Bad news, tech workers: A brand-name résumé isn't enough anymore

• January is typically ripe for layoffs, and this year is no different.
• Workers laid off from Amazon and Meta are entering a job market that's grown challenging in recent years.
• Even those with brand-name backgrounds say the résumés that once opened doors aren't doing the trick anymore.

New year, new layoffs — and Big Tech workers who spent their careers being courted by recruiters are in for a nasty reality.

On Wednesday, Amazon said it would cut around 16,000 corporate jobs globally. It's the second round of layoffs since October, when the company eliminated 14,000 roles. Earlier this month, Meta cut about 1,500 employees in its Reality Labs division.

January is historically a common month for companies to shed workers as they reassess budgets and plan for the year ahead. January 2024 saw more than 34,000 tech layoffs across 123 companies, according to the online tracker Layoffs.fyi — a monthly total that hasn't been exceeded since.

However, tech workers don't typically face a job market this challenging. US businesses are hiring at one of the lowest rates since 2013, and tech job postings have plunged amid economic uncertainty and the early effects of AI adoption.

Over the past year, I've spoken with dozens of laid-off workers — including people from Big Tech companies like Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft. Many told me they'd built their careers in a tech landscape where job security could be elusive, but opportunities were plentiful. Some said finding a new role used to be as simple as opening LinkedIn and replying to the recruiters who regularly flooded their inboxes.

Now, despite impressive résumés and big-name credentials, many laid-off tech workers are struggling to land their next roles.

Hiring less and expecting 'Superman'

Last year, US tech companies announced roughly 154,000 layoffs, per Challenger, 15% more than in 2024 and the most of any private-sector industry. Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Google, and Tesla each announced plans in recent years to cut at least 10,000 employees.

This adds up to too many workers flooding the market and not enough jobs. It's affected people like James Hwang, who has struggled to find work since being laid off from his IT support engineering role at Amazon in October. Although his résumé sports years of experience at Amazon, he said it's not as helpful as one might think.

"It felt like there was this huge brick wall from the get-go," said Hwang, who's 28 and lives in Michigan. "I applied to 100 jobs but didn't get any interviews."

Workers in Hwang's line of work have had abundant job opportunities in years past, but now tech companies are getting leaner and expecting more. They're rightsizing after overhiring during the pandemic, taking longer to fill roles, and citing a need to be more efficient in the AI age. At the same time, the US has seen a decline in tech openings, down 33% on Indeed from early 2020 levels as of December.

"It feels like recruiters are looking for Superman," said Mody Khan, who has been looking for work since losing his Microsoft job in December 2024. He said he's depleted much of his savings and fears he could lose his home.

Despite a five-year run at Microsoft, he said, even landing interviews has been difficult. Among the many challenges he's faced during his job search, Khan said, is that some companies he's interviewed with have seemed to favor candidates with startup backgrounds — making his time at a large tech firm feel like a disadvantage in those cases.

Tech workers who've experienced layoffs throughout their careers consistently pointed to one challenge that stands out in today's market: the sheer level of competition.

Sriram Ramkrishna was laid off from Intel for a second time last July and has been looking for work ever since. He said he has a clearer sense of his career identity than after his first layoff in 2016, but that the job market is more competitive than anything he's ever experienced.

"If an employer I'm interested in posts a job, there's bound to be at least 400 applicants," said Ramkrishna, who's in his 50s and lives in Portland, Oregon.

How laid-off workers are eventually breaking through

While most laid-off workers I've spoken with have faced more challenging job searches than they expected, others have eventually found work.

When Deborah Henderson was laid off from Microsoft after 14 years, she shared the news on LinkedIn and helped start a Discord group for other affected colleagues. She said connecting with others provided emotional support and helped surface new job opportunities — including a referral for a role at Meta that she landed just two months after being laid off.

"It's so helpful to have the support of other people who are going through it — both the highs and the lows," said Hendersen, who's in her 40s and lives in Seattle.

Mike Kostersitz, on the other hand, struggled to find a new role after 31 years at Microsoft. He felt like a fish out of water in the job market, so he decided to hire a career coach to help him build a résumé, update his LinkedIn profile, draft cover letters, and tailor his materials for applicant tracking systems.

In particular, he added, it was difficult to know which parts of his Microsoft experience to highlight in interviews.

"It's like, I have 30 years of stories for you. Which one do you want to hear?" said Kostersitz, who's in his 60s and lives in Washington state.

Kostersitz said he eventually expanded his search to tech roles at large corporations outside Big Tech. After six months, he landed a role at Nike.

His top piece of advice for job seekers is something he first heard from a career advisor provided through Microsoft's layoff package: develop a solid job search strategy — and stick with it.

"They said it's a game of chicken right now. The person who has the longer breath and can stick it out longer will get the job."