11–20 of 37 posts
“FAANG types aren't going to be as affected as early stage startup types or freelancer types.” I wouldn’t be so sure. Corporations use down cycles to shed employees. And often they will hire contractors.
I’m curious, as someone who wasn’t in this field in 2008, what was that period like for devs?
I started in 2008. People weren't changing jobs very often. You didn't see signing bonuses, or having multiple offers from top companies. It was like having a normal job. There really wasn't bootcamps or a crazy startup culture at that time. Most people I worked with got into it because they loved computers or programming their whole lives. But in general, compared to the horror stories I hear about the dot com crash…
I didn't even think about the Airbnb IPO until I read this, pretty horrible timing for them.
I think that window had closed regardless. Maybe nail-gunned shut now, but I don’t think it was ever going to happen.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I started in 2008. People weren't changing jobs very often. You didn't see signing bonuses, or having multiple offers from top companies. It was like having a normal job. There really wasn't bootcamps or a crazy startup culture at that time. Most people I worked with got into it because they loved computers or programming their whole lives. But in general, compared to the horror stories I hear about the dot com crash…
If you started working at Google, Amazon, or especially, Facebook (a bit more of a stretch) in 2008, you would be pretty happy right now.
I’m curious, as someone who wasn’t in this field in 2008, what was that period like for devs?
I didn't even think about the Airbnb IPO until I read this, pretty horrible timing for them.
I think that window had closed regardless. Maybe nail-gunned shut now, but I don’t think it was ever going to happen.
“FAANG types aren't going to be as affected as early stage startup types or freelancer types.” I wouldn’t be so sure. Corporations use down cycles to shed employees. And often they will hire contractors.
Given how difficult it is for FAANG to hire highly qualified engineers, I really doubt it. These companies are sitting on mountains of cash.
yep, altho i will caveat we've basically never seen how mature FAANG act in a recession, given the long growth we've had since before they become the megacorps they are today.
but its a near certainty if FAANG is laying off folks then the smaller co's will be bleeding heavier. so the ordinal ranking of impact holds.
also i expect ex-FAANG folks have an easier go of picking up contract/freelance work given the multiple agencies focused on connecting ex-FAANG devs.
I’m curious, as someone who wasn’t in this field in 2008, what was that period like for devs?
For myself, I was at a startup that was clearly failing (for reasons utterly unrelated to the economy), and jumped ship.
I found a solid dev position in under 30 days in the fall of 2008, right at the peak of the crash, and then moved to a better one at the end of 2010.
Some companies instituted hiring freezes and others had layoffs. Many companies terminated all of their engineering contractors.
Overall, it was a time where you had to be able to demonstrate your usefulness, and you could still lose your job to unluckiness, if your whole division was tossed.
2008-2010 was not a time for "rest and vest" to be a viable strategy. Folks who looked like they were doing that were always the in the first round of layoffs.
“FAANG types aren't going to be as affected as early stage startup types or freelancer types.” I wouldn’t be so sure. Corporations use down cycles to shed employees. And often they will hire contractors.
Given how difficult it is for FAANG to hire highly qualified engineers, I really doubt it. These companies are sitting on mountains of cash.
every company of more than about 100 people has some dead weight. Often, low level managers know who they are. In good times, it might not be worth doing anything much about it. In bad times, the rest-and-vesters are out.
Well... at a well-run company, it works that way. At a less-well-run company, they instead squeeze everyone with more work and more hours and less benefits and no raises, figuring that some folks will leave and do the downsizing for them. This is a losing strategy, though, because you lose the best people first that way.