Blitzscale vs Blitzfail

Ah, the perils of blitzscaling.

The pandemic was a time of intense upheaval for every company, but it looked different for different organizations. For some, the pandemic was an incredibly lean time. For others, it was a time of intense scaling up. Tech companies, in particular, reaped the benefits of a lot of people stuck at home for a long time — and that led to a lot of growth and a lot of hiring.

Now, of course, we’re seeing things come full circle, and the tech layoffs have been just as intense as the growth was in the first place. The blitzscaling we saw in 2020 and 2021 inevitably led to major layoffs in 2022 and Q1 of 2023.

This type of fast and furious scaling-up often comes at the expense of thoughtful organizational design. As Daniel Space, a senior HR business consultant, recently told HR Brew, “If you put too much in on one side, you’re essentially contributing to a really bad org design.”

Now, things are evening out. It’s the “blitzfail,” as HR Brew recently quipped.

As a recruiter for 25+ years, I’ve seen a number of these cycles play out. I have no doubt that things will reach stasis again, they always do. Still, it’s a good lesson learned for companies that hired too fast and furious in the early days of the pandemic.

#blitzscaling #blitzfail #warfortalent #hiring