Forecasting the 2022-23 tech layoffs using epidemiological models

Abstract

Many large and small companies in the tech and startup sector have been laying off an unusually high number of workers in 2022 and 2023. We are interested in predicting when this period of layoffs might end, without resorting to economic forecasts. We observe that a sample of layoffs up to March 31, 2023 follow the pattern of noisy observations from an SIR (Susceptible-Infectious-Removed) model. A model is fitted to the data using an analytical solution to the SIR model obtained by Kr\"{o}ger and Schlickeiser. From the fitted model we estimate that the number of weekly layoffs will return to normal levels around the end of 2023.