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Joist lays off 60 employees in Toronto as company relocates to SF

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Re: Joist lays off 60 employees in Toronto as company relocates to SF

#101

Post by plandis »

khuey wrote: post #96
gist wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Don't be thrown off of Toronto by one douchebag company What do you think the company should do? It's a company not a person who left their spouse when they got cancer. They are doing what they feel they should do in order to thrive and survive. Now you can argue that you think they are wrong, that is that they don't need to move. But then again you won't suffer the downside of the wrong decision. They will. Compan…

If you're considering laying off 2/3rds of your staff and relocating the remainder to another country, maybe you shouldn't be actively hiring. They didn't come up with this idea last week.

Or at least not actively hiring in the place you're going to relocate from

Re: Joist lays off 60 employees in Toronto as company relocates to SF

#102

Post by kspaans »

kevindeasis wrote: post #67
udba wrote: post #30

As an engineering student at UWaterloo it's pretty depressing to watch most of the best upper year engineers finish their studies and then abandon Canada for SV. There's logic in it for them: American companies are offering huge sums of money by Canadian standards, the weather is nicer, and the opportunities seem better. If I didn't have serious reservations about living in the US, I would probably do the same. Howev…

Out of curiosity, how does the process of job hunting work in the Ontario area if they get a job in SV? Does the SV company offer a visa permit or does the student apply for work permit in advance?

I'm a Canadian who recently relocated to SV from London, UK. Before that I was at RIM/BBRY in Waterloo. After receiving my job offer and an invitation letter from the company I flew to the US and, at the border, applied for a "TN Status". Cost me $50 and about an hour and a half. It gives me a 3 year work permit at my employer, which is renewable.

Re: Joist lays off 60 employees in Toronto as company relocates to SF

#103

Post by more_corn »

udba wrote: post #30

As an engineering student at UWaterloo it's pretty depressing to watch most of the best upper year engineers finish their studies and then abandon Canada for SV. There's logic in it for them: American companies are offering huge sums of money by Canadian standards, the weather is nicer, and the opportunities seem better. If I didn't have serious reservations about living in the US, I would probably do the same. Howev…

As someone working in tech in San Francisco I was thinking the same thing. Sounds like they left a lot of engineering talent twisting in the wind. Good luck replacing them in the Bay Area. Especially after this news gets out. In other news the phrase: "Canadian Peso" deserves a golf clap.

Re: Joist lays off 60 employees in Toronto as company relocates to SF

#104

Post by mabbo »

gist wrote: post #95
mabbo wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't be thrown off of Toronto by one douchebag company. There's lots of jobs here for developers, and it's just a great city (imho). I posted below, but the company I work for is hiring in Toronto and the pay is pretty good for this city.

> Don't be thrown off of Toronto by one douchebag company What do you think the company should do? It's a company not a person who left their spouse when they got cancer. They are doing what they feel they should do in order to thrive and survive. Now you can argue that you think they are wrong, that is that they don't need to move. But then again you won't suffer the downside of the wrong decision. They will. Compan…

The company should be open and honest with it's employees. It shouldn't be telling them everything is fine, hiring new people, relocating them from other countries and then a day later firing most of the staff.

A decision like this isn't sudden. It's the difference between trying to work things out with your wife, talking through your differences and eventually deciding it won't work, vs leaving her without warning and taking the dog and bank account.

Re: Joist lays off 60 employees in Toronto as company relocates to SF

#105

Post by johan_larson »

jacques_chester wrote: post #70
johan_larson wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The question to ask anyone who claims they only hire the best is, "How do you make sure of that?" They should have an answer, and it needs to be a good one.

We used to have a question for interviewers where I work: "Will this person raise the average?" I used to detest it. I left no shortage of smartarse remarks about infinite limits in a finite world. In fact nobody really liked that question and it was eventually removed in favour of variations on the core question: do you want to work with this person?

> "Will this person raise the average?"

"Do half of you think you're dumber than this guy?"

It's a great question.

Re: Joist lays off 60 employees in Toronto as company relocates to SF

#106

Post by st3v3r »

johngalt wrote: post #3

This is a good example of why you should treat interviews as a two way street. Don't just worry about convincing them that you are the right candidate. You should also try to determine if they are the right employer.

It's also entirely possible that those doing the interviewing had no idea this was coming.

Re: Joist lays off 60 employees in Toronto as company relocates to SF

#107

Post by st3v3r »

ninjaroar wrote: post #33

Odd decision. If they were willing to pay silicon-valley level salaries in Toronto, they would have no trouble getting senior talent. But they will be forced to pay silicon-valley level salaries in San Francisco anyways.

And they're likely not gonna be able to offer enough to separate themselves from the sea of companies there.

Re: Joist lays off 60 employees in Toronto as company relocates to SF

#108

Post by mirzmaster »

MOARDONGZPLZ wrote: post #53

I relocated to Toronto SPECIFICALLY to work for Joist, exactly one week ago. I was laid off along with everyone else within 6 days of working for them! Prior to that I was working in the USA for a few years; I'm now in a position where I have to figure out next steps with regards to my career :/ I'm still unsure why they hired me and brought me down here? I'm also hoping that they pay me for my time there (I worked m…

#joist60 is trending on Twitter and lots of Toronto startups and software organizations are supporting those laid off. Some of your peers are tweeting that hashtag as well. Head there and take a look at the offers.

Re: Joist lays off 60 employees in Toronto as company relocates to SF

#109

Post by e5india »

jacques_chester wrote: post #18

> to achieve our vision for Joist, we need the best talent in the world This is a standard mantra of startup lore, but if I put on my nitpicking hat, is it strictly true? I mean we're not talking about the Manhattan Project here. Plus it's not as though there isn't intensely fierce competition for talent in the valley. Just because a lot of talented people are there, doesn't mean you'll get to hire them. The "best ta…

Yeah this really stuck out to me. Why does Joist require top talent anyways? It seems to me that the technical work they'd need is pretty routine web application building. I really don't see Joist attracting top-talent in SV anyways. Unless they're planning on offering top dollar why would any top talent go work for a startup in the home improvement space?
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