Mark Zuckerberg ushered in a new era of 'efficiency'

 

 Mark Zuckerberg set the tone on Wednesday when he said this would be the "year of efficiency" at Meta, followed on Thursday by Alphabet and Amazon both indicating that they see tough times ahead. The one port in this particular storm is Apple, which is still the only major tech company not to do layoffsin recent weeks. 

There's much to discuss, so let's recap what happened this week in tech.

 1. Mark Zuckerberg just ushered in a new era of tech.

Once upon a time, there was a small search startup named Google. It was up against powerhouses like Yahoo and Microsoft. To recruit the talent it needed, Google offered first-class employee perks. Success wasn't quite overnight, but it was close.

And as Google grew into the juggernaut that it is today, other companies took notice. Pampering employees and empowering them to chase wild ideas became the norm across Silicon Valley.

This model worked splendidly for many companies, right up until it didn't. In recent months, layoffs have swept just about every major tech company (except, notably, Apple).

 2. Big Tech's big lie. Dehumanizing. Gut-wrenching. Betrayed. Tech workers were made to feel like part of something bigger, but the recent wave of layoffs forced workers to confront a harsh truth: The workplace isn't the same thing as a family

 4. Amazon is going after a younger, and potentially more affordable, talent pool. Leaked emails show the tech giant is limiting entry-level software engineering positions to current students or new grads. What we know.

5. Ex-Twitter staff still have their company laptops — and they're very confused. Former workers told Wired that while their laptops have been digitally locked, they still have yet to be collected by the company. Some fear it could even lead to legal trouble. Here's the full story. 

6. The world's wealthiest people are trying to live forever. They're taking supplements, abiding by wild fitness routines, and investing in longevity research — and some methods may actually be working. From Jeff Bezos to Jack Dorsey, here are 14 entrepreneurs trying to fight aging.

7. An ex-Googler discovered he'd been laid off while feeding his newborn daughter at 2 a.m. Nicholas Dufau said he felt "acutely expendable" upon discovering he'd been laid off via email days after his wife gave birth to their first child.