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Ask HN: How many of you have been impacted by a layoff?

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Re: Ask HN: How many of you have been impacted by a layoff?

#91

Post by mikekchar »

rebeccaskinner wrote: post #29

My entire career as been driven, almost exclusively, by layoffs. I had been at my first job for about a year and was starting to think about moving on when my manager (who I think knew I was looking) told me that they were going to have to lay off a developer, and if I had an offer they'd rather I take it, otherwise they were going to have to let my co-worker go. I took the new job and moved cities to work at a start…

The industry is full of bust and boom. People see high tech as a gold rush and are often in it to make as much money as quickly as possible. Layoffs are inevitable in that situation. I've been through a few layoff rounds myself (though not always chosen to be the one laid off). One thing I did really helped me, though. The last time I got laid off, I intentionally took 6 months off. I got a job offer within weeks, but I decided to turn it down and just spend some time for me (well, I spent it writing free software ;-) ).

It's a bit risky because the first question you get when doing subsequent interviews is "Why have you been out of work so long?" I'd tell them I took time off and showed them the code I was working on. There would be some raised eyebrows, but to be honest, I think this actually helped filter out some companies that I really didn't want to work for. Indeed, had I took the initial job offer I received, I would have been out on the street again in 18 months (they laid everyone off...)

For me, anyway, this gave me a better sense of control at the expense of using up some of my retirement savings. Subsequently, I have had some management try to put the screws to me. It is freeing to be able to remind them (and myself!) that I'm only there because I choose to be.

I don't know if any of that will be useful to you, but I hope so.

Re: Ask HN: How many of you have been impacted by a layoff?

#92

Post by soulnothing »

I've been "laid off" pretty much every six months for the past several years. Over and over my team has been out sourced for a cheaper alternative. Or the project was not properly scoped and would be above budget.

This happened last week. Me and my team delivered a high frequency trading platform. Ahead of schedule, and better performance than requested. But still, we were too costly so we were all let go. Then it was shipped over seas.

I'm really questioning what I want to do now. I love coding, but constantly being outsourced is getting very tired.

Re: Ask HN: How many of you have been impacted by a layoff?

#93

Post by mtnGoat »

jkp56 wrote: post #89
edent wrote: post #42

Yup. Happened to me. Big corporate decided most of our floor were surplus to requirements. Got an email on Sunday telling us to be in early on Monday for an off-site meeting. Got handed my redundancy / compromise agreement and told not to return to the office. And, the kicker, told my non-compete meant I couldn't work for a competitor during the redundancy process. It was devastating and emotionally wrecking. It was…

The way you said it - "join a union" - made me think that unions may be a good idea in software if anyone can join and leave any time. This would be like insurance that funds a big nonprofit with very motivated (and well paid) lawyers. 250 usd / month shouldn't bankrupt a software dev and 100k such devs (a large corp) would bring 250 M/year. There's definitely a room for a few unions in the US with 200-500 m/year bud…

Although the idea is promising, 250 a month is too high. At 100k, your bring home is roughly 70(varies greatly by state). And then you'd pay almost 5% of that to a union to help insure your job. My mom's Union fees were well below 1% of her bring home.

Re: Ask HN: How many of you have been impacted by a layoff?

#94

Post by refurb »

Been laid off three times with the same company. Joined right when they started a decade long downsize process. Lay offs, 1.5 years of getting used to the new structure, then another set of lay offs. Leaving the company meant starting my green card process over again, so I got rehired each time.

First time? Panic. Third time? Meh.

You realize it’s not personal at all. Some consultants make some recommendation treating thousands of people as just numbers.

Realized that layoffs REALLY mess up a company’s productivity. Even if you weren’t cut, you start to think “fuck this company”.

In the long run it completely eliminated any loyalty to my employer. It’s just business. If something better comes along, I wouldn’t hesitate to leave.

Re: Ask HN: How many of you have been impacted by a layoff?

#95

Post by oyebenny »

rocketpastsix wrote: post #77

Yup, I've been on both sides: survived a round, and got caught in the next. The first round was brutal. It happened on a Friday morning. Some really good people were let go, including one guy who was taken out to the senior leadership summit the week before. We didn't get a thing done that day. We left early, and did our best to help our friends start lining up things. In the last round, it was a Tuesday. We had just…

Which field do you work in?

Re: Ask HN: How many of you have been impacted by a layoff?

#96

Post by redisman »

spenrose wrote: post #30
mr_tristan wrote: post #25

Early in my career, right after the first dot-com bust, there was a large downsizing of practically the entire staff; it wasn't a big place but I want to say at least half of the company was let go. I was young, moved into a friend's place and paid cheap rent for about 6 months and collected unemployment. Then ended up getting hired back right before the startup was acquired.

Very similar experience; after unemployment I took a job with a sociopath for six months, then went back to school for C.S. (I had a humanities B.A.). Lessons: 1. Human toll of layoffs can be extremely high (up to and including death) and hard to see. 2. Many coders are much more re-hirable than most non-coders, but many aren't. 3. In resilient labor markets such as modern SaaS and app coding, there is an experience…

I'd just like to add a caveat to point #3 that it is based on the last 10 years of low unemployment and high growth in the tech sector. Things probably will change one day. Who knows in a few years you might be competing for a "bad" mid-level position with 50 ex Googlers for half the pay.

Re: Ask HN: How many of you have been impacted by a layoff?

#97

Post by pandapower2 »

ErrantX wrote: post #50
bitcoinmoney wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s current salary? 4x in a couple of years is big except for student -> non student cases

It was 4x in 3 years, 6x in 6 years (so slowing down ha). Worth stating that I was starting from a below market rate position.

only a few more years until your salary goes to infinity :D

Re: Ask HN: How many of you have been impacted by a layoff?

#98

Post by spenrose »

redisman wrote: post #96
spenrose wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very similar experience; after unemployment I took a job with a sociopath for six months, then went back to school for C.S. (I had a humanities B.A.). Lessons: 1. Human toll of layoffs can be extremely high (up to and including death) and hard to see. 2. Many coders are much more re-hirable than most non-coders, but many aren't. 3. In resilient labor markets such as modern SaaS and app coding, there is an experience…

I'd just like to add a caveat to point #3 that it is based on the last 10 years of low unemployment and high growth in the tech sector. Things probably will change one day. Who knows in a few years you might be competing for a "bad" mid-level position with 50 ex Googlers for half the pay.

Completely agree. Just think that day is far off for some programming labor markets in which HN readers sell their skills.

Re: Ask HN: How many of you have been impacted by a layoff?

#99

Post by stevev »

I’ve been laid off. It’s normally big successful companies and or failing companies that lays people off.

The project that you are in matters.

People stuck in maintenance mode normally are safe; whereas devs in some greenfield projects may find themselves seeking a new team/project when management decides to cancel or go a different route for the project. Worst, if a project manager doesn’t like you.

I’ve luck with mid/smaller companies as both a contractor/fte.

Projects are more dynamic and long term.

Re: Ask HN: How many of you have been impacted by a layoff?

#100

Post by viraptor »

Kind of affected. Worked on hpcloud till the project got killed. EU with better employee protection kept people on a skeleton crew as far as I understand, and others got fired. Corp offered some materials around looking for other teams that would want you, but I was over working for corp already.

Got a good redundancy pay which covered more than the time needed to find a few job, so effectively they gave me extra money. The change was obviously coming - the team's manager moved to another company and the position was not advertised for many months after.

Not sure if it affected me that much otherwise. I was happy to see a change at that point.

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