Editor’s note: A previous version of this article stated both Google and Nextdoor reduced their workforces by 25%. Only Nextdoor laid off 25% of its employees.
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — This week, more Bay Area tech companies like Google and Nextdoor announced layoffs. We’ve seen a lot of this type of restructuring and cost-cutting over the last year and a half. However, Bay Area economists remain bullish about the sector saying things seem to be improving
Nextdoor is reducing its workforce by 25%, laying off 200 employees. Still, the website Layoff.fyi shows tech layoffs have been on a steady decline since they peaked in January of this year.
“Tech employment is way up from before the pandemic,” said Stephen Levy who is the Director and Senior Economist of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy (CCSCE). “With nearly a million tech jobs, we’re only a few thousand below the peak. All of the layoffs have happened, but the level of tech employment is down only a tiny bit.”
Levy says new jobs in artificial intelligence (AI), clean energy, and electric vehicles are allowing many of those laid off to find new work. However, he still has some concerns.
“I’m much more worried about the slow return to working in the office than I am about the tech layoffs,” Levy said.
Levy says that has impacted small businesses and restaurants that depend on office workers to stay afloat.
“We had a consultant look at downtown Palo Alto, which actually has a whole lot of tech workers,” Levy said. “They concluded that the decline in people coming into the office wiped out about 100,000 square feet of retail demand.”
If and when that will bounce back is unclear.
