"The tech sector seems to be betting that these massive, algorithmically orchestrated firings will not only cut labor costs, but also once again remind increasingly empowered tech workers of their insecurity, and the power the companies still hold."
Of course it is mostly in the USA that this will be applied as many other countries where these tech behemoths have branches have rather more restrictive employment laws that simple don't allow companies to dispose of personnel willy-nilly to suit their balance sheet.
An American bank for which I worked some years ago sent an email round to all staff saying that the company's stock had come under pressure on the "Street"(Wall St, I assume) and that in order to drive up their stock price and avoid the possibility of a hostile take over, the management had decided that 600+ staff worldwide would be arbitrarily sacked.
I was a party to the furious phone conversation between the responsible VP stateside and one of the directors in my European subsidiary when she explained to him that the laws in the European country where I was based required that the people to be made redundant had to be given up to 6 months notice on full pay (depending on length of service). In the end, only one person was made redundant and he was indeed required to be given 6 months notice on full salary with paid holidays and all other benefits accorded to him as a full time employee.
Note to self:
Never work for US companies - they are utter scumbags who don't give a flying fuck about their employees, only about profits, profits, profits!
