Layoffs: Are Meeting Planners Affected?

March 20, 2023

Has the current wave of layoffs trickled down to meeting planners? We logged into LinkedIn to try to find an answer.

Amazon, Microsoft, Wix, Zoom, Pinterest, Paypal, Spotify, iRobot: More than 100,000 employees were let go in January of 2023 alone, that according to the website TrueUp. Add that figure to the more than 140,000 layoffs of tech employees last year.

And the numbers just keep growing: 12,000 employees were let go from Google in January, and Meta is preparing for another round of layoffs after just letting 11,000 employees go in November—13 percent of its global workforce.

The cuts have spread to every sector, from retail, where Neiman Marcus Group is eliminating 500 positions, to Yahoo, where about 1,000 people have been laid off—a workforce reduction of 12 percent—with another 8 percent expected by year’s end.

How is all this staff reduction affecting the meetings industry? I went to the logical source, LinkedIn, to find out. And no surprise, there were many recent announcements by people who were #OPENTOWORK.

One had headed up events and field marketing at her company, and was brought on just 5 months ago to oversee their event marketing strategy and scale their events. Another was a manager of strategic marketing and events, let go after 7 years with UnitedHealthcare “due to restructuring.” There were also posts from employees of tech company casualties that serve this industry, such as Glisser, a platform for virtual meetings. Glisser and Hubilo expect 140 jobs to be lost across both businesses.

#OPENTOCONNECT

LinkedIn offers job seekers the chance to link viewers to their job preferences when they announce that they are #OPENTOWORK—like an event manager who just lost her job at Deluxe in January did. Options include whether you prefer on-site, hybrid or remote, and full-time or contract.

Many are taking an alternate route, using the #OPENTOCONNECT and #SOCIALSATURDAY hashtags to grow their LinkedIn networks, whether they have lost a job, are thinking they might, or are just looking. These networks offer support and the chance to be part of a community at a time when many feel alone.

There was much sharing of inspirational quotes, resources and references. One person who was let go in January after two years with her company created a spreadsheet to help fellow job hunters. “I’ve put together this Job Hunting Template: Your Roadmap to Getting Your Next Dream Role to help my own job search and I hope it can help yours too or someone you know who’s currently looking,” she said.

I also found many #OPENTOWORK postings being shared by friends and colleagues, which is easy to do and broadens the reach of the job seeker. Said one: “Sherri is an incredible writer. Hire Sherri. Period.”

Another who was laid off from Microsoft in the Fall of 2022 announced she had just accepted an offer, and shared a list of tips that had helped her in her job-hunting journey. “I’ve never witnessed such a collaboration among friends & strangers for a common goal….to SURVIVE!” she said. “I have great empathy for those in the midst of current job displacements. I, too, experienced a roller coaster of emotions until I crafted a structured plan to handle one of the greatest challenges I had been faced with.”

Job seekers are welcome to reach out to me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-scofidio/