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Layoffs at Canadian tech startups

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Re: Layoffs at Canadian tech startups

#101

Post by softveda »

mabbo wrote: post #47
sbarre wrote: post #7

This part at the end of the article is probably the real true nugget in here: > But implicit in that risk, Mr. Nayyar points out, is a lot of downside. Many executives thought, “but didn’t say out loud, that if demand disappeared or changed course – sometimes even slightly changed course – those people we brought on, it might not make sense to have them around any more. … You’re just a number on the page; whatever ha…

> Shopify, hired like mad during the pandemic boom knowing full-well that they would end up laying off a bunch of those new hires once things got "normal" again. You should read Tobi's post about what happened. That's not how it was. https://news.shopify.com/changes-to-shopifys-team# > Before the pandemic, ecommerce growth had been steady and predictable. Was this surge to be a temporary effect or a new normal? And s…

One thing I don't understand is why you need more engineers to scale your product usage to higher volume. More machines/infrastructure or even support makes sense but devs no. I have same question for Atlassian, they are hiring like crazy.

Re: Layoffs at Canadian tech startups

#102

Post by joshlemer »

walrus01 wrote: post #95

Canadian tech startups are hilarious . The domestic media likes to play up Hootsuite in Vancouver like it's a big deal. Maybe in the context of Vancouver's size of tech job market... But it's absolutely nothing compared to what exists in Seattle or anywhere in California or places in NY, Texas, etc. The unfortunate lesson that every Canadian working in the tech field will learn is that if you're really talented and e…

Honestly fuck Canadian tech companies. The pay is literally half or even a third of what we can earn in the states. The rise of remote work has been such an amazing development for Canadian software developer. Really there isn’t much point in living in a Canadian tech city like Vancouver or Toronto since it makes no sense to work for a Canadian company anymore. Even taking a remote job at any run of the mill non flashy firm in the states will pay more than anyone pays in Canada, so may as well just move out to Winnipeg or Halifax.

Re: Layoffs at Canadian tech startups

#103

Post by skipants »

xal wrote: post #93
sbarre wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You should read Tobi's post about what happened. That's not how it was. I did read that back when it was posted. I hope you recognize PR when you see it? Sorry if it came across like I was saying that companies are being evil or bad or vain about how they're hiring. Quite the opposite, and more dangerously, I think companies see nothing wrong with the boom-then-bust approach to hiring, and that it's going to happen…

I write my own posts, not PR. Don’t be so jaded.

He's saying that the Tobi's post was PR, not yours

Re: Layoffs at Canadian tech startups

#104

Post by eloff »

walrus01 wrote: post #95

Canadian tech startups are hilarious . The domestic media likes to play up Hootsuite in Vancouver like it's a big deal. Maybe in the context of Vancouver's size of tech job market... But it's absolutely nothing compared to what exists in Seattle or anywhere in California or places in NY, Texas, etc. The unfortunate lesson that every Canadian working in the tech field will learn is that if you're really talented and e…

I'm Canadian, and I lived in Vancouver for six years recently. Never once did I consider working for a Canadian company. They're a joke when it comes to compensation. You can literally double your salary by moving 100 miles south to Seattle, in the same company! When I changed jobs earlier this year, some companies had location based pay for remote work. They made me a lowball offer, I told them it was too low, and I didn't even bother negotiating further with them. I just focused on the other offers.

Re: Layoffs at Canadian tech startups

#105

Post by somerandomqaguy »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #77
vouaobrasil wrote: post #45

I interviewed at a startup once in Canada. They offered 40K per year (Canadian) and asked late working hours right in the interview process. No thanks...

There are McDonalds in the US that offer 40k (USD) to entry-level, no-experience workers. With such an insulting salary proposal as you experienced, it's amazing that Canada has any startups at all.

There were two very talented devs I know that took $11/hr CAD jobs personally. I know of more with rough salaries $40,000 and below. Even me; when I was in QA, my salary was $52,000 for 9 years of experience. And that was after a raise.

Like it or not, there's people willing to take those positions. No where near as many as Canadian companies would like, but they are there.

Re: Layoffs at Canadian tech startups

#106

Post by spaceman_2020 »

mabbo wrote: post #47
sbarre wrote: post #7

This part at the end of the article is probably the real true nugget in here: > But implicit in that risk, Mr. Nayyar points out, is a lot of downside. Many executives thought, “but didn’t say out loud, that if demand disappeared or changed course – sometimes even slightly changed course – those people we brought on, it might not make sense to have them around any more. … You’re just a number on the page; whatever ha…

> Shopify, hired like mad during the pandemic boom knowing full-well that they would end up laying off a bunch of those new hires once things got "normal" again. You should read Tobi's post about what happened. That's not how it was. https://news.shopify.com/changes-to-shopifys-team# > Before the pandemic, ecommerce growth had been steady and predictable. Was this surge to be a temporary effect or a new normal? And s…

All sorts of things are breaking due to major miscalculations during the pandemic. I have friends who work in the fashion industry and they're all worried about muted sales. NOT because of demand, but because they made some serious miscalculations about the kind of clothes people would want in 2022.

So many of them went heavy on "comfort wear", thinking that somehow everyone will still be working from home and that going out will be an exception, not the norm. Many even expanded or created entirely new "home" lines that included selling towels, comforters, candle holders, etc.

Now they're all finding out that people want normal, going-out clothes again, and their current catalogs just don't line up with the demand.

The "new normal" was touted around way too aggressively. At least here in my reality, it's mostly gone back to the old normal with vestiges of the "new" remaining.

Re: Layoffs at Canadian tech startups

#108

Post by jupp0r »

sbarre wrote: post #7

This part at the end of the article is probably the real true nugget in here: > But implicit in that risk, Mr. Nayyar points out, is a lot of downside. Many executives thought, “but didn’t say out loud, that if demand disappeared or changed course – sometimes even slightly changed course – those people we brought on, it might not make sense to have them around any more. … You’re just a number on the page; whatever ha…

What you wrote doesn't make rational sense to me:

1. Why would Shopify willingly hire and train lots of people during the pandemic if they knew they'd let them go afterwards anyways? This makes no economic sense at all, they'd be better off to silently burn that money and not take the reputation hit.

2. You assume that layoff decisions take your individual job and situation into account. This is not the case in practice, especially so in quota driven mass layoffs.

Re: Layoffs at Canadian tech startups

#109

Post by [deleted] »

sbarre wrote: post #52
mabbo wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Shopify, hired like mad during the pandemic boom knowing full-well that they would end up laying off a bunch of those new hires once things got "normal" again. You should read Tobi's post about what happened. That's not how it was. https://news.shopify.com/changes-to-shopifys-team# > Before the pandemic, ecommerce growth had been steady and predictable. Was this surge to be a temporary effect or a new normal? And s…

> You should read Tobi's post about what happened. That's not how it was. I did read that back when it was posted. I hope you recognize PR when you see it? Sorry if it came across like I was saying that companies are being evil or bad or vain about how they're hiring. Quite the opposite, and more dangerously, I think companies see nothing wrong with the boom-then-bust approach to hiring, and that it's going to happen…

[deleted]

Re: Layoffs at Canadian tech startups

#110

Post by osigurdson »

mikrl wrote: post #33
3qz wrote: post #8

A “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

Once I looked into SRED and connected the dots, whenever I heard hypercapitalist talk at work I’d have to bite my tongue.

I wish they would cancel the SRED program and simply reduce business taxes in general. It is such a stupid drag on productivity and generally selects for things that sound cool to government bureaucrats while allowing for many juicy corruption opportunities.
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