With all the talk of the financial turmoil that the U.S. economy is experiencing, some industries are hoping that they can escape the heat unscathed. In fact, a small portion of the tech industry practically bragged that they wouldn’t encounter the same damage as Wall Street by attempting to recruit jobless stock brokers for their start-ups. This week may have put the tech industry on alert with the rest of the U.S. as two relatively high profile tech companies made grand changes to their staff.
Fast Company Lays Off 20
We don’t think the sky is falling, but there may be an earthquake on the horizon as the tech industry begins to feel the economic turbulence. Best known in some circles for hiring Robert Scoble for the Fast Company TV online site, Mansueto Ventures is laying off 20 of their employees in their online and marketing department.
Other cuts the company will make include:
- Shelving Upstart, a planned magazine devoted to new businesses
- Closing the Atlanta office except for sales
- Cutting IT help desk coverage
- Curtailing perks like tuition reimbursement and free snacks
As to why the such measures are being taken, it is being reported:”
“CEO John Koten said in a staff memo that despite Fast Company’s growth, expenses were rising faster than revenue as the publishing industry business has softened.”
Seesmic Lays Off 7
On a smaller scale, video-commenting startup Seesmic will also layoff several of its employees. In order to prepare for “what most are anticipating to be a bleak economic outlook for the considerable time going forward,” Seesmic CEO Loic Le Meur will cut 7, or 1/3, of Seesmic’s employees. Allen Stern noted that this will be in addition to 3 employees that were let go last month.
What’s Next?
While these companies will still move forward with their products and services, we can’t help but wonder if more layoffs will be seen in the future and from who. We certainly hope the tech industry doesn’t see too much news like this future, but there’s no denying these situations as fair warnings that the tech industry is not as invincible as it seems.
