Layoffs are tech's new normalThe wave of layoffs in tech that continued to mount this week has felt like a shocking and sharp turnabout for an industry that stood on top of the world just a year ago.There was an assumption, O'Mara says, that pandemic-related behavior changes, such as the shift to remote work and buying groceries online, would just continue.The parent companies of both Facebook and Google, for example, grew more than 20 percent last year, while other large tech companies have doubled since before the pandemic.While the job cuts are significant, large tech companies are still vital to the economy and they are still making lots of money.What's next: Layoffs are likely to continue as companies that have yet to pare back staff feel compelled to do so — whether to boost profits and please investors, to keep their cost structure competitive with rivals, or to adjust to reduced demand at a time when everyone seems to be cutting back at the same time."