Layoffs in the IT industry are just the beginning? Expert: Not everyone manages. It’s time to verify

On Thursday, we reported that the Poznań-based IT company Netguru had laid off 150 people “with immediate effect”. As he explains, the reason is the reorganization necessary to adapt to the changing business environment. Do layoffs in the industry, which until now has been associated only with lucrative orders and high earnings, indicate a new trend? Or maybe it’s just a reaction to a slightly lower demand from business partners?

He explained it in an interview with me Krzysztof Muszynski, CEO of Codefia, a company specializing in creating IT solutions for companies.

– The redundancies that affect the IT industry in the world and in Poland are, in my opinion, a correction so far. The industry has been growing very strongly in recent years, the demand for programmers has been growing. Decisions on layoffs are most likely an attempt to adapt to current market conditions. A slowdown is coming, you can already see it on the market, many companies have to save themselves somehow. Layoffs at the moment, however, are more about reducing redundant employment – he says.

In his opinion, it is too early to consider the emerging reports of layoffs in the IT industry as a trend.

There are several reasons for a deeper correction. First of all, it is the time of slimming down the teams and verifying the staff’s skills. There is no denying that in recent years the industry has been so open that everyone had a chance for a career. Some of them didn’t turn out to be productive enough, because a programmer is a very demanding profession. Not everyone is doing well and the time has come to verify. Of course, there may be a black swan and then the layoffs will have a significant impact on the market, they will become a trend. At the moment, however, we are not talking about such a situation

– explains the interlocutor of Gazeta.pl.

IT redundancies. The storm across the ocean brings effects in Poland

Krzysztof Muszyński admits that the layoffs concern mainly large technology companies, and those from across the ocean. – This, however, affects the Polish market. Poles are respected on the developer market, but they have competitors. There is an Asian market that provides talented, excellent English-speaking specialists. There is a Ukrainian market, and the Belarusian market is still active. Therefore, the competition is global and for Poles working in the broadly understood IT sector, this is not good news. Software houses, i.e. companies specializing in the production of software according to business guidelines, have to adapt. And the financial requirements of Polish employees have been very high so far – he says.

Gazeta.pl’s interlocutor also referred to recent events related to the banking sector. A few weeks ago, a bank specializing in financing start-ups collapsed. The failure of Silicon Valley Bank is a kind of litmus test.

– Bankruptcies of American banks specializing in financing start-ups are also significant. This must also be taken into account in Poland. And this is already happening – the first signs of market consolidation are appearing, as a lot of entities have appeared on it in recent years. Now they will fight for a slightly smaller space – says Krzysztof Muszyński.

Artificial intelligence will not change the IT industry. “There are many myths”

The head of Codefia also referred to recently popular tools related to artificial intelligence. What users consider a huge revolution for specialists is just another tool.

– From the perspective of the average consumer, it may also seem that artificial intelligence will change a lot in the IT industry. Chats that can produce code, however, are not very advanced. I could compare their skill level to a junior, i.e. a person with little, maybe two years of experience – said Krzysztof Muszyński.

In his opinion, artificial intelligence will certainly develop, although some, such as Elon Musk, call for this development to be stopped for six months. – However, many myths have grown up around AI. The possibilities of artificial intelligence are often overestimated – at least from the perspective of companies that create complex software. Chat is able to provide a function, speeds up data search, but creating comprehensive solutions is still the domain of people – explains the expert.