In the wake of the pandemic, hiring trends continued to improve until the mid of 2022 when sentiments began to change. As jobs and the labour market remain strong despite all the recession chatter, the vast majority of companies have cut their workforces in one way or another, according to a PwC survey. In other words, the blistering hot job market that triggered the Great Resignation might be about to cool off. Eight of 10 workforce leaders say they’re reducing staff through layoffs, hiring freezes or other tactics, a survey found.

Data from Crunchbase suggests that by October 2022, more than 44,000 U.S-based tech workers have been laid off by their employers. According to layoffs.fyi, over 11,833 employees in India have lost their jobs across industries so far this year. According to Naukri, recruitment has decreased by 50% at major companies such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro, and HCL. For emerging companies, startups, and unicorns, this could be an opportunity to improve and expand their talent pool, source laid-off workers, and invest in talent pipelines.

So, what’s the need of the hour?

• What is driving the rise in layoffs in the tech sector, which was struggling to adapt to the Great Resignation until recently?
• It’s possible to humanely lay off people with empathy instead of one-way Zoom calls and brutal email dismissals?
• When and how the wave of layoff season will end, and how in what ways will it affect employees in big corporations and startups?
• How can leadership and HR leaders deal with this never-before hiring-firing paradox?