Ask HN: Have you been laid off? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Have you been laid off?

#151

Post by Aeolun » Wed, Mar 18, 2020, 9:31 PM UTC

TAForObvReasons wrote: post #128

edouard-harris wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chiming in here with a bit of data on the hiring side of things. I'm the cofounder of SharpestMinds, an ISA-powered mentorship marketplace for data scientists. For all the obvious reasons, we track the hiring rates for our grads very closely and have been keeping close tabs on the pandemic's effects on the tech job market. Our observations so far: 1. Hiring in tech has definitely not gone to zero, even for the junior…

> SaaS businesses with predictable revenue streams and some degree of economic insulation from the "meatspace" economy Those are most likely lagging by a few weeks or a month. Monthly subscriptions are arguably the easiest to cut and companies are looking to cut non-essential services.

They’re likely also the smallest possible thing that a company can cut. I doubt anyone will save their company by cutting Slack.

Re: Ask HN: Have you been laid off?

#152

Post by _bxg1 » Wed, Mar 18, 2020, 9:31 PM UTC

My intuition is that layoffs will be limited to speculative ventures; i.e., startups that aren't profitable yet and/or are highly dependent on outside investment. Risk is suddenly very unattractive, which is a major turnaround from 6 months ago.

I don't think tech in general is in trouble. As a whole it's probably one of the least in-trouble sectors as the world moves online. We'll just see a lot of developers shifting from moonshots to projects that create real value, which may not be a bad thing.

Re: Ask HN: Have you been laid off?

#153

Post by boring_baduku » Wed, Mar 18, 2020, 9:31 PM UTC

I have been told I will be laid off this month end. I am on H1B and am completely freaking out because I have only 1 year experience and a student loan. To be honest, I kind of saw this coming a month ago and started applying. But, I have had no luck. I even submitted an ask HN yesterday to discuss and get ideas.

Re: Ask HN: Have you been laid off?

#154

Post by farazbabar » Wed, Mar 18, 2020, 9:31 PM UTC

juliusx wrote: post #137

lynnetye wrote: post #25

I'm the founder of Key Values, which helps software engineers find teams that share their values. Not only do I live in the Bay Area and have many founder friends, but it is also my full-time job to connect tech startups that are hiring w/ devs looking for new roles, so I think I have a good view on this. I'm still gathering information on how coronavirus is impacting the job market, but what I know now is that many…

This project looks useful, but I don't see any conservative values. What if someone values monoculturalism?

I hope we are not conflating conservative values with monoculturalism and you meant to ask about two different values. Also, as someone who has been at the receiving end of monoculturalism crowd, I hope they find enlightenment eventually.

Re: Ask HN: Have you been laid off?

#155

Post by UncleEntity » Wed, Mar 18, 2020, 9:32 PM UTC

mrosett wrote: post #40

cultus wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would be quite surprised if this doesn't turn into a depression. The Fed has essentially already exhausted their options, and we're only a week in to this. Fiscal policy is the only real policy remedy, and capitalists hate that.

I think there's a sense that this time it's different. When you lose your job because the government decrees that your company shut down... well, it seems pretty clear that the government should have to help.

They seem to be falling all over themselves trying to help since (almost) everyone thinks it isn't such a good idea to send all the old people off to the woods to get eaten by wolves.

Probably the one time in human history the evil bankers can actually point and say "it wasn't us this time, really!!!"

Re: Ask HN: Have you been laid off?

#156

Post by _bxg1 » Wed, Mar 18, 2020, 9:33 PM UTC

Rebles wrote: post #44

At the beginning of the year, I decided it was time to find a new job after 10 years with my employer. I spent February doing interview prep and conducting interviews. Back then, the COVID-19 was mostly limited to China, markets and governments weren't terribly concerned about COVID-19. I accept a job offer, put in my two weeks notice, and my last day at was last Friday. Hardly anyone was seriously concerned about CO…

Could you check-in with the new company? I'm in a similar situation and checked-in with mine, and they said they were happy to onboard me remotely, no problem.

Re: Ask HN: Have you been laid off?

#157

Post by dillonmckay » Wed, Mar 18, 2020, 9:33 PM UTC

daenz wrote: post #98

>mandatory unpaid leave What does this mean, precisely? How is it different from firing staff?

I assume it may make a difference with unemployment payments.

Re: Ask HN: Have you been laid off?

#158

Post by pjc50 » Wed, Mar 18, 2020, 9:33 PM UTC

isbvhodnvemrwvn wrote: post #88

throwaway5752 wrote: post #9

Take whatever you can get, if you are lucky enough to get an offer. Look for contract work. Reduce your expenses. The gaining market share idea is too optimistic. Consider cashflow and sector and aim for stability over upside. Consider headhunters/recruiters. Really consider your expense and have a plan if you cannot find computer work when you will look outside of that. The general employment picture is a disaster,…

> Read up on COBRA I first read it as "read up on CORBA", but I think we aren't that desperate yet.

One of those heavily overloaded acronyms - in the UK it's Cabinet Office Briefing Room A, which is where all the emergency briefings are done from. So "cobra committee" gets mentioned on the news a lot.

Re: Ask HN: Have you been laid off?

#159

Post by PopeDotNinja » Wed, Mar 18, 2020, 9:35 PM UTC

Rebles wrote: post #44

At the beginning of the year, I decided it was time to find a new job after 10 years with my employer. I spent February doing interview prep and conducting interviews. Back then, the COVID-19 was mostly limited to China, markets and governments weren't terribly concerned about COVID-19. I accept a job offer, put in my two weeks notice, and my last day at was last Friday. Hardly anyone was seriously concerned about CO…

Start interviewing again. Seriously. Worst case scenario your new job works out. That's pretty good downside.

Re: Ask HN: Have you been laid off?

#160

Post by pvarangot » Wed, Mar 18, 2020, 9:35 PM UTC

Rafuino wrote: post #91

conductr wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People keep saying “recession” but that sounds like they don’t understand the implications of what’s happening to the world economy right now. “Global depression” seems like a more appropriate term but time will tell. I’m a CFO of $300M company that employees ~2200 employees. We’re out of cash in 6 weeks if our revenue continues to decline. Down 30% vs last year this week (which is good compared to most). Doing layof…

Yeah, resuming business and being OK with the death toll is certainly an unpopular opinion. If you have hospitals overwhelmed because business just has to continue, business will suffer regardless. I also don't quite understand how a $300M (assuming revenue, not valuation) company can run out of cash in 6 weeks. You're saying you can't make payroll in 6 weeks at the current trajectory?

I've seen and worked for companies in that situation, you have a 200/300M valuation on the bull market but you are running out of cash and expecting to get a new round based on great growth numbers or achieved goals. When I was there we got the round and were saved, but I can see that not happening in the current situation.