Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

February 28 news, recently, many American technology companies have carried out large-scale layoffs, resulting in the unemployment of tens of thousands of IT workers. In fact, however, before this wave of layoffs, many people in the technology industry were under pressure to leave voluntarily to look for opportunities or seek to realize their dreams in other industries.

Leaving the tech industry has brought peace and happiness to Ashley Morgan as never before. Morgan has worked in marketing for technology companies for more than a decade and was recently hired by a software company on the West Coast. But she says that during her career over the years, as a person of color and a woman, she has always felt pressured to meet growing needs, undervalued and underpaid. Morgan's job eventually hurt her mental health and her family, so she resigned last June.

Now, the nearly forty-year-old Morgan is running her own plant skin care company, specializing in drugs she has developed to treat her daughter's eczema. Morgan said that after quitting her job at a technology company, she slept more comfortably, felt more relaxed and woke up excited. She also said she was glad she left the technology industry before there were massive layoffs.

"not everything that glitters is gold," says Mr Morgan, referring to the attractiveness of jobs in the technology industry. Although you will get a very attractive salary, you will have to pay the price accordingly. "

With the layoffs of technology companies large and small, tens of thousands of technology workers find themselves out of work and confused about the future. Big technology companies such as Google, Meta, Amazon and Salesforce have cut jobs, and even Zoom, which has sprung up in the outbreak, recently said it planned to cut 15 per cent of its workforce. As a result, there are many "versatile" scientific and technological talents in the labour market.

But some employees who recently left the technology industry say they are gaining a sense of achievement outside the technology industry. They are involved in more passionate projects and have the opportunity to realize their dreams again. Still, their entrepreneurial journey is not without challenges, including how to attract customers and spend money more wisely.

After nearly 20 years as a programmer, Chris Phipps, who lives in Los Angeles, is writing sketches for live comedies. The former head of IBM Watson artificial intelligence and natural language processing delivery has always dreamed of entering the entertainment industry. Although the area of technical expertise has become a big hit with the advent of ChatGPT and others, Phipps, 52, says he likes jobs in non-tech industries. "I've never been so excited about anything in ten years," he said. for me, getting into the entertainment industry has always been a dream. "

Phipps joined the technology industry as a linguist in 2004, when many companies were recruiting scholars as project experts. But as IBM Watson matured, his work became less and less passionate. Now, other technology companies also have to deal with major business problems, including the challenge of increasing profits. "We have all heard the alarm that the honeymoon period is over," Phipps said. "the employees of technology companies, like other employees, we are no longer different."

Sara Wampler, who recently worked as a senior operations manager for consumer products at Google, also wants to pursue her passion for writing. Wanpler, 41, has held three different operating positions at Google. She says she has been affected by the growing maturity of the technology industry. Wampler joined Google after graduating from college in 2003, when the company had about 1500 employees. Today, Google employs more than 150000 people.

"my initial impression here is that there is a chance to learn something new every day," Wanpler said. but now, even if you are a generalist, it is more difficult to learn new knowledge. " The slowdown in the pace of change and the endless demands for approval to try new things eventually led to Mr Wanpler's resignation.

Wanpler moved from Denver to her agricultural town of 430 people on the outskirts of des Moines to focus on her writing career. Her pseudonym is Sara Ramsey, and she is writing her first fantasy novel after publishing seven romantic novels. "it's like giving me a chance to be born again," Wanpler said. just a month after quitting my job at a technology company, my heart rate dropped 10 beats per minute. "

Jerry Haagsma, a former software engineer and technical director at Square, is working on a passionate project that dates back to his college dreams. After seeing many of his peers take a short break, Hagema, 31, decided to leave the technology industry and start his own craft popcorn company.

Initially, Hagema planned to re-enter the technology industry within a year. But 10 months later, he is now devoted all his passion to popcorn and rock bands, and he is not sure whether or when he will return to the technology industry. "my goal is not to go back to software engineering," Hagesma said. "Popcorn companies can also make my creativity shine."

When Haggs was in college, his roommate's parents sent them a lot of popcorn, and he fell in love with popcorn. Tired of the taste, he and his friends began to season by themselves. Now, Hagema sells different flavors of popcorn through his website and pop-up windows and bars in the San Francisco Bay area. He is responsible for everything, including web design, marketing and cooking, with 30 to 300 bags a week. "even if the business is not successful, I am very happy," Hagesma said. I just don't want to leave regrets when I get old. "

For Thomas Crawford, the former director of training and quality assistance at Tinder, quitting his well-paid job in the technology industry is all about pursuing a long-term dream. Crawford left last September after 17 years of working for technology companies, including Amazon. In his recent position, he said he was in charge of four different departments. "I've reached the point where I wake up every day and I don't want to go to work," he said. I'm losing my fun and the heavy pressure is making me feel distraught. "

In view of this, the 43-year-old guitarist left the technology company to apply his skills to the music industry. Crawford is working hard to build a heavy metal band and hopes to become a professional band manager one day. But he admits that he may eventually have to return to the technology industry because it is the only way to financially support him to realize his music dream. But in fact, he prefers to be a consultant or individual writer rather than a manager to relieve stress and set aside time to listen to music.

Brian Bachner (Brian Bahena) says too much pressure eventually forced him to leave the technology company and take a more social job. Bachner, who majored in biology in college, left Blend, a financial technology company, last July. He says his career has changed since he was appointed director of Livongo. Livongo is a subsidiary of Teledoc, a virtual healthcare company.

"I took this step to realize that I was in a hurry before I was ready," said Bachner, 27. "in many technology companies, people are promoted to higher positions without much experience."

Bachner's appointment took place just before the outbreak, which almost closed his usual way to release stress. He tried to express his concerns to others, but he didn't think people understood him. He quit the job after realizing that he couldn't eat and lingered in the bathroom an hour before going to work.

Bachner used to work part-time as a bartender in a bar in Blend, but that didn't help him relieve much stress. "the more I think about it, the more I realize that I prefer to be a bartender," he said. "since I quit, my cat and I have improved in health and mental health. I work in shifts and pull the plug. I don't have to keep an eye on Slack messages."

Bachner, who had planned to work as a bartender for only six months, has exceeded expectations and says he will not return to the technology industry any time soon.

Morgan, a skincare entrepreneur, said that even a salary of $1 million would not attract her to return to the technology industry, and that pressure and anxiety were not worth it. For laid-off tech workers who may be at a crossroads, Morgan's advice is: believe in yourself. "you have skills so that you will never be short of opportunities," she said. But if you don't fight for it, you may never get the chance to touch your heartstrings. If you don't act now, when will it be? "

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