Can we all admit, finally, that the tech bubble has indeed burst, or at least floated off and disappeared somehow as bubbles do? It may be less of a pop-up than just a quiet *ploosh*, but things have shifted, lots of people want to move to New York, and now KCBS is reporting a very notable data point that should convince the naysayers to stop saying nay: In the first four months of 2016, there have been more than double the number of layoffs at Silicon Valley tech companies than there were by this time in 2015.
That number is 3,135, compared to just 1,515 last year, and maybe it's not the dramatic bloodletting (yet) that occurred circa 2001, but it's something to make note of! The number for the same period in 2014 saw 1,330 layoffs.
As the Mercury-News explains, this data comes from mandatory filings under California's WARN Act, and the layoffs are spread about Bay Area counties, but primarily concentrated in Santa Clara, which saw 2,500 pink slips and severance packages so far this year.
Wells Fargo senior economist Mark Vitner says this is all a natural part of a seven-year cycle of expansion, noting that job growth has slowed by there is definitely still growth. (800 new jobs so far this year, compared to about 1,600 a month in 2015.) Still, he tells the paper, "My general sense is the tide is beginning to go out," adding, "It doesn't mean a recession is right around the corner."
I will restrain myself from using that infamous gif just yet.
Related: Lots Of Tech Talent Trying To Leave SF For NY
How Many San Franciscans Are Rooting For The Tech Economy To Tank?