Workers Shocked by Mass Layoffs at Rich Tech Companies

Dr. Munr Kazmir
4 min readNov 30, 2022

Wealthy companies that claimed to care about progressive causes are failing to walk the walk.

Photo by Lucia Macedo on Unsplash.

Layoffs at Rich Tech Companies Show You Can’t Trust Any Employer,” was a recent addition to Medium by one of its most prolific and beloved writers, Tim Denning.

“Stop falling for the HR puppets and the nonsense social justice agendas these rich tech companies preach,” Denning advised his readers. “It’s all marketing spin.”

“Any company can change its logo to a nation’s flag,” Denning remonstrated. “Doesn’t mean they care. What matters is action. And the action of these rich tech companies shows you their true colors.”

“Don’t trust tech companies pretending to change their world,” Denning concluded, pointing out that wealthy companies who demonstrate such little regard for their own employees probably care even less about the more abstract causes they claim to care about…in advertisements.

The sentiment is understandable.

So understandable, in fact, employees working at wealthy tech companies and retail giants like Amazon have been unionizing over the past two years, organizing in an attempt to collectively bargain for better pay and benefits.

War on Want and GMB protest outside Amazon HQ on Cyber Monday 2019. (Credit: War on Want.)

Interestingly, U.S. workers for wealthy Silicon Valley companies— from the foremost corporate manager to the newest warehouse worker — are often already being paid more than the industry standard. They often have better benefits, including tuition assistance, stock options, and excellent health insurance plans.

Midwestern small towns — and even large cities — are often overjoyed when they are chosen as a site for a major Amazon operation. There is great competition between cities and municipalities angling to attract Amazon.

Amazon setting up shop in your town means a much-needed infusion of well-paying jobs.

In addition, the U.S. has some of the strictest labor laws in the world. Your friendly neighborhood bureaucrats over at OSHA are always ready with an eagerly listening ear.