I feel the recent rounds of layoffs were a bit overblown (perhaps because it affected well-known companies? and Meta isn't very liked by traditional media outlets).

A lot of layoffs targeted "tech-adjacent" or "non-technical" positions too (perhaps this https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34039816 can shed a light on how essential these jobs were). Some of it were expected, like at Microsoft where they trim about 1% of the workforce deemed underperforming on an annual basis.

The market is still incredibly hot for high performing engineers, especially senior. I think where the squeeze really happened are junior positions, but I still see a strong market for qualified candidates. It's certainly not like back in 2015 where you would see junior hires come in with only a coding bootcamp on their resume.

Now something I noticed is a renewed interest for startups, especially from experienced engineers who might have "cashed out" in the last few years and have bit of runway. Crypto and Twitter both created their fair share of well-off engineers that are looking for their next challenge.

> Craig Freedberg, from UK-based specialist recruitment firm, Robert Half, says businesses will still have a need for tech resources and software development projects.

> However, he thinks companies will be reluctant to expand their workforces and will instead turn to temporary tech workers.

Maybe in the UK, but it's not what I've seen this side of the pond.

Brexit made the UK a risky destination to start or operate a business, and out of control inflation didn't help. Salaries adjusted to cost of living have decreased, inducing an even larger brain drain. Temporary resources are good for the immediate bottom-line but when has this ever worked out? Long term, it generally means a loss of technical expertise for a company. The reason a lot of UK businesses are doing it might also be that Brexit made it much harder to secure finding, as investors aren't too confident in the UK's future.

> Could this erode Silicon Valley's attraction for ambitious software engineers and developers? After all, other cities like Lisbon and Toronto are offering attractive tax breaks in the hope of attracting tech entrepreneurs.

Startups aren't worried about taxes. They are worried about funding. The real question here is are Toronto and Lisbon attractive places to secure funding? That's what matters to founders.

> Author Margaret O'Mara does not see a big exodus. "Companies come here for the talent, to recruit the best people, and that's still happening in Silicon Valley," she notes.

> But venture capitalist Lu Zhang views it another way. "The new normal will be to rely on the core values within Silicon Valley to help founders get started and create their initial products and learn about market fit, but then to expand outside those borders to leverage talent outside Silicon Valley and remotely hire from other tech hubs."

From my experience that's already the case. However, long term, I've seen a lot more employees move from other tech hubs to the Valley than the opposite.

Every time I've been pitched the "next Silicon Valley" or that innovation just wasn't going to happen in the Valley anymore, the correct bet was to ignore it. I don't see how this time is different.