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Ask HN: Has the tech recession affected you?

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Re: Ask HN: Has the tech recession affected you?

#101

Post by GaryNumanVevo »

Personally, not much. I moved to a director role this year, (1 company, 1 offer).

In my opinion: whereas previously tech was hiring consistently, there was a good fit for nearly every candidate. Now I'm seeing a "K" shape recovery where folks with established careers can still get jobs, but those who have less experience or were below the curve to begin with are having a much tougher time getting jobs at the same pay / title level. I've even seen some of our interns (at my last role) that we couldn't extend offers to leaving the field, which is saddening to say the least.

Re: Ask HN: Has the tech recession affected you?

#102

Post by CoastalCoder »

FreakLegion wrote: post #71
CoastalCoder wrote: post #37

I was laid off (for the first time) 9 months ago, and I still haven't found a job. I don't live near a major city. This wasn't a problem when remote work was the norm, or when I could wait for the right remote job to open up. But in the current environment it's a major headwind. I'm also starting to get concerned about how employers will perceive this long of a job gap. And the psychological aspect of this long of un…

Have you tried the monthly HN threads? For example this month's "Who wants to be hired?": https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38842975 I'm adding two dozen to the team this year and will start working through that thread tomorrow. I can't be the only one.

Thanks, I just posted to "Who wants to be hired?".

I didn't think there was any point until you mentioned that you'll be looking for candidates there.

Re: Ask HN: Has the tech recession affected you?

#103

Post by mooreds »

dvaun wrote: post #17

Personally it’s led me to try out some contract work on the side for small businesses, eg building little websites and performing technical SEO work via https://www.divinatetech.com Eager to improve my non-technical skills with this work. I’m curious to see how the field fluctuates in these next years with the upheaval of cheap interest and split opinions on doom/boon of tech workers via LLM automation.

Doing a period of consulting will uplevel your non-technical skills (sales, accounts receivable, marketing) greatly, as well as your appreciation for those who do that type of work, IMO.

Re: Ask HN: Has the tech recession affected you?

#104

Post by pie420 »

softfalcon wrote: post #48

I haven't been laid off, but a good chunk of my team was. Anecdotally, I'm hearing lots of stories of companies laying people off and then there are new openings very similar to the position that was let go, but with lower salaries or where one person would be expected to do the work of 2-5 previously laid off folks. In particular, a person I know from EA Games saw half their department let go, and then replacements…

"lower salaries or where one person would be expected to do the work of 2-5 previously laid off folks"

so only $300k total comp and 20 hrs of work per week?

Re: Ask HN: Has the tech recession affected you?

#106

Post by busterarm »

yieldcrv wrote: post #82
busterarm wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not trying to rub it in, sorry. I don't actually think you did anything wrong either. Companies are just being assholes right now.

you’re fine, thats not what you did but I’d much prefer that to the unquantified optimism people many people, including engineers, are obsessed with looking for a silver lining when the reality is that I lost all my leverage and every new recruiter call is at least a month and a half from new money hitting my bank account, if everything goes perfectly.

hang in there. I'll be rooting for you.

Re: Ask HN: Has the tech recession affected you?

#108

Post by francisofascii »

FreakLegion wrote: post #71
CoastalCoder wrote: post #37

I was laid off (for the first time) 9 months ago, and I still haven't found a job. I don't live near a major city. This wasn't a problem when remote work was the norm, or when I could wait for the right remote job to open up. But in the current environment it's a major headwind. I'm also starting to get concerned about how employers will perceive this long of a job gap. And the psychological aspect of this long of un…

Have you tried the monthly HN threads? For example this month's "Who wants to be hired?": https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38842975 I'm adding two dozen to the team this year and will start working through that thread tomorrow. I can't be the only one.

My very generalized perception of those HN lists are as follows:

Who Wants to Be Hired? A bunch of similar people to me or better, with that same tech stacks as me, looking for remote.

Who is Hiring? Companies with tech stacks I don't use, looking for on-site.

Re: Ask HN: Has the tech recession affected you?

#109

Post by lucasyvas »

spamizbad wrote: post #63

I’m a hiring manager. My company did a round of contractor layoffs in 2023 and made a smaller number of FTE hires backfills. My advice is to hang in there. Often we have 3 strong candidates per open position. The people we reject aren’t getting rejected because they aren’t a good fit or lack skills - it’s just that someone else was a little better. If I had the budget I’d hire all the great people I have the privileg…

I think you may be right. Though, depending on where you live the supports for starting something vary wildly. And many people are in a position where it is riskier than ever financially to strike it out on their own.

It definitely feels like it's time for next wave of entrepreneurship, but the current environment may make it difficult to realize it.

I was laid off in the summer and tried some smaller ideas for a few months, but it is very hard to be a solo founder in my experience - way too much work wearing all hats. Fortunately I bagged a job to get income stream back in line, but in my gut I feel like I'm missing an opportunity.

I found that I just have too many financial responsibilities to take the leap without either/both a co-founder and seed funding (despite desperately clutching to the notion that bootstrapping is better). And that's hard for many right now.

Re: Ask HN: Has the tech recession affected you?

#110

Post by phendrenad2 »

belltaco wrote: post #75
parker_mountain wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> irrational bias Then say it. :)

Sure, already got plenty of downvotes, it's C#, F# and the .NET ecosystem.

Off-topic but I'm curious: Where do you find .NET jobs? I don't see many on linkedin...
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