Tech Layoffs and Product Priorities: What Stays, What Goes
When teams shrink, product and engineering have to choose. We've seen these patterns work.
Layoffs force hard choices: what do we keep, what do we pause, and what do we cut? From the product and engineering side, we've seen a few patterns work.
**Consolidate before you cut.** Often there are two or three tools or features doing the same job. Unify first; then reduce headcount or scope. You keep capability and simplify ops.
**Protect the core.** Identify the one or two flows that drive revenue or retention. Those get tests, monitoring, and docs. Everything else is negotiable.
**Document and automate.** If you're losing people, institutional knowledge goes with them. Runbooks, architecture docs, and automated checks buy time for the team that remains.