Crunchbase News readers started 2023 feeling gloomy. Most readers who responded to our survey at the beginning of the year predicted we’d head into a global recession.
Just over 40% said their companies were slashing costs as a result — and headcount is the No. 1 expense on the chopping block. Indeed, as many U.S. tech workers have been laid off in the first two months of 2023 as in all of 2022, by our tally.
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But as we head toward the end of the first quarter, it’s not entirely clear that we are, in fact, headed toward a recession. Outside of the tech sector and housing market, the economy seems to be humming along OK, albeit with frustratingly high inflation.
While tech workers have lost their jobs in droves, other sectors are still struggling to get enough workers — and companies in industries ranging from farm equipment manufacturers to defense tech are snatching up talent from Silicon Valley while they can.
In our earlier survey, one reader noted that there’s a gulf between the VCs on Sand Hill Road and everyone else: “There’s a big disconnect between where investors think the economy is going and where everyone else thinks it’s going,” said the reader, who identified as an owner or executive in the tech industry. “Investors are running for the hills. Everyone else is being cautious.”
So, how’re you feeling now, with a couple months of 2023 under your belt? Take the Crunchbase News Q1 2023 reader survey and let us know.
Illustration: Dom Guzman
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