Most engineers still assume a bigger logo equals a safer job. The last 12 months have made that belief harder to justify. Big Tech has cash, but it also has constant re-org risk. Startups can be fragile, but sometimes the risk is measurable if you can see runway, revenue, and decision-making up close.
This edition is built to spark debate, not to “pick a side”. Listen here also!
The last 12 months: Big Tech has still been cutting
Selected examples from April 2025 to March 2026:
Microsoft: laid off less than 3%, about 6,000 employees (May 13, 2025).
Google: laid off hundreds in Platforms and Devices (Android, Pixel, Chrome) (Apr 11, 2025).
Google: cut about 200 in its global business unit (sales and partnerships) (May 7, 2025).
Amazon: planned to reduce corporate workforce by about 14,000 (Oct 28, 2025).
Amazon: confirmed 16,000 corporate job cuts, completing a plan for around 30,000 since October (Jan 28, 2026).
Amazon: confirmed additional layoffs in its robotics unit, at least 100 white-collar roles affected (Mar 4, 2026).
Apple: cut jobs across sales teams, described as a small number of roles (Nov 24, 2025).
Meta: laid off “a few hundred” across multiple teams (Mar 25, 2026).
Meta: Reuters also reported internal planning that could affect 20% or more, though details and timing were not finalized (Mar 13, 2026 report).
Why this matters: in Big Tech, the company can be fine and your job can still disappear. The risk is often organizational, not financial.
Scaleups are not automatically safer
The “Series B+ = stability” idea is also shaky. Two recent examples:
Atlassian: cutting around 1,600 roles, roughly 10%, during an AI and enterprise pivot (Mar 2026).
WiseTech Global: cutting about 2,000 jobs, nearly a third of its workforce, as part of an AI-linked restructuring (Feb 2026).
So even businesses with real revenue can still restructure sharply when priorities shift.
Big Tech “security” is mostly about brand, internal mobility, and sometimes severance. But you often cannot diligence re-org risk.
Startups can be riskier in absolute terms, but if founders are transparent, you can evaluate the risk like an adult:
What you can ask a startup (and actually get answers)
Runway and burn
“What’s cash in bank and net burn?”
“What’s runway in months at current burn?”
YC’s guidance is straightforward: runway is essentially cash divided by burn, and you should understand burn and growth together.
Default alive vs default dead
“Are you on a path to sustainability without needing the next round to survive?”
Paul Graham’s “default alive/default dead” framing is still one of the cleanest ways to think about startup safety.
Revenue quality
“What’s ARR and growth rate?”
“Multi-year contracts or monthly churn?”
“Top 1 and top 5 customers as a % of revenue?”
Plan if fundraising slips
“If funding takes 6 months longer than expected, what changes?”
You’re looking for a real plan, not a motivational quote.
The macro backdrop: layoffs stayed high
Different trackers count differently, but the direction is the same:
TrueUp reports 245,953 people impacted by tech layoffs in 2025, and 59,982 impacted so far in 2026 (as of their tracker).
Layoffs.fyi shows 124,201 tech employees laid off in 2025, and 40,482 so far in 2026 (as displayed on the tracker).
So the “big company = safe” reflex deserves a rethink.
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So what is actually safer?
If Big Tech can cut teams due to strategy shifts you never see coming, and a startup can sometimes show you runway, burn, revenue, and the decision-makers in one conversation…
What’s the safer choice in 2026, and why?
Big Tech, scaleup, or early-stage with transparent numbers?
I’m leaving it open on purpose. This is one worth arguing about!
Hiring? Contact
Josh Smith
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/python-recruitment/
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 01727 225 552