Lyft has joined Uber, Meta, Robinhood and a slew of other tech companies in slowing hiring and focusing on critical open roles, though the company is reportedly not planning layoffs, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Lyft President John Zimmer told staff in a Tuesday memo that the company would be cutting costs in response to "an economic slowdown and the dramatic change in investor sentiment," according to the Journal. Both Zimmer and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi cited investors looking for safety in their justifications for the slowdowns, and Zimmer said that Lyft would be focusing on accelerating profits in the near term to meet investor demands.
In sharp contrast to the last two years, tech investors are now focused heavily on seeing profits from companies that have been burning cash. "Meeting the moment means making trade-offs," Khosrowshahi said in a May 9 email to employees. "The hurdle rate for our investments has gotten higher, and that means that some initiatives that require substantial capital will be slowed. We have to make sure our unit economics work before we go big."
But despite the steep decline in tech stocks, startup layoffs and the hiring freezes, tech recruiters are still optimistic that the extremely tight labor market will, at worst, loosen just a little. Although compensation packages might change, the last several years' worth of pent-up demand for tech jobs means the market should remain robust regardless of specific tech company financial concerns.
Climate TRACE's data show emissions at the facility-level.Image: Climate TRACE