The Lowdown on Layoffs for Product Managers and the People Who Hire Them

Layoffs still dominate headlines, with high profile tech companies like Microsoft and Amazon seemingly breaking bad news every few days. What does this mean for Product Managers and the companies who hire them? A shift is needed in how the Product role is seen in the organization. Growth still matters (attack is the strongest form of defense) but so does efficiency. 

As companies wield their Product teams as a tool to reduce cost, it’s no surprise that Product Managers remain in high demand—only 4% of the layoffs at Twitter impacted Product Managers (source: layoffs.fyi), and there are over 350,000 Product Management jobs open on LinkedIn right now. The economy may be slowing down, but one thing is for sure: Product Managers are still in high demand. 

When times are tough, the best products win. As a PM, you know that driving efficiency and reducing costs is crucial to creating a successful product. And, as a company, investing in your product team is key to staying ahead of the competition and avoiding the costly process of replacing your Product talent. Let’s explore this in depth:

How to Use Your Product Team to Drive Efficiency

Product Managers are your secret weapon for unlocking efficiency across the Product life cycle. By leveraging data, user feedback, and market trends, PMs can make informed decisions about what features to build and how to optimize existing ones. This leads to a more streamlined Product Development process, which ultimately reduces costs and increases revenue.

By streamlining the development process, Product Managers can help to reduce costs and improve the overall performance of the product. This can enable companies to make more sales and onboard more users with less cost. For example, by zeroing in on only the most critical features a user needs, Product Managers can ensure that the product is more user-friendly and easier to use, which can increase the number of users and ultimately drive more sales. By optimizing existing features and continually testing and iterating on the product, Product Managers create a competitive edge through user experience. This can help to retain existing users and attract new ones. 

Standardize to Foster Alignment 

Standardization, common best practices, and shared frameworks play a crucial role in cost reduction through efficiency. A shared framework for user research can ensure that all team members have a clear understanding of the target market and user needs, which can prevent wasted effort on features that will not be used. Standardizing on common best practices for development, such as code reviews, can help to identify and fix errors early in the process, reducing the need for expensive bug fixes later on. 

Upskill to Do More With Less

Upskilling through training can be a powerful tool for Product Managers to achieve greater efficiency in product development. In a tough economic environment, companies are constantly looking for ways to do more with less. By training and upskilling themselves in the latest product development methodologies and tools, Product Managers can help to streamline the development process and make it more efficient.

Learning about agile development methodologies can help Product Managers to break down complex projects into smaller, manageable chunks, and prioritize features based on their value to the customer. This can help to reduce development time and costs, and ensure that the final product is more closely aligned with customer needs. Training in user research and testing can help Product Managers to gather valuable customer insights and validate product ideas before investing significant resources into development.

Train to Accelerate

One of the most effective ways to foster efficiency and alignment and drive efficiency within your product team is through training. By providing your PMs with the tools, knowledge, and resources they need to do their jobs effectively, you are giving them the ability to make better decisions and drive better outcomes. Training also helps to ensure that everyone on the team is on the same page, leading to fewer miscommunications and delays. This is especially important in a remote working environment.

Reward Your Current Team & Attract Future Employees

Training can also accelerate the onboarding process for new PMs. By providing them with the necessary knowledge and skills to hit the ground running, they can start contributing to the team more quickly. This not only saves time, but it also helps to ensure that new PMs are able to make an impact from the start.

Train to Retain

Demand for Product Managers continues to exceed supply. Hiring new Product Managers can be a costly and time-consuming process, and it can be challenging to find the right candidates with the necessary skills and experience. Retaining current Product Managers, on the other hand, is much cheaper and doesn’t compromise the integrity and culture of your team. 

To incentivize retention, companies are turning to team training as a way to help their Product Managers grow and develop their skills. We’ve crunched the numbers: Product Managers crave learning and development. They want to grow, and they will spend their careers in an environment that makes this possible. We’ll share the full story in our upcoming Future of Product Management Report, but here’s the lowdown: By providing training and development opportunities, you can help create a culture of learning and growth, which will empower you to attract and retain top talent.

Our research shows that when Product Managers are provided with training and resources to nurture their personal and professional growth, they are more likely to stay with the company. This ultimately leads to a more stable, aligned, and experienced product team, which is crucial for driving success in the long-term.

Investing in your product team through training is essential for driving efficiency, fostering alignment, accelerating onboarding, and retaining top talent. As the economy slows down, it's more important than ever to have a strong product team in place to stay ahead of the competition. Don't let layoffs be the first step, invest in your team first.