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Google to Slow Hiring for Rest of 2020

bloomberg.com

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Re: Google to Slow Hiring for Rest of 2020

#111

Post by sytelus »

gbronner wrote: post #7

Makes sense if they can't onboard the talent, and can't manage a 100% distributed workforce. Nevertheless, seems like a great time to acquire talent on the cheap, so long as you can effectively use it.

Actually it doesn't. Everyone is working from home. We have little idea when this may end and if there would be next waves. Fully functioning without need to be in-person is absolutely essential for every tech company. If your stack is so undocumented that someone must sit down with you and give every single new hire 1:1 hand holding in repetitive manner, something is very broken.

Re: Google to Slow Hiring for Rest of 2020

#113

Post by aspenmayer »

justinzollars wrote: post #69
paxys wrote: post #40

I wonder if so many layoffs, freezes etc. happening at the moment are directly due to the crisis or something that was long overdue and can now be done without much negative PR.

In some cases this could be cover for taking more profits

They call it a race to the bottom for a reason, perhaps for more than one reason, and for multiple definitions of bottom, and of the bottom of what exactly. What are we talking about again?

Re: Google to Slow Hiring for Rest of 2020

#114

Post by [deleted] »

tootie wrote: post #18
kenhwang wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work in digital advertising. Spend* is up. Companies are diverting their traditional advertising budgets into digital. I'd be surprised if Google is unable to capitalize on this. edit: I want to clarify it's strictly ad spend/booking. It's companies committing budgets. They know they will want to run ads and will run more ads. The ads haven't actually run yet, so ad payouts will tank.

Just had a conversation on this in another thread and the consensus was that spend is drying up and ad-based businesses are struggling mightily. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22873272

[deleted]

Re: Google to Slow Hiring for Rest of 2020

#115

Post by ronyeh »

sytelus wrote: post #108

Before everyone starts painting bleak picture, reminder: Facebook's Sandberg announced last week or so that they are going to do accelerated hiring spree this year, opening massive 10,000 more positions! Google as well as Facebook both depend on ads so I'm wondering why one is tightening the belt and other is moving full speed on expansion.

A lot of people are on Facebook and Instagram all day, stalking friends because there is not much else to do.

There are only so many Google searches I can do in a day. Many of them end on Amazon where I may or may not purchase something.

Re: Google to Slow Hiring for Rest of 2020

#116

Post by defectbydesign »

0xFFC wrote: post #68
defectbydesign wrote: post #23

How many jobs will go to India?

As third party observer, why this gets downvoted? I’m genuinely asking.

https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/ycombinator.com#section_traff...

Probably some of the less than 20 % of indian readers who prefer to hide the destruction of american jobs by India but actually by overpaid american tech leaders in the silicon valley. ;-)

Re: Google to Slow Hiring for Rest of 2020

#118

Post by greenyoda »

georgeburdell wrote: post #104
third_I wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds like... exactly the reality of such times, indeed. Well worded. There is a question, each time, of concurrent or even deeper cycles coinciding. The last recession is often thought to have been a prime factor in the revolutions of 2011 (Arab Spring etc). Regardless of their eventual conclusion, the push is deemed to stem (as always in history) from the economic situation. European kings knew all too well t…

>hitting the middle-upper class super hard What are you talking about? White collars are working from home, by and large. None of my engineer friends have lost their jobs yet (one is getting furloughed for a week though)

> None of my engineer friends have lost their jobs yet

Most middle-upper class employees are not engineers.

> White collars are working from home

People can only work from home if they work for a company that has money to pay them - a company that hasn't shut down due to lack of business. A white collar employee working for an airline, hotel chain or car manufacturer (and all of these huge companies have huge ranks of middle/upper management in marketing, operations, HR, accounting, etc.) probably doesn't have a lot of job security right now.

Also, the key word in your sentence is "yet". I'm a software developer, and I'm sure that if my employer's revenues drop significantly during the upcoming recession, layoffs will be inevitable.

Re: Google to Slow Hiring for Rest of 2020

#119

Post by ibejoeb »

coliveira wrote: post #60
paxys wrote: post #40

I wonder if so many layoffs, freezes etc. happening at the moment are directly due to the crisis or something that was long overdue and can now be done without much negative PR.

Google depends on advertisers to make money, and the writing is on the wall for these advertisers.

Call me dumb, but are people not sitting around consuming advertising 10x nowadays? There's never been a better time to get someone's attention.

Re: Google to Slow Hiring for Rest of 2020

#120

Post by sytelus »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #8
kenhwang wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work in digital advertising. Spend* is up. Companies are diverting their traditional advertising budgets into digital. I'd be surprised if Google is unable to capitalize on this. edit: I want to clarify it's strictly ad spend/booking. It's companies committing budgets. They know they will want to run ads and will run more ads. The ads haven't actually run yet, so ad payouts will tank.

That is totally not true across the board. I know for a fact that at one point the big online travel sites (booking.com, expedia.com) were some of the largest buyers of adwords among any companies. Can guarantee that is not happening now. I would guess spend is up only among companies that still have robust revenue. Tons of sectors have essentially been frozen for the time being.

If I was running travel business, I would be selling 20-50% off coupons set to expire in December, 2022. This does reduce future revenue but will at least normalize the hole today a little bit. I know many people would jump on deals like this.
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