My daughter lost her job yesterday. She had worked for three years at a tech startup with around 300 employees. Yesterday, the company got rid of half the workforce.
A key factor was economic uncertainty. They were in the middle or raising a new round of funding, when the VC money dried up. No one seems to want to invest in riskier companies these days. Without the expected funding, the company faces a crisis and had to drastically cut payroll.
My daugher will be OK financially. Her plans to move out last month fell through when the apartment she wanted was rented to someone else. With a free place to live and lots of savings, she will weather this.
That doesn't mean this isn't a really painful event. Losing your job and the community of a workplace is always hard to handle.
There are another 150 people who are going to be in worse shape. Some are primary breadwinners for a family. Others are still recovering from losing a home in the LA fires.
All of them are going to be job hunting at a bad time. More companies are laying off or freezing hiring than looking for new people.
Each person who loses a job thanks to a needless economic disaster is a real person with a story.