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Ask HN: Did anyone land a job in FAANG after layoffs and how is it going?

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Re: Ask HN: Did anyone land a job in FAANG after layoffs and how is it going?

#21

Post by FrontierPsych »

gregjor wrote: post #3

Laying off then re-hiring at reduced pay and benefits, a common practice not confined to the tech industry or FAANG. Also a way to get rid of troublesome and unproductive people under the guise of a mass layoff. Labor unions exist in part to prevent that practice. I'll let you work out why companies might prefer hiring people with less experience, or discriminate against older and more experienced people -- a practic…

>discriminate against older and more experienced people -- a practice so widespread in tech we joke about it. Hint: seniority usually implies higher pay, lower chance of getting blinded by free pizza and dry cleaning, and more independence of thought in the workplace. Less work experience usually means a more compliant employee.

As someone who started in the industry in the mid-1980s, this practice was very well known back then, as I'm sure it was very well known before then.

At the start of my career in my mid-20s, we all talked about it all the time - that by 35-40, you are either in management or whatever else. But not a coder, for the most part, except for exceptions.

Re: Ask HN: Did anyone land a job in FAANG after layoffs and how is it going?

#22

Post by gregjor »

FrontierPsych wrote: post #21
gregjor wrote: post #3

Laying off then re-hiring at reduced pay and benefits, a common practice not confined to the tech industry or FAANG. Also a way to get rid of troublesome and unproductive people under the guise of a mass layoff. Labor unions exist in part to prevent that practice. I'll let you work out why companies might prefer hiring people with less experience, or discriminate against older and more experienced people -- a practic…

>discriminate against older and more experienced people -- a practice so widespread in tech we joke about it. Hint: seniority usually implies higher pay, lower chance of getting blinded by free pizza and dry cleaning, and more independence of thought in the workplace. Less work experience usually means a more compliant employee. As someone who started in the industry in the mid-1980s, this practice was very well know…

62, still writing code and doing system admin. I started freelancing over a decade ago, that fixes some of the age discrimination. I specialize in taking over and fixing broken and abandoned projects, usually left behind when the younger people who apparently passed the "culture fit" test move on to something more fun.

Re: Ask HN: Did anyone land a job in FAANG after layoffs and how is it going?

#24

Post by FrontierPsych »

gregjor wrote: post #22
FrontierPsych wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>discriminate against older and more experienced people -- a practice so widespread in tech we joke about it. Hint: seniority usually implies higher pay, lower chance of getting blinded by free pizza and dry cleaning, and more independence of thought in the workplace. Less work experience usually means a more compliant employee. As someone who started in the industry in the mid-1980s, this practice was very well know…

62, still writing code and doing system admin. I started freelancing over a decade ago, that fixes some of the age discrimination. I specialize in taking over and fixing broken and abandoned projects, usually left behind when the younger people who apparently passed the "culture fit" test move on to something more fun.

Cool, good on you.

I did write: "except for exceptions." which of course, there always are.

Even back in the day when you and I were getting our first jobs in tech in the mid-1980s. I'm sure you were very aware of the whole thing about getting pushed out of tech when you are 35-40, no?

And even back in the day, we also knew people mainly got pushed out because people stopped keeping up with the latest trends, langauges, etc, and if someone did, then that is the kind of person who will have a much greater chance of coding into their 60s.

Personally I stopped and moved onto other things.

Re: Ask HN: Did anyone land a job in FAANG after layoffs and how is it going?

#25

Post by dbish »

roland35 wrote: post #12

Source: work at a FAANG which has had layoffs. There is still some hiring going on, but obviously very much reduced so just by the numbers it's going to be harder. I don't think actual $ offers are lower, if anything they will be better since new hires get better stock grant prices. I think one factor is that you won't see bidding wars like we did in 2021 since it's harder to get multiple offers. As far as firing and…

Having worked across multiple of the FAANGs, I would not trust joining them right now. They have not shown they will stop layoffs and morale has to be dropping as they each (most of them) do multiple rounds instead of the normally suggested single cut.

Re: Ask HN: Did anyone land a job in FAANG after layoffs and how is it going?

#26

Post by dbish »

Beaver117 wrote: post #16

Just one data point at one company, I passed the final stage with good feedback but after a long delay was told the offer was given to an internal candidate instead as headcount is really low for new hires. So a waste of time

This is also why I’ve been recommending people to focus on small company roles. The big techs have too many internal folks who may have their job cut, and they also have recruiting orgs (mostly still) that are willing to burn your time without making sure the job will still be there after you spend all your time interviewing for them.

Re: Ask HN: Did anyone land a job in FAANG after layoffs and how is it going?

#27

Post by gregjor »

FrontierPsych wrote: post #24
gregjor wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

62, still writing code and doing system admin. I started freelancing over a decade ago, that fixes some of the age discrimination. I specialize in taking over and fixing broken and abandoned projects, usually left behind when the younger people who apparently passed the "culture fit" test move on to something more fun.

Cool, good on you. I did write: "except for exceptions." which of course, there always are. Even back in the day when you and I were getting our first jobs in tech in the mid-1980s. I'm sure you were very aware of the whole thing about getting pushed out of tech when you are 35-40, no? And even back in the day, we also knew people mainly got pushed out because people stopped keeping up with the latest trends, langaug…

I got my first programming job in 1979, at 19. Until I got to my 30s I mostly worked with people my age or older. I never had any trouble finding work and only ran into what I perceived as age discrimination when interviewing with teams of people a decade or younger than me.

It never bothered me to work with younger people, I can keep up, and experience still counts in most companies. I worked in Silicon Valley for a while, found my age counting against me there, but age didn’t seem to matter much outside of the SV environment.

As a freelancer my age never comes up, I don’t have to interview and sometimes I never even meet my customer in person.

Age discrimination does happen. On the other hand I’m not sure I would fit in to a team of people half my age. It also happens that people get older and set in their ways, resisting change and sticking to what worked in the past, and that trait will limit opportunities just as much as gray hair.

Re: Ask HN: Did anyone land a job in FAANG after layoffs and how is it going?

#28

Post by FrontierPsych »

gregjor wrote: post #27
FrontierPsych wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cool, good on you. I did write: "except for exceptions." which of course, there always are. Even back in the day when you and I were getting our first jobs in tech in the mid-1980s. I'm sure you were very aware of the whole thing about getting pushed out of tech when you are 35-40, no? And even back in the day, we also knew people mainly got pushed out because people stopped keeping up with the latest trends, langaug…

I got my first programming job in 1979, at 19. Until I got to my 30s I mostly worked with people my age or older. I never had any trouble finding work and only ran into what I perceived as age discrimination when interviewing with teams of people a decade or younger than me. It never bothered me to work with younger people, I can keep up, and experience still counts in most companies. I worked in Silicon Valley for a…

oh, wow, ok. 19...

I went to university and didn't get out until mid-1980s. We're the same age.

About 5 years ago, I did work in a tech company startup with 21 and 22 years old. On my side it was just fine. Don't know what they thought, but it worked out ok for me.

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