According to the 2023 State of IT report from Spiceworks Ziff Davis, as many as 83% of companies are concerned about a recession in 2023. These fears are making decision-makers at technology companies freeze hiring, restructure their workforce and initiate layoffs to remain resilient to economic downturns. Earlier this week, software giant Microsoft announced the layoff of nearly 1,000 employees as part of a “structural adjustment” exercise.
In other news, we obtained key insights from the who’s who in the cybersecurity industry to mark Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and also gained key insights from Relish’s founder Sean Sollitto on how businesses can make their operations more efficient and resilient to a looming recession.
Here’s a look at this week’s top reads from Spiceworks News & Insights.
From the Great Resignation Season to the Great Layoff Season
Earlier this week, Microsoft reportedly let go of nearly 1,000 employees, including those working in Xbox console gaming, Microsoft Strategic Missions and Technology organization, and other divisions. And it wasn’t alone. Data from Crunchbase suggests that by October 2022, more than 44,000 US-based tech workers have been laid off by their employers. Hirect also found that the ongoing layoffs in tech have so far impacted 14,000 highly skilled employees from US-based tech startups alone.
So what’s driving the rise in layoffs in the technology industry which, until recently, was struggling to adapt to the Great Resignation trend? To understand the key reasons behind this, Spiceworks spoke to key industry leaders, such as Danny Allan, chief technology officer at Veeam, Cody Harker, head of data & insights at Bayard Advertising, James Neave, head of data science at Adzuna, and Neil Costa, the founder and CEO of HireClix.
The experts discussed at length the top factors behind a slowdown in hiring and the steps that need to be taken to future-proof the technology job market.
Click here to read all about recent layoffs at Microsoft and the key reasons behind the slowdown in hiring in the tech industry.
How to make your business operations recession-proof?
With analysts and global advisory bodies predicting more rounds of recession, record-breaking inflation, and supply chain disruptions, businesses are wasting no time to right-size their boats, curtail wasteful spending, and survive the looming storm.
As such, there is no better time to glean useful insights from industry veterans on how to keep the organization afloat amidst multiple disruptive events taking place simultaneously. In an in-depth article for Spiceworks News & Insights, Sean Sollitto, the founder of Relish, an application platform that remedies all enterprise ecosystem gaps, discusses why the right combination of B2B apps and enterprise software can help your company build momentum in the midst of budget-tightening inflation.
Sollitto also shares some secrets for success, such as utilizing the power of AI and machine learning to improve supply chain systems, engaging in healthy cost-cutting measures that don’t create hard-to-fill employee vacancies or curtail innovation, or onboarding the right software with the power to free up employee attention, redirect resources to maximize profitability, and clear the path for innovation.
Read more insights from Sollitto on how businesses can make their operations more efficient and resilient to disruptive forces.
Celebrating Cybersecurity Awareness Month with insights from top industry leaders
Cybersecurity Awareness Month was first observed in 2004 as a public-private partnership to raise awareness about online security among the masses that were slowly getting used to the wonders of a connected world. Although the Internet is arguably among the greatest inventions ever, its misuse has also inflicted tremendous losses on nations, businesses, and citizens in the past two decades.
According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Report 2021, losses to cyber crime amounted to $6.9 billion in 2021, up from $4.2 billion in 2020 and $3.5 billion in 2019. These trends suggest that businesses and individuals could suffer worse losses in the years ahead if they don ‘t raise awareness about cyber crime and ways to mitigate its impact. Considering the stakes, Spiceworks News & Insights gleaned diverse insights from key leaders from the cybersecurity industry about the threats we face and ways to win the battle against malicious cybercriminals, nation-state actors, and profit-driven hackers.
Click bound to read the best insights from the who’s who in the cybersecurity industry.
As always, we invite you to explore our expansive coverage of the latest in the tech industry on Spiceworks News & Insights.
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