The growing number of tech workers who’ve lost their jobs so far this year amid a historic industry wide downturn may have a new lifeline: going back to school.
On Monday, the University of Northwestern’s Kellogg’s School of Management announced it would welcome in recently laid off tech workers looking to, “transform their career with an MBA.” The school, which U.S. News and World Report and other leading list makers regard as amongst the country’s most elite MBA programs, says it will waive standardised test scores for tech worker applicants. Kellogg says it’s, “stepping in to help chart the next chapter for this high-performing talent.”
Specifically, the waiver applies to round 2 applicants who were recently laid off in the tech industry. In lieu of standardised test scores these applicants will submit their resumes, transcripts, and an essay detailing their recent professional experience. Kellogg, which reportedly has an acceptance rate hovering around 20%, says it won’t loosen its expectations for the incoming candidates. Rather, Kellogg Degree Programs and Operations Associate Dean Greg Hanifee said dropping the testing is intended to speed up the application process, a decision particularly helpful for the thousands of workers who’ve lost their jobs in recent weeks and months.
“Kellogg has always been about leading with compassion and learning to channel analytical skills with personal skills in business,” Hanifee said in a statement. “Our focus on the intersection of business and science uniquely positions future leaders to excel in careers across many sectors and companies.”
Kellogg did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment seeking more details on what specific type of tech workers may qualify for the testing waiver.
In a year marked by turmoil, the past few weeks have been especially devastating for tech workers. Last month, newly minted Twitter CEO Elon Musk busted in the doors and immediately laid off half of the company’s staff, axing entire human rights and ethical AI teams in the process. Embarrassingly, Twitter had to beg some of those workers to return to the company days later.
Twitter’s layoffs, while chaotic, paled in comparison to Meta which last week announced it would lay off 11,000 workers. A recent New York Times report, meanwhile, suggests Amazon could scrap around 10,000 employees as early as this week.
Industry trackers estimate anywhere between 70,000 to 120,000 tech workers have been laid off in 2022. The downturn, brought on by a variety of factors including rising inflation, tanking cryptocurrency prices, digital advertising declines, and post pandemic e-commerce slowdowns, have touched just about every corner of the industry. Netflix, Tesla, Coinbase, and Microsoft have all sent some of their workers packing this year.