> I can’t say I understand why trillion dollar companies are doing mass layoffs
Most companies finance new projects with a combination of three things. Own capital, investor money and loans. Right now interest rates are high, I'm European so I can't speak for the US, but in some areas of the Eurozone the interest rates hit 12% a month ago. At that point it becomes impossible to utilise the loan part, because it's just too expensive. The investor money are similarly either slowing down or disappearing, not so much because they aren't around or that they don't have money, but because they are waiting to see what happens. This is fuelled not only by the loan part of the equation, but also by the inflation and global supply lines pushing the costs of projects to a point that has eaten a healthy chunk of the would-be investor profits, or put in another way, investors don't want to risk their money for 5% return when it was a 50% return a year ago. Lastly there is the own capital, one way to maintain this is to cut the work force, which aligns with how you need a smaller work force as things slow down.
Where do people go? Well, typically they find new jobs. Some change professions entirely. Some retire. A few unfortunate people break down and head down dark paths. But really, it's not unlike layoffs in good periods, there is just more of it with fewer opportunities.
> it still even possible to get a tech job in this downturn?
As with most things this depends on your situation. What is your educational background, your skillset and your history of work. I can't speak for the US, but here in Europe some countries you could double our amount of good programmers and still need more.
> good paying
As with everything, this depends on the amount of people who can do what you do, but compensation doesn't necessarily go down during harder periods. But it does mean you'll likely have to justify what you do to earn it more than you did before.
It's a good question, and it's frankly so complicated that I'm not sure I can explain it. Basically own capital is the operational capital that is on your company's books that your company can budget and spend. Investor money aren't.
This can play out in a lot of different ways, and many of them are probably a little different than what HN is used to, but in many cases, especially in investment banking, it's common for investors to buy into projects rather than into companies. Of course the projects are likely going to be multiple companies as legal entities, but basically, they are a lot like school projects in which one computer is great at doing the project and the other owns a computer to do the project on.
Let's say I'm really good at building offshore windmill farms. I'm also great at selling them for a nice profit once they are build, but a 40% profit on 10 is still just 14. You're rich on the other hand, but you're not really sure how to grow your fortune. Now if we pool my 10 and your 100 and the banks 100 together, then we can turn those 210 into almost 300 in the same amount of time that I could turn my 10 into 14. The 10 is own capital.
Even if you were to invest in my company directly, it would still make sense for you, and the other investors to keep some operational capital on the budgets. Both because it's healthy, and because it allows the company to move in on opportunities before they are sold to investors. Maybe there was an opportunity to turn the 210 into 1000, but you had to act NOW. I could put my own 100 up, and then slowly sell them to you, or other investors, over the following year.
And so on. It's much, much, more complicated than this, and then you also have to add the real complexity of all the bureaucratic "magic" that goes along with finances.
Most companies finance new projects with a combination of three things. Own capital, investor money and loans. Right now interest rates are high, I'm European so I can't speak for the US, but in some areas of the Eurozone the interest rates hit 12% a month ago. At that point it becomes impossible to utilise the loan part, because it's just too expensive. The investor money are similarly either slowing down or disappearing, not so much because they aren't around or that they don't have money, but because they are waiting to see what happens. This is fuelled not only by the loan part of the equation, but also by the inflation and global supply lines pushing the costs of projects to a point that has eaten a healthy chunk of the would-be investor profits, or put in another way, investors don't want to risk their money for 5% return when it was a 50% return a year ago. Lastly there is the own capital, one way to maintain this is to cut the work force, which aligns with how you need a smaller work force as things slow down.
Where do people go? Well, typically they find new jobs. Some change professions entirely. Some retire. A few unfortunate people break down and head down dark paths. But really, it's not unlike layoffs in good periods, there is just more of it with fewer opportunities.
> it still even possible to get a tech job in this downturn?
As with most things this depends on your situation. What is your educational background, your skillset and your history of work. I can't speak for the US, but here in Europe some countries you could double our amount of good programmers and still need more.
> good paying
As with everything, this depends on the amount of people who can do what you do, but compensation doesn't necessarily go down during harder periods. But it does mean you'll likely have to justify what you do to earn it more than you did before.