The tech industry shed hundreds of thousands of jobs over the past two years. Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, and countless startups cut staff in waves that reshaped Silicon Valley and tech hubs nationwide. The headlines focused on severance packages and job markets. What they missed was the quieter crisis unfolding in the aftermath.
Treatment centers across California report significant increases in admissions from former tech workers. The pattern is consistent. High-earning professionals who built their entire identities around their careers suddenly find themselves untethered. The coping mechanisms that follow can turn destructive quickly.
Tech culture created unique vulnerabilities. The industry celebrated workaholism. Eighty-hour weeks were badges of honor. Free alcohol flowed at office happy hours and company events. Stress was managed with Adderall, sleep with Ambien, anxiety with Xanax. For many workers, substances became woven into the fabric of daily functioning long before layoffs hit.
When the job disappeared, so did the structure. No more standups. No more deadlines. No more performance reviews providing external validation. The sudden emptiness left space for existing habits to escalate.
Money complicated matters. Generous severance packages meant laid-off workers could afford to drink or use without immediate financial consequences. No one was watching. No one expected them at the office. Days blurred together.
The identity crisis runs deep. Tech workers often struggle to separate who they are from where they worked. A senior engineer at a prestigious company isn’t just employed. That job defines their social status, their friend groups, their sense of purpose. Losing it triggers grief that resembles losing a loved one. Substances offer temporary relief from that pain.
Shame keeps many from seeking help promptly. These are people accustomed to solving problems, optimizing systems, achieving goals. Admitting they can’t control their drinking or drug use feels like personal failure. They tell themselves they’ll cut back once they land the next role. Months pass. The problem worsens.
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Seasons in Malibu has seen this population increase notably over the past 18 months. The facility’s experience treating high-achieving professionals has proven particularly relevant as more tech workers seek treatment. Many arrive exhausted, isolated, and unsure how their lives unraveled so quickly.
Treatment for this population requires addressing underlying issues beyond the substance use itself. Career identity, perfectionism, and the pressure to perform often need examination. Learning to build self-worth independent of professional achievement becomes essential work.
The good news is that recovery rates among this demographic tend to be strong. Tech workers are generally educated, resourceful, and accustomed to learning new skills. Once they engage with treatment, many apply the same focus that made them successful professionally.
The tech industry will recover. Hiring will rebound. But for the workers who discovered addiction during their unexpected time away, the path forward requires more than a new job offer. It requires confronting what the job was masking all along.
