美国国家公共电台 NPR--What is behind the recent mass layoffs in the tech industry?

What is behind the recent mass layoffs¹ in the tech industry?

Transcript²

NPR's A Martinez talks to Daniel Keum, an assistant professor of management at Columbia Business School, about the recent wave of layoffs in the tech industry.

DWANE BROWN, HOST:

Big names in the tech industry, including Meta, Lyft, HP and Amazon, have been laying off workers by the hundreds or even thousands. Daniel Keum is an assistant professor of management at Columbia Business School. A. Martínez asked Keum what he thinks is behind the wave of tech layoffs.

DANIEL KEUM: There are about three, four drivers, I think, that people are talking about. I think the most immediate³ one is that they're rightsizing their growth. They were very aggressive in forecasting their future growth through the pandemic years, but the growth didn't materialize. I think the second part is - and this is something people talk about a little less - is that usually there's a natural rate of turnover⁴ either by companies finding the poor fit from the employees or employees finding the poor fit with the company. In the past eight months or so, when we were - people were talking about Great Resignation, it was employees finding employers, oh, you're not a great fit for me. So a lot of people are quitting and looking for something different. What we're seeing in the past one month is actually the other - the flip⁵ side of that dynamic where employers are finding with employees, oh, you're not a great fit for us.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Is that more or less what we're seeing with Amazon, as well?

KEUM: So there's an additional layer to Amazon, if you ask me. So if you look at where the layoffs are taking place, it's actually quite uneven⁶. So even within Amazon, most of the layoffs are concentrated in their devices business. In the past decade, if you look at the tech companies, they're actually tech empires. They're actually spread across many different lines of businesses, across many different products. They started with their one or two core lines of businesses that made them massively successful. And those lines of businesses have grown to maturity⁷. And these tech companies wanted to look for new engines of growth. So what's the next big thing? Amazon is one of those companies that bet very heavily on devices, and these devices haven't really panned out. Or, I mean, they're not doing terribly. It's just that compared to their existing success, given all the uncertainty⁸ right now, they feel that it's time to pull back so that when the uncertainty resides (ph), they can come out swinging.

MART?NEZ: Are there any lessons to be learned? I mean, we're talking about the tech industry here, professor, but, I mean, is there any lessons to be learned for other industries to not maybe go down the same path as tech companies on this?

KEUM: I think everybody needs to be careful in who they hire and how they hire and make sure that the people you're hiring - labor⁹ has gotten a lot more expensive - people you're hiring are the right fit for you because sometimes, companies fall into the vicious cycle of training people; they leave. You hire new people. You train them. They leave. And people who want to stay on - they get tired of training new people.

MART?NEZ: And what about the laid-off workers? What are their prospects¹⁰ going forward?

KEUM: Again, losing a job is a deadly event, and we should not talk about this lightly. But these are the most highly trained and most highly sought-after talents in the world. Most of them are able to find a new job within three months or so.

MART?NEZ: Was it a mistake, looking back, to try to aggressively expand when we didn't really know what the pandemic was going to bring? And the pandemic's still going on. But, I mean, considering that we didn't know much about anything back when all this expansion started, was it a mistake to project this aggressively into the future?

KEUM: I mean, managers want to grow (laughter). It's their first instinct. So, I mean, there was more strategic consideration behind that. The fear was, if we don't grow, someone else will.

MART?NEZ: That's Daniel Keum, professor of management at Columbia Business School. Professor, thanks.

KEUM: Thanks for a great set of questions.

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1 layoffs   

临时解雇( layoff的名词复数 )； 停工，停止活动

参考例句：

• Textile companies announced 2000 fresh layoffs last week. 各纺织公司上周宣布再次裁员两千人。
• Stock prices broke when the firm suddenly announced layoffs. 当公司突然宣布裁员时，股票价格便大跌

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

4 turnover   

n.人员流动率，人事变动率；营业额，成交量

参考例句：

• The store greatly reduced the prices to make a quick turnover.这家商店实行大减价以迅速周转资金。
• Our turnover actually increased last year.去年我们的营业额竟然增加了。

5 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

6 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。

7 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。

8 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

9 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

10 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。