The Impact of Year-End Layoffs in 2022: How Big Companies Left Employees Unprotected

As the holidays of 2022 approached, many Americans were hopeful that the difficult years of the pandemic as well as inflation would come to an end and leave them in a happy and positive place. Unfortunately, for some workers, this hope was drastically cut short.

The U.S. has one of the least protective laws when it comes to worker layoffs and many employers have taken advantage of this situation by announcing large-scale layoffs just before the end of the year. These cuts have mostly been seen in the technology and financial sector, both of which have had great success over the past few years despite an economic downturn.

At the start of Q4 2022, more companies announced their plans to lay off workers to stay ahead financially. While job openings were still being posted, people were increasingly leaving these positions unfulfilled due to fears of facing layoffs later on down the road.

It’s heartbreaking to see how employees are constantly being put behind big businesses for their financial gain instead of having some semblance of compassion for their workers. It’s yet another example of how little protection is afforded to those without legal rights or resources during a vulnerable time such as this.
As the holidays of 2022 approached, many American workers were left with a feeling of dread as large-scale layoffs started to be announced across numerous technology and financial companies. Meta was one such business with 13% of their workforce or 11,000 employees facing termination from the company. Other big names like Amazon, Cisco Systems, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, CNN, Buzzfeed, and Snap also followed suit with respective cuts in employee numbers.

Twitter was perhaps the biggest example of this mass-firing phenomenon when Elon Musk decided to push out or cut more than 75% of its staff just days before Christmas. Although company leadership had various explanations for these actions what can't be denied is these were mostly not caused by a depleting profit margin but simply lower revenue compared to 12 to 18 months ago. A look at just Amazon's most recent revenue report shows that while it made $500 billion this past year, its net income (or profits) had decreased by 10%. Similarly, Meta's net income saw a huge 52% decrease in its most recent earnings report.

It's always disheartening to see how individual employees always stand to lose out in such difficult times regardless of how well the company performing on a larger scale or even taking into account their contributions. Unfortunately for some employees, the holiday season did not bring about much cheer as they found themselves unable to reconnect with loved ones due to being laid off from their jobs towards the end of 2022.

It may come as a surprise that two companies with tons of cash reserves are laying off workers, but before we jump to conclusions, let's take a closer look at the reality behind these decisions.

The truth is that while most businesses can afford to maintain their staff numbers, in the U.S., companies have the leverage of “at-will” employment. This means bosses don't even need to justify layoffs, which gives them an advantage compared to other developed countries.

Historically, when more employees belonged to unions, they were able to protect their jobs with collective bargaining agreements and maintain their livelihoods. However, due to a marked decline in union membership from 35% in 1954 down to 10.3% today, these protections no longer exist for the large majority of workers facing layoffs.

We must also remember that wages are just one line item on a balance sheet and employers often make decisions about cutting staff strictly on a financial basis - calculating how much profit they stand to make without them. But this approach neglects an important fact — that all profits derived from workers’ labor and effort and any cuts made will eventually lead to reduced profits over time.

Finally, it's hard not to notice that this round of announced layoffs serves as another way for employers to gain leverage over employees — even though they only represent less than 1% of the professional/technical workforce in America (around 65 million people).

This "capitalistic class warfare" is far too common and should be addressed by both state and federal governments which have the power and authority to enact policies that truly reflect the interests of workers' rights and safety rather than profits only.

The current state of the economy has resulted in countless employers announcing layoffs and cutting jobs - even among more ‘affluent’ strata of the working class that had until now been relatively more secure. In just two years, these typically high-paid workers have gained advantages like signing bonuses, flexible working conditions, hours, and locations. Despite these benefits, bosses nevertheless seem keen to make cuts and achieve short-term economic gain - perhaps with a hint of sending a message about power dynamics in the workplace.

Capitalism is showing its cold and unsympathetic side once again. But hidden beneath this grim picture is potential for hope: it's possible that because of this experience, workers who were affected by the cuts will take a closer look at unionizing.

Unionization offers ways for workers to negotiate better wages or protect their job security regardless of what level they are at or how much capital their employers have access to. Unions can also provide resources for training and career development as well as help workers fight unfair labor practices such as discrimination or unjust firings. Ideally, union members can use collective bargaining agreements to keep their employers honest while providing themselves with some assurance that they won't be left jobless when businesses inevitably face economic downturns in the future.

Though it won’t undo the pain and suffering caused by divisive policies of capitalist economies, there is no doubt that unions represent an effective way to protect workers' rights and maintain their safety — both during good times and bad.