Lisa Mabley was laid off a year ago from her job as a software engineer at a Twin Cities software company. Over the course of five months, she sent her résumé to nearly 300 companies.

She received just two offers at the end.

"The one that I did not accept has (since) had layoffs," said Mabley, who lives in Minneapolis. "If I had taken the other job, I would perhaps be unemployed again."

Those months were stressful for Mabley, who was the only person in her household working at times. In September, she began working remotely for a tech startup based in Los Angeles.

"It was super alarming to not have any income coming in," she said.

Mabley and other tech workers have come face-to-face with an unexpected reality: The industry — which for so long has been filled will promises of unending opportunity — is now oversaturated with candidates.

The environment Mabley found herself in was far different from when she switched careers eight years ago to become an engineer. Then, recruiters solicited her at least once or twice a day.

"I guess I thought I had it made after that point," Mabley said. "I was like, 'The demand is so high in the field. I will never have to work hard to find a job again.' "

Companies that rapidly grew their tech talent during the pandemic to help them shift production online — aided by the federal government's Paycheck Protection Plan that rewarded companies for retaining and adding employees — have terminated workers in large numbers over the past year to reduce operating costs and improve profitability.

Ben Solberg, who lives in Hudson, Wisconsin, was previously vice president of digital marketing and digital product for a large financial services corporation in Minnesota, where he led software product and user-experience teams. His position was eliminated more than two months ago.

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