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The Tech Industry Is Quietly Destroying Mental Health

The Tech Industry Is Quietly Destroying Mental Health

Layoffs are breaking more than careers - they’re breaking spirits. Plus: where to find growth in Q1 and tools to stay competitive.

May 22, 2025

In partnership with

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👋 Welcome, Jobseekers

"No one ever tells you that bravery feels like fear."

- Mary Kate Teske

This week, we're saying the quiet part loud: tech layoffs are wrecking people’s mental health—and no one’s owning it. We’re breaking down the emotional aftermath, exposing the companies ghosting their responsibilities, and spotlighting where the money still is in Q1. Oh, and we’ve got some killer tools to help you bounce back faster (and better looking 👀). Let’s get into it.

📉 Layoff Report: Many smaller companies taking hits this week
🧑‍✈️ Career CoPilot: The Tech Industry Is Quietly Destroying Mental Health
📈 Trends & Data: Q1 Reality Check: Where the Jobs (and Paychecks) Are Shifting in Q1 2025
🔧 Jobseeker Tools: PhotoFuse, Career Dreamer by Google, TrueUp

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📉 Many smaller tech companies taking layoff hits this week

Source: TrueUp

The Tech Industry Is Quietly Destroying Mental Health

The Human Cost Hidden Behind the Numbers

Since 2022, more than 640,000 tech jobs have been erased. These layoffs aren’t mere statistics or corporate “rightsizing” – they’re a "mass-trauma event wrapped in HR jargon". For each worker suddenly deemed expendable, a human being is left reeling. The mental fallout – anxiety, depression, isolation, loss of self-worth – is pervasive yet largely underreported.

In a 2023 survey, 77% of tech workers said constant layoff fears harmed their mental well-being. For those who lost jobs, it feels like a free-fall – one career coach likened it to “going through a death,” grieving the loss of a work family and identity.

Research bears this out: unemployment doubles the risk of depression or anxiety – and layoffs have been linked to a 2.5× higher suicide risk and a 15–20% increase in early mortality.

Corporate Silence and Callousness

Yet companies behind these cuts barely acknowledge the human crisis. Press releases focus on “streamlining” and “strategic pivots,” while the people left jobless quietly battle 3 a.m. panic attacks.

To the newly unemployed, management’s hollow “business decision” platitudes ring empty, and even a generous severance can’t erase the sting of your professional existence being abruptly wiped out. In one telling case, Google’s 2023 layoffs even cut its Head of Mental Health and Wellbeing after 15 years. That irony speaks volumes: mental health support is often the first casualty of cost-cutting.

This lack of corporate accountability is infuriating. Employers that tout “culture” in good times often display a “cruel disregard for human relationships” when layoffs hit. The emotional burden is shoved onto individuals: Here’s your severance — now deal with the trauma on your own. Left to fend for themselves, many ex-employees struggle in silence, feeling like they’re the only ones falling apart while the tech world marches on.

Finding Strength in Community

If you’ve been laid off, know that you are not alone. Hundreds of thousands of people are grappling with the same shock and heartache. The anxiety, anger, and loss of self-worth you feel are valid reactions to an abrupt upheaval. It’s okay to mourn the job that was more than a paycheck – the sense of purpose and community will take time to rebuild.

Amid the frustration, a quiet solidarity is emerging. Laid-off tech workers are connecting through support groups and online communities like this one to share stories and lift each other up. In the absence of corporate compassion, we’re learning to lean on each other. Together, we can turn this collective trauma into collective strength. The healing process may be slow, but it doesn’t have to be lonely. By speaking up and demanding better from employers, we can make sure the human cost of layoffs isn’t invisible and that no one suffers in silence.

Q1 Reality Check: Where the Jobs (and Paychecks) Are Shifting in Q1 2025

Overview

The U.S. labor engine is still running, but it’s starting to sputter in surprising places: postings keep drifting down while a few pockets of wage growth pop up—especially for in-demand tech talent.

The Details

Transportation: Warehouse–style roles are taking the biggest hit (loading & stocking postings ▼ 17.2% year-over-year), even as logistic-support openings inch up 1.6%. Driving wages, meanwhile, are stuck in neutral at 0 % growth.
Healthcare: Once-invincible healthcare is cooling. Therapy postings are down 2.5%, nursing ▼ 11.9%, and only physicians/surgeons managed a tiny gain. Wages for most medical roles now lag the 3.1 % market average, with dental pay sliding the fastest.
Retail & Hospitality: Postings fell hardest here (retail ▼ 14.1%, hospitality/tourism about 17 % below pre-COVID levels). Pay is holding, but just: food-service wages hover at 2.6 %, retail at 2 %.
Business-to-Business: Every category except insurance saw fewer ads. Software-dev postings are still 35 % below 2020 levels (▼ 8.8% YoY), yet wages quietly climbed to 3.6%—outpacing the broader economy—thanks to a 1.6-point jump in the past six months.
Big Picture: Across all industries, job ads are down 10.1 % from last year but remain 8.2 % above February 2020’s baseline—a soft deceleration, not a cliff-dive.

Why it Matters

Expect slower responses. Fewer postings mean stiffer competition and longer hiring cycles; budget extra time when planning your runway.
Follow the wage signal, not the headline count. Even with postings down, tech-adjacent pay is rising—use that data when negotiating freelance rates or full-time offers.
Broaden your industry lens. Logistics support, insurance, and physician-tier healthcare still show relative demand; lining up your transferable skills today could widen tomorrow’s target list.
Stay salary-savvy. Companies may pitch “market” offers based on last year’s boom. Counter with the Q1 numbers above to keep your pay in step with inflation—and ahead of a cool-down.

Bottom line: The labor market’s temperature is dropping, but it’s not a freeze. Smart jobseekers track both openings and wage trends to spot the warm pockets before everyone else crowds in.