Lyft cuts internship salaries by 50% • Hacker News Board

Re: Lyft cuts internship salaries by 50%

#71

Post by apengwin » Sat, May 02, 2020, 1:42 AM UTC

dzonga wrote: post #61

one thing, I don't understand about these companies is why base your locations in super expensive cities i.e NY, SF, Seattle. And be hurting for cash. if lyft had focused on recruiting in low cost of living cities for decent engineers. & have a good remote program. they wouldn't be hurting for cash atm.

They're based in expensive cities because it's where a lot of people want to live. Also they're relatively close to a lot of top colleges(Cal, Stanford, Columbia) , which makes it easy to recruit, and form partnerships with academic research groups

Re: Lyft cuts internship salaries by 50%

#72

Post by yhoneycomb » Sat, May 02, 2020, 1:56 AM UTC

kosigz wrote: post #46

Lyft engineer here. I agree that this is an unfortunate turn of events — and I would be sad to be in your position. To add a bit more context: • we just parted ways with 23% of our staff (layoff + furlough) this week. • remaining team members are taking a 3 month 10% cut in base salary. • unlike many companies, we're still conducting our internship program — so it's good that you at least have the option to continue…

Very well written post.

Re: Lyft cuts internship salaries by 50%

#73

Post by [deleted] » Sat, May 02, 2020, 1:57 AM UTC

johntiger1 wrote: post #6

pmiller2 wrote: post #2

How to handle it is either you take the internship, or you don't.

I was depending on this internship to support me financially. At the current rate, it doesn't work out

[deleted]

Re: Lyft cuts internship salaries by 50%

#74

Post by Jommi » Sat, May 02, 2020, 2:47 AM UTC

kosigz wrote: post #46

Lyft engineer here. I agree that this is an unfortunate turn of events — and I would be sad to be in your position. To add a bit more context: • we just parted ways with 23% of our staff (layoff + furlough) this week. • remaining team members are taking a 3 month 10% cut in base salary. • unlike many companies, we're still conducting our internship program — so it's good that you at least have the option to continue…

9600 per month for an internship? Is that pure cash? Jesus Christ no wonder new companies are basing their development somewhere else.

Re: Lyft cuts internship salaries by 50%

#75

Post by chrisgoman » Sat, May 02, 2020, 2:53 AM UTC

johntiger1 wrote: post #35

cracker_jacks wrote: post #11

Picking up pennies in front of a steamroller... Does it make sense to cut the salaries of the lowest-paid, zero equity groups? The same group of people you'll be competing to hire from when they graduate.

Thanks for the refreshing perspective. I don't think they made this pay cut decision lightly, meaning that the situation is most likely grave. Overall, it really brings doubt into my mind about the future of Lyft and whether it will survive

If you want a company that has more chances of "surviving", apply/work for a company that can generate positive cashflow from operations. Life will be more stable, your salary will reflect the company's ability to make a profit (aka "lower") but you won't get the possible upside of a "hot" startup - you can't have it both ways. Anecdotally, unless you are the first 10 in the startup, it is probably not going to be a lot of windfall for you. For pre-IPO companies, sometimes it even goes the other way (you pay taxes on earnings that may never happen)

Re: Lyft cuts internship salaries by 50%

#76

Post by doingmyting » Sat, May 02, 2020, 2:53 AM UTC

ianlevesque wrote: post #22

thorwasdfasdf wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

as a graduate, you'd be extremely lucky to have any job at all, let alone a job at a tech company, let alone one as well known as Lyft. Let's face it, with the current vast oversupply of labor, employers have a lot more bargaining power. Back in my day, after the Tech bubble burst, I was a coder with little experience, and I worked for any start up that would let me, just so i could get more experience. One place, I…

And it was uphill in the snow, both ways!

Had it lasted longer with every commute being uphill, OP would have ended up atop Mount Everest in short order

Re: Lyft cuts internship salaries by 50%

#77

Post by Jommi » Sat, May 02, 2020, 2:56 AM UTC

dzonga wrote: post #61

one thing, I don't understand about these companies is why base your locations in super expensive cities i.e NY, SF, Seattle. And be hurting for cash. if lyft had focused on recruiting in low cost of living cities for decent engineers. & have a good remote program. they wouldn't be hurting for cash atm.

I don't think what you said is really defensible. Yes they might not be hurting _as much_ if they had majority of their operations based elsewhere. But I don't thi n you can say they wouldn't be hurting for cash at all.

Also, you should check lyfts company page where they have offices. It's not just California.

Re: Lyft cuts internship salaries by 50%

#78

Post by dchyrdvh » Sat, May 02, 2020, 3:16 AM UTC

Jommi wrote: post #74

kosigz wrote: post #46

Lyft engineer here. I agree that this is an unfortunate turn of events — and I would be sad to be in your position. To add a bit more context: • we just parted ways with 23% of our staff (layoff + furlough) this week. • remaining team members are taking a 3 month 10% cut in base salary. • unlike many companies, we're still conducting our internship program — so it's good that you at least have the option to continue…

9600 per month for an internship? Is that pure cash? Jesus Christ no wonder new companies are basing their development somewhere else.

After taxes, rent, bills and food that's 3000. And 4800 turns into 500. That's like a coffee budget.

Re: Lyft cuts internship salaries by 50%

#79

Post by Gibbon1 » Sat, May 02, 2020, 3:50 AM UTC

chrisgoman wrote: post #75

johntiger1 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the refreshing perspective. I don't think they made this pay cut decision lightly, meaning that the situation is most likely grave. Overall, it really brings doubt into my mind about the future of Lyft and whether it will survive

If you want a company that has more chances of "surviving", apply/work for a company that can generate positive cashflow from operations. Life will be more stable, your salary will reflect the company's ability to make a profit (aka "lower") but you won't get the possible upside of a "hot" startup - you can't have it both ways. Anecdotally, unless you are the first 10 in the startup, it is probably not going to be a…

I remember the answer to a drunk question I asked a friend. Which was how did she manage to get tenure. Her answer was you have to a) never take a non-tenure track job. b) keep applying till you get one. I think doesn't matter, startup, not startup you need to be careful about the job and what opportunities come with it.

Re: Lyft cuts internship salaries by 50%

#80

Post by mekanicalsyncop » Sat, May 02, 2020, 3:54 AM UTC

kosigz wrote: post #46

Lyft engineer here. I agree that this is an unfortunate turn of events — and I would be sad to be in your position. To add a bit more context: • we just parted ways with 23% of our staff (layoff + furlough) this week. • remaining team members are taking a 3 month 10% cut in base salary. • unlike many companies, we're still conducting our internship program — so it's good that you at least have the option to continue…

If you're talking about software jobs, 9600 for an internship is way above average and now that its 4800 its below average so that's not a good chunk of change.