::::A New Slew of Tech Layoffs Reminds Us that No Lead Is Ever Safe::::

<div class=&quot;custm_img_blk&quot;<img src=&quot;http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1338398501_temp.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; height=&quot;150&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; /</div<p<span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;By many indications, things are going well for the tech industry. Mobile and cloud services are&nbsp;taking off. Apple, the comeback story of the century, is&nbsp;insanely&nbsp;profitable. Facebook is a&nbsp;public company</span<span style=&quot;text-align: left; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px&quot;, never mind its stock slide.</span<span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;So why the heck is HP slicing 27,000 jobs? Why are promising startups slashing headcount or going belly-up?&nbsp;That's just the way it is.</span</p<div id=&quot;more&quot; class=&quot;asset-more&quot; style=&quot;margin: 0px; padding: 0px; clear: both; text-align: left&quot;<p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;First, a quick review of recent - and upcoming - carnage.</p<ul style=&quot;margin: 5px 0px 7px 25px; padding: 0px; list-style-position: outside; list-style-image: initial&quot;<li style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 7px 7px; padding: 0px&quot;Research In Motion, the BlackBerry maker that thought it was flying high just a couple of years ago,&nbsp;warned today&nbsp;it would make &quot;significant spending reductions and headcount reductions in some areas throughout the remainder of the fiscal year,&quot; although it will be staffing up in other areas. This comes as RIM has&nbsp;lost market share&nbsp;in the fast-growing smartphone market and now expects to lose money this quarter.</li<li style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 7px 7px; padding: 0px&quot;HP, the tech stalwart, said last week it would cut 27,000 jobs, or 8% of its workforce. CEO Meg Whitman&nbsp;said&nbsp;the layoffs were &quot;absolutely critical for the long-term health of the company.&quot; HP has suffered as its large PC and printing businesses slow down, and because of management turmoil.</li<li style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 7px 7px; padding: 0px&quot;Google, whose $12.5 billion Motorola purchase just&nbsp;closed, could&nbsp;potentially&nbsp;lay off thousands of Motorola employees. Motorola, a mobile pioneer, did OK in its sale to Google but has largely been a failure since the Razr peaked - which was in the middle of&nbsp;last decade.</li<li style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 7px 7px; padding: 0px&quot;Yahoo laid off 2,000 employees&nbsp;in April, or 14% of its headcount. Who knows what's going to happen now, given that the company has just installed its sixth CEO in five years.</li<li style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 7px 7px; padding: 0px&quot;Digital Chocolate, a seemingly promising gaming startup created by former Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins, has&nbsp;reportedly laid off&nbsp;a significant portion of its workforce, and Hawkins has stepped aside. Another gaming venture, 38 Studios, founded by former pro baseball player Curt Schilling,&nbsp;laid off&nbsp;all of its staff last week.</li</ul<p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;Get the picture? It can be pretty grim out there, depending on where you're sitting.</p<p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;So what's the lesson here? As quickly as the technology industry creates new opportunities and new winners, it also presents a harsh reality for the losers. These aren't even bubble-bursting times - again, things seem like they're going pretty well, overall. But thousands will be out of work.</p<p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;The good news is that this cycle of growth and decay can be a virtuous one. Those who may not have a job at Yahoo or HP today may start one of tomorrow's great new firms, which may grow to employ thousands.</p<p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;As the industry shifts toward even lower amounts of capital required to build new businesses - and to destroy old ones - this cycle may even speed up. No lead is ever safe. But as far as progress goes, it's probably a good thing.</p</div<p&nbsp;</p

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