As an Employee, You Are Disposable

The recent tech layoffs have shown that employees are disposable in the eyes of executives.

TrueUp tech layoff tracker

Source: TrueUp: Tech Layoff Tracker


It doesn’t matter if investor expectations are surpassed, layoffs can still take place.

CNBC Shopfiy headline

Source: CNBC: Shopify cuts 20% of its workforce; shares surge on earnings beat


It’s somewhat understandable if a company is struggling financially and resorts to layoffs. However, there’s plenty of companies that are profitable and still lay off the people that earned the company those profits.

Polygon Microsoft headline

Source: Polygon: Microsoft mass layoffs reportedly impact Bethesda, Halo Infinite teams


Many companies are not only profitable, but their executives continue to earn huge sums of money amidst layoffs.

Ars Technica headline

Source: Ars Technica: Googlers angry about CEO’s $226M pay after cuts in perks and 12,000 layoffs


It doesn’t matter how much value you’ve delivered. It doesn’t matter how much impact you’ve had in a company. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been at a company. You are still disposable.

Ars Technica headline

Source: Jeremy Joslin (@jcj) on Twitter)


I recently came across a blog post that is very relevant when understanding that the executives that earn 100x your pay can also lay you off at any moment: Maybe you should store passwords in plaintext.


It’s okay to like your job and employer. Just understand that, as an employee, you are disposable.