The 2010s was a boom time in tech. Total compensation ("TC"), particularly for engineers, went way up. Employers didn't like this. They're not above colluding e

The 2010s was a boom time in tech. Total compensation ("TC"), particularly for engineers, went way up. Employers didn't like this. They're not above colluding either. They did it with the Steve Jobs anti-poaching deal too. Businesses made accomodations during the pandemic to stay open. Remote work really took off. Also, TC continued to rise. But then some companies failed and the door opened to what I called Permanent Layoff Culture. Most companies end up laying off 5% of their staff every year. This is really an extension of Corporate America's "up or out" culture. The likes of Jack Welch extolled the "virtues" of firing the bottom 5-10% every year. If you believe the companies, this is necessary. They over-hired. If so, there was a decade of "over-hiring". Why was it fine then? Market conditions changed such that with a wink and a nod companies could effectively collude on lyaoffs to suppress wages. The goal in cutting staff is to spread their work to the remaining employees (ie free labor) and to stop people getting raises (ie reduce labor costs). It's really no different to how one food company will raise their prices and every other one will follow suit. There's no direct collusion. That's price manipulation and it's illegal. It's price leadership. What's the difference? Price leadership is legal. There's just no agreement in a smoke-filled room. Workers afraid to quit? Mission accomplished. They won't be asking for raises.