Coinbase is rescinding already-accepted job offers • Hacker News Board

Re: Coinbase is rescinding already-accepted job offers

#311

Post by lupire » Sat, Jun 04, 2022, 7:58 PM UTC

baby wrote: post #55

toddmorey wrote: post #17

"While we did not make this decision lightly..." Yes but you aren't doing it humanely, either. I've been through the dot com crash and several hard economic downturns. It really puts your company's humanity on full display. It's the real test. Preserving cash flow is important. But you also have to do things carefully, openly, and with genuine care for the people who've believed in your vision. People will respect th…

How do you do it humanly? If it were me I’d rather get an email

Nobody joins a blockchain company for the humanity. The whole point of the blockchain economy is to the remove the human element.

Re: Coinbase is rescinding already-accepted job offers

#312

Post by lupire » Sat, Jun 04, 2022, 7:58 PM UTC

hallway_monitor wrote: post #107

lordnacho wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was an underboss in a firm that was going down, I just told people. Informally, in person. I wasn't supposed to, but they were putting two and two together themselves, and it would have been wrong to leave them with an inaccurate idea of how the firm was doing. Don't hire me if you need me to lie to your staff.

This is literally my only request from management. If you know I'm going to lose my job don't wait until my last day to tell me. Give me some time to set up other options.

That's what a severance package is. Good companies pay severance and don't make you come into work.

Re: Coinbase is rescinding already-accepted job offers

#313

Post by arthurcolle » Sat, Jun 04, 2022, 8:00 PM UTC

doktorhladnjak wrote: post #206

exdsq wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you suggesting we’re not entering a recession?

We are probably already in one. Q1 GDP already shrank.

Recessions are definitionally 2 quarters of consecutive shrinking GDP growth so 1 quarter of shrink can not qualify as a recession

Re: Coinbase is rescinding already-accepted job offers

#314

Post by bluedevil2k » Sat, Jun 04, 2022, 8:00 PM UTC

kodah wrote: post #139

toddmorey wrote: post #17

"While we did not make this decision lightly..." Yes but you aren't doing it humanely, either. I've been through the dot com crash and several hard economic downturns. It really puts your company's humanity on full display. It's the real test. Preserving cash flow is important. But you also have to do things carefully, openly, and with genuine care for the people who've believed in your vision. People will respect th…

The worst part is that Coinbase's interviews are difficult. If I'd spent months studying, rejecting other (good faith) offers, and then had this happen I'd not only be in a bad spot (without a job entering a recession) but I'd be furious at the inequality of input and output. I've been interviewing for the past month and I made a rule that I won't be doing any algorithm interviews. I didn't have time to study; some f…

I went through the whole Coinbase interview process at the Staff level a few months back - I thought all their interviews were fair and represented what I would have been doing there as my job. There weren’t any LC questions and the algorithm questions were all based around doing crypto related things.

Re: Coinbase is rescinding already-accepted job offers

#315

Post by princevegeta89 » Sat, Jun 04, 2022, 8:01 PM UTC

One of my friends recently interviewed with them. He told me about the experience he had and it seems like the worst experience I've ever come across. The interviewers he had were working on their job during the sessions, and one guy wasn't even allowing a quick Google search for some python 3.5 syntax reference.

The questions asked also seemed to be outrageous and silly for a 45 minute session. Felt like their process suits Machines rather than actual engineers lol.

Additionally, the entire process according to him was badly mismanaged by the recruiter so it feels like one of the worst companies to work at.

Re: Coinbase is rescinding already-accepted job offers

#316

Post by lupire » Sat, Jun 04, 2022, 8:02 PM UTC

dwwoelfel wrote: post #98

gazby wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not just about the method of communication, it's also about being made whole. These people should be getting severance. Also in America your healthcare is almost inextricably tied to your employer.

According to the article, they likely are getting severance. Those affected will gain access to the company’s “generous severance philosophy” and “a talent hub to allow them to opt-in to receive additional support services.” (The details surrounding the severance package are unclear, but some affected workers on Blind alleged they would receive two months worth of base pay; a representative from Coinbase did not prov…

I don't want a severance philosophy, I want a package.

Re: Coinbase is rescinding already-accepted job offers

#317

Post by davesque » Sat, Jun 04, 2022, 8:02 PM UTC

fullshark wrote: post #148

chromejs10 wrote: post #91

Companies that are rescinding offers are just terribly managed companies. If you're in that bad of shape, then you should have done a hiring freeze months ago and there shouldn't have been any offers left to rescind (sure, there are odd ones where maybe they accepted 3 months early).

Not many companies expect or plan for their valuation to drop 75% in 6 months, that's gonna lead to tough choices. In the case of coinbase I'm guessing they're also seeing trade volume (and therefore future revenue) plummet and don't project it to increase anytime soon. Not sure this is evidence of a horribly managed company so much as a company dealing with a crisis and doing costly things to their reputation to man…

Crypto has been that volatile for years. If they didn't see that coming, they have their heads up their asses.

Re: Coinbase is rescinding already-accepted job offers

#318

Post by lupire » Sat, Jun 04, 2022, 8:03 PM UTC

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #239

toddmorey wrote: post #17

"While we did not make this decision lightly..." Yes but you aren't doing it humanely, either. I've been through the dot com crash and several hard economic downturns. It really puts your company's humanity on full display. It's the real test. Preserving cash flow is important. But you also have to do things carefully, openly, and with genuine care for the people who've believed in your vision. People will respect th…

This feels very much in keeping with a between-the-lines reading of the CEO's "mission-focused company" memo in 2020. https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-is-a-mission-focused-comp...

"mission-focused" is anti-political-activism position, not a financial health position.

Re: Coinbase is rescinding already-accepted job offers

#319

Post by ryan93 » Sat, Jun 04, 2022, 8:04 PM UTC

cortesoft wrote: post #178

bigmattystyles wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s so tough though - with large layoffs, you want to avoid revenge actions from people who are being let go. Immediate termination / cutoff of access is really the only way to do it. But I agree, it’s not humane. Don’t ever buy companies that talk about being a family. They want you to treat them like family but they will turn around and do what they deem necessary to self-preserve.

If you think your employees will take revenge action after being let go, you need to do a lot better job at hiring people. I can't imagine many professionals would do something damaging to their employer on the way out. Facing legal troubles right when you are looking for a new job seems very shortsighted. Also, if you treat the people you are letting go as humans, they will be less likely to retaliate. Ironically, t…

Delusional. 99% of professionals can come across as nice and respectful in interviews, and have no criminal record. How could you possibly anticipate "a willingness to take revenge".

Re: Coinbase is rescinding already-accepted job offers

#320

Post by mlindner » Sat, Jun 04, 2022, 8:05 PM UTC

toddmorey wrote: post #17

"While we did not make this decision lightly..." Yes but you aren't doing it humanely, either. I've been through the dot com crash and several hard economic downturns. It really puts your company's humanity on full display. It's the real test. Preserving cash flow is important. But you also have to do things carefully, openly, and with genuine care for the people who've believed in your vision. People will respect th…

> Preserving cash flow is important. But you also have to do things carefully, openly, and with genuine care for the people who've believed in your vision.

So firing people who have actively worked on the vision is better than firing people who haven't started working yet? You seem to be taking things backwards.

This option is quite a lot better than the alternative.