Former workers at some of Seattle's largest tech employers are among the "most attractive candidates" for small and midsize companies, according to a recent survey.
In a survey of 1,000 hiring managers, the New York-based lending firm Clarify Capital found that 43% of respondents said former Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) employees are in high demand.
The top five companies were rounded out by four other tech companies that were either based or have a significant presence in the Seattle area: Apple, Twitter, Salesforce and Meta.
The survey also showed small to midsize companies are actively looking to take advantage of the layoffs and hiring freezes that have been hitting larger tech firms. Clarify said 30% of the hiring managers surveyed said their goal was to recruit people recently laid off from major companies, and that 38% said they were thinking about it.
Other Seattle-based companies that made the list were Zillow and Redfin, which both had 15% of respondents say they produced top candidates.
Amazon, Meta, Twitter, Zillow and Redfin headcounts have all been battered by layoffs in recent months. Amazon is letting go of around corporate 10,000 employees, though it hasn't disclosed how many Washington state workers will be affected. Twitter laid off 257 employees in Seattle and Meta cut 726 in the Seattle area.
Redfin let go of about 470 employees in June, and in November, the company disclosed it was laying off 862 people and shuttering its home-flipping business. Zillow laid off 300 workers in October.
