Should I still become a UI/UX designer with all the tech layoffs?

Tech layoffs slashed thousands of UI/UX design jobs in the past couple of years. As the market become more and more saturated with bootcamp graduates holding UI/UX design certificates, and the number of jobs dwindling due to layoffs, is it still a good idea to get into UI/UX design?

To answer this question, we first need to ask ourselves — why did big tech lay off so many employees? What exactly happened in the industry?

Why Big Tech Laid Off So Many Employees

It’s tempting to attribute the reasons to the tech industry not doing so well. After all, isn’t it as simply as businesses losing money due to whatever reason and have to cut down on cost?

In reality, the tech industry has actually been seeing record high profits and the economy isn’t doing that badly. In the most recent fiscal year, the Big Five tech companies, namely Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google, and Meta, generated total revenues of $1.63 trillion, 81% more than five years earlier.

In the U.S., $353,000 jobs have been added in January of 2024, which surpassed expectations.

Why on earth did these companies lay off so many people?