From high tech to amp tech: How a layoff led to a new business

Despite recent rallies in tech stocks thanks to the AI boom, tech jobs haven’t kept up with the hype.

Employment in information — a close stand in for tech — fell by 11% since its most recent peak in 2022. With layoffs abundant in the industry, some tech workers have found other avenues for employment.

After 27 years working in tech, Joe Moore lost his job in a round of layoffs in 2024. Instead of going back to a career in software, he started his own business repairing vintage guitar amplifiers, The Vintage Tone Amp Repair, in Denver, Colorado.

“There are definitely days where I'm staring at an amplifier that looks like a bowl full of spaghetti with just wires going everywhere… and I have this feeling of I'm never going to be able to figure this out, but eventually I do,” Moore said. “It just reignited that feeling of joy and discovery again that I hadn't felt in my professional career in a while.”

To hear the rest of Moore’s story, click the audio player above.