I'm more interested in hiring freezes, i.e. locking people out of the industry vs forcing them to switch jobs
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Layoffs at Canadian tech startups
11–20 of 183 posts
Re: Layoffs at Canadian tech startups
#12I'm more interested in hiring freezes, i.e. locking people out of the industry vs forcing them to switch jobs
Hiring freezes are definitely more sinister. I'll take being laid off over facing endless dead-end prospects. Too bad they usually come hand in hand.
Layoffs may not even be a bad thing if job mobility is high. Startups lay off a lot of people who have bullshitted their way into their position, members of low ROI teams who can't be easily be transferred somewhere else, quiet quitters, etc. On the other hand struggling to find a job as an experienced engineer is usually a symptom of a sick economy.
Re: Layoffs at Canadian tech startups
#13Re: Layoffs at Canadian tech startups
#14This isn't a uniquely Canadian problem at all, it's just Canada experiencing the pain of the wider tech sector. Ultimately, it's the same issue as what's happened (and happening) in the US: the VC fun money dried up, and it's no longer cool to be an unprofitable business with a lot of "growth potential". Now tech leadership is being forced to balance a budget and figure out a path to profitability instead of just per…
Like many other things affecting western countries though, it's worse in Canada since we have lower investment rates, spend less on R&D, have an ultra-risk averse culture, extremely high costs, etc...
Re: Layoffs at Canadian tech startups
#15I'm more interested in hiring freezes, i.e. locking people out of the industry vs forcing them to switch jobs
I’ve never seen entire industry hiring freezes so i’m not aware of the concern. Would rather stay on job during hiring freeze than he let go. I can sense if i need to bail without being subject to one or another.
Hiring freezes don't have to be industry wide to be problematic. If you are competing with dozens of people for a job, there is a high chance some of them are both a good fit and willing to accept crappier compensation.
Re: Layoffs at Canadian tech startups
#16A “startup” in Canada is just a dozen guys who stay afloat by chasing $50k government grants full time. It’s very good when these go out of business
Haha the PMs at their pension funds on the other hand… I have heard it gets boring when everyone in a local startup ecosystem is chasing govt grants.
Re: Layoffs at Canadian tech startups
#17A “startup” in Canada is just a dozen guys who stay afloat by chasing $50k government grants full time. It’s very good when these go out of business
I know this doesn't apply to all Canadian startups, but this is definitely a thing too.
Re: Layoffs at Canadian tech startups
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'll take getting shafted over working in crypto any day of the week
Because of the morals, the risks, or the pressure?
I can’t speak for parent but I’ve been headhunted by crypto companies a lot and my feeling is the same.
For me it’s as simple as: I will never work for a company where I cannot immediately and concretely understand the value proposition.
Crypto people can frame this as me not being competent if that’s what they need. But I think I’m reasonably smart and usually it just sounds like a fraud.
Re: Layoffs at Canadian tech startups
#19A “startup” in Canada is just a dozen guys who stay afloat by chasing $50k government grants full time. It’s very good when these go out of business
They also chase VC money but yeah.
They usually go for the least plausible business models for some reason
Re: Layoffs at Canadian tech startups
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because of the morals, the risks, or the pressure?
I can’t speak for parent but I’ve been headhunted by crypto companies a lot and my feeling is the same. For me it’s as simple as: I will never work for a company where I cannot immediately and concretely understand the value proposition. Crypto people can frame this as me not being competent if that’s what they need. But I think I’m reasonably smart and usually it just sounds like a fraud.
HN is the absolute worst place to recruit given the bias against crypto here. But I’ll flip it around and say many startups in all manner of verticals are shaky - Fast.com, innumerable food delivery and fintech, “AI for XYZ” etc. etc.
One thing you can use to differentiate firms is the team, the founders, the funders. My company is backed by Point72 / Steve Cohen which does a lot more due diligence than most other firms. YMMV however - I myself would never work for adtech given my distaste. But a lot of HNers love certain FAANGs that data mine you and your children to sell you crap you don’t need. But many choose to disregard their morals and dismount their high horse when $$$ is involved.