Unified Communications & Collaboration

By Claudia Adrien

The number has exceeded 150,000. That’s the tally of employees the world’s largest tech companies laid off in recent months. The reasons are varied, and the people affected come from a variety of departments. For example, human resource professionals accounted for 28% of the tech industry layoffs. There’s not as much need for HR when companies are choosing to recruit less. At other tech companies such as Google and Twitter, software engineers took the brunt of the layoffs.

Technology companies within the channel mirror other tech firms in some respects. Layoffs at channel-based organizations are also affecting multiple divisions, whether it’s channel sales managers or more technical staff. No one department seems to be hit harder than the rest.

However, the reasons for layoffs within unified communications companies, for example, may differ from those within the greater tech community. Many of the tech giants were trying to right-size due to overhiring during the initial years of the pandemic. Although that could also be said for UC companies, there’s one factor that overshadows organizations in the space. Consolidation. Analysts predict that mergers and acquisitions in upcoming years will significantly reduce the number of UC companies that exist. Whereas layoffs might be seasonal for tech giants, they may be ongoing for UC employees in the years to come.