had between seven or eight people in chargebut the proliferation of these types of positions, despite the enormous recruitment, caused them to end up with two or three people below them in the corporate organization chart.

This dynamic, in some cases, was not necessarily the best idea. In Meta, for example, the loss of efficiency and the increase in bureaucracy became apparent. “It became what we make fun of in the old corporate companies for,” an employee of a large tech company said anonymously. “Too many people think their job is to plan, to enforce the process,” he added.

The middle management cuts, as we say, have already begun. Meta itself announced that, as a result of the “Year of Efficiency”, was flattening its organizational structure and eliminating some middle managers to make decisions faster. Twitter, for its part, eliminated a large number of middle managers in layoffs after the purchase by Elon Musk.

Images: sebastien bonneval | christina

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