What I've learned seeing layoffs at my company

In tech, everyone is familiar with the massive layoffs that have been happening since 2022, from small startups to tech giants. Some want to survive the recession, while others are trying to pass funding winter.

I work for an e-commerce startup, which received its last funding in late 2021 and made massive hires in the next 2-3 months, with some hires being heavily overpaid, as I've heard from my peers. I can't blame them for this since, at that time, salaries in the tech market were heavily inflated and it felt like a bubble. Things were looking optimistic, but 2022 changed that.

Soon, people also started to realize this, along with startups, and we started to hear the news of layoffs from multiple places. As companies wanted to survive in the long run, they started cost-cutting activities. Most of the new hires were affected by this, at least in my organization. After a few months, some more developers had to go, and I heard they were mostly heavily paid + underperforming were part of it.

One thing was clear to me: with great power(package) comes great responsibility. If I can't justify my salary, there is a high chance of me getting fired. So don't jump for the higher package if you can't justify it.

The second thing I've learned is that I have to constantly learn and grow while keeping a growth mindset, which will greatly increase my chances of survival. If you want to set sail for longer in the sea, you've got to keep your ship maintained, constantly repairing it for wear and tear. It's also true that sometimes a storm will sink it, no matter how well maintained. We will face unfortunate incidents and think we don't deserve them, but that's how it is; life is unfair. By doing this, we can increase our survival chances in the long run and be prepared for uncertain situations.

These are subjective opinions and might not be relatable to you. I hope the people who got laid off find better opportunities and more power.

PS: This is my first blog post. I tried to be more to the point and keep it simple to read. I was inspired by Paul Graham's essay, Write Simply.