Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Has the tech recession affected you?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 175 posts

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

#71

Post by FreakLegion »

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.

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

#72

Post by neonlights84 »

In my mid 30s, got laid off from a medical device company in August, literally a week before my wedding. Company's sales had been floundering, the company founder had caused numerous schedule overruns by meddling too frequently in product development concerns. Then in a surprise move an outside investment group bought enough shares to push the CEO out of his role. New CEO came on board, gutted all new product development efforts (and guess who was leading new product development). So I was given a bunch of apologies and let go. Fortunately, I had been reading the writing on the wall for weeks and ended up getting an offer just days after the layoff, followed by a second offer. Pivoted into a tech role that uses my skills without the time pressures of a manufacturing environment. And making loads more money. I think the trick to surviving these recessions is to constantly assess your organization's health and consider alternatives. The timing was just right for me and saved me months of stress.

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

#73

Post by belltaco »

busterarm wrote: post #67
mmmmmbop wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure they're talking about crypto.

Except the job market around crypto has largely cratered and it's actually not the technically interesting to work in.

It's C#, F# and the .NET ecosystem. Haven't gotten this many downvotes in a long time.

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

#74

Post by scrollaway »

sph wrote: post #14
operatingthetan wrote: post #10

I keep hearing whispering of an "AI boom" happening soon on HN but don't see in the real world. Has anyone seen signs either way?

You probably hear it from people that have to sell you AI-powered products. At best it'll turn into a bubble, but more realistically LLMs will not cause any economic boom in and of themselves, especially in these shaky times. Content generation is not really what the world is looking for to return to the highs of early 2010s.

AI boom isn't coming from content generation, it's coming from new forms of automation and the newfound accessibility from it.

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

#75

Post by belltaco »

parker_mountain wrote: post #16
belltaco wrote: post #11

I work in a technology that's great to work in but has a bad reputation in places like HN because of irrational bias, there's no recession and salaries are still going up. Glad it keeps the competition away.

> irrational bias Then say it. :)

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

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

#76

Post by muzani »

Haven't been laid off but plenty of friends have and that affects me for sure. Some are just tired of the environment of fear and quit to do non-tech. Which is quite sad as many of them are brilliant engineers.

Statistically, VC money is worst in late stage startups and actually higher in early stage ones. Since the big ones hire more, including contractors, more people are affected overall.

It is a great time to start a startup, though, if you're into that. Cheaper and higher quality talent on the market. I know some are cringing about the low startup rates, but some techies are selling insurance and essential oil.

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

#77

Post by busterarm »

yieldcrv wrote: post #70
busterarm wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Employers feel like they've been forced into remote work and salary creep by covid and faangs. They feel so powerless that any pushback from a potential employee makes them think they're going to have a permanent headache working with you. The way things are you'd have much better luck negotiating a salary review after a six month probation or something.

yes, this was objectively an L for me and in hindsight I should not have negotiated a single aspect of the position, so take notes everyone California, by the way.

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

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

#78

Post by busterarm »

belltaco wrote: post #73
busterarm wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except the job market around crypto has largely cratered and it's actually not the technically interesting to work in.

It's C#, F# and the .NET ecosystem. Haven't gotten this many downvotes in a long time.

Well, those haters are just stupid. That ecosystem is probably better to work in now than it ever has been and both of those languages are have a great developer experience.

LINQ is powerful technology. Don't let anyone snub their noses at you.

If the only options for professional engagement were the languages popular with the HN commentariat (Python, Golang, Rust), I'd probably slit my wrists.

I've worked with loads of languages -- even PHP and Perl -- and would do it again without a second thought for the right company/project.

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

#79

Post by lylejantzi3rd »

prewett wrote: post #54
arp242 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aside: has anyone actually got value out of "Who wants to be hired?" Because when I posted a few months ago all I got was spam and nonsense. I haven't bothered posting since (well, I did this month).

I haven't used the full-time page, but I had a fantastic experience with a client that found me via the freelancer page a couple months after I posted.

I've also gotten a few clients from the freelancer thread. I got nothing at all from the "Who wants to be hired?" thread.

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

#80

Post by wuz »

Company acquired us in late 2022, then cut the acquired product and team in late 2023. Similar to others here, I've been applying left and right, but only hearing back on every 10 or so jobs.

Some numbers from December: - 26 jobs applied to - 14 just never replied - 4 sent standard "we're looking for other candidates" emails - 5 went to different stages of interviews only to resolve into "offer made to another candidate" - 1 filled all the positions they had, but left the interview "open" for when new positions open up - 1 is hopefully pending me getting an offer this week

Of the 5 that went with other candidates: - 1 went all the way to right before the offer and they basically told me the had to decide between me and another candidate and the other candidate had direct experience with a product they wanted to build in early 2024 - 1 was supposed to really kick off after the holidays, told me waiting until after the holiday was what the preferred. Emailed me today to tell me they had a candidate accept an offer and my interviews would be cancelled.

Honestly feel like it should be a legal requirement to inform a candidate if you have an active offer out for the position they are applying to.

Post reply on HN