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Final week, Microsoft laid off 6,000 workers—3 p.c of its workforce—bringing the variety of tech workers which have already been laid off in 2025 to just about 60,000, in keeping with layoffs.fyi. In a future version we’ll think about the position AI is taking part in on this, and the way software program engineers ought to safeguard towards ever-smarter LLMs. However for now, I need to share my high advice when you’ve been laid off.
I simply spoke to a mid-level engineer who was laid off from a Huge Tech firm in London. They had been understandably distraught and feeling demoralized.
The simplest recommendation I’ve is sort of easy: It is advisable to establish your benefits and exploit them.
When you do some reflection, you’ll have the ability to establish an extended checklist of individuals, sources, or alternatives that you’ve got distinctive entry to. The inquiries to ask your self:
- The place do you might have a powerful community of people that may refer you? (That is seemingly your former colleagues or faculty alumni.)
- The place do you might have confirmed experience in a talent that might be worthwhile for employers? (For instance, being very efficient with search engine optimization or prompting.)
- What are the domains that you simply’ve been captivated with earlier than they turned cool? (Saying that you simply’re captivated with AI doesn’t rely since everybody appears to be captivated with AI today.)
The “spray-and-pray” strategy for job purposes just isn’t solely miserable but additionally ineffective. Please don’t waste your time making use of to random jobs on LinkedIn or Certainly. As an alternative, observe the template established by individuals with probably the most enviable careers: discover positions the place you might have an “in.”
Too many engineers establish a buzzy firm and use the usual approaches in making an attempt to land a job. In an age the place the market is flooded with job seekers, there may be an excessive amount of competitors for this to be efficient. As an alternative, work ahead from distinctive benefits and promising conditions.
—Rahul
Why Engineers Nonetheless Want the Humanities
Amid widespread funding cuts to many U.S. businesses, humanities analysis grants are being slashed. Historian and IEEE Spectrum contributor Allison Marsh explains how engineering is, and all the time has been entwined with the humanities. “The bygone engineers of the twentieth century acknowledged this robust bond to the humanities,” Marsh writes.
Balancing Work and Life: An Engineer’s Information to Success
How can busy engineers obtain a work-life steadiness? The important thing to managing your profession and private life may very well lie in reframing the query. “Cease viewing work and life as opposites and begin recognizing how they complement one another.” A number of easy methods may help engineers with this widespread problem.
ICYMI: This Man Made the Modem in Your Telephone a Actuality
In late February, Broadcom cofounder Henry Samueli acquired the 2025 IEEE Medal of Honor for his pioneering work in broadband communication and networking expertise. Examine his profession on this profile from Spectrum senior editor emeritus Tekla Perry.