A growing barrage of technology industry layoffs means slim pickings for job-seeking software engineers and other tech workers amid a fiercely competitive Bay Area job market that has tipped from bountiful to brutal.
Tech sector job postings have plummeted across the region. In the San Jose metropolitan area, including Santa Clara and Sunnyvale, listings for software-related positions have nose-dived 45% since just before the pandemic, and information technology postings have dropped 37%, according to data from employment marketplace company ZipRecruiter. In the metro area encompassing San Francisco, Oakland and Fremont, software job listings plunged 53% and IT postings dropped 28%.
“It’s a little overwhelming,” said San Jose software engineer Joy Serquiña, who lost her job at a startup in November and has been searching, along with hordes of others, for a new position. “It’s a constant grind. Applying is kind of like a full-time job.”
