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Flexport slashes 20% of global workforce over weak 2023 volume forecast

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Re: Flexport slashes 20% of global workforce over weak 2023 volume forecast

#171

Post by htkibar »

idopmstuff wrote: post #145
grey-area wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But it seems like overall, and especially in lower-wage jobs, employment is still humming along and people are very much not getting laid off. There will not be a soft landing. When has there ever been a soft landing and how would raising rates into a recession ever result in one? Raising rates takes 1 year to come through to the real economy - we haven't even seen the impact yet, only on stock prices which foreshado…

> There will not be a soft landing. The reality is we cannot see the future of our incredibly complex, ever-changing economy. Sure, this hasn't happened in the past, but on the other hand the economy today is vastly different than it was even fifty years ago. Not to say we couldn't end in a recession - of course that is a distinct possibility - but the reality is that we don't have a ton of history to draw on when it…

End goal seems to be the eradication of newly emerging middle class, and to tilt the scale to workers' disadvantage.

Huzzah. /s

Re: Flexport slashes 20% of global workforce over weak 2023 volume forecast

#172

Post by abawany »

Patrol8394 wrote: post #20
msoad wrote: post #2

I don't know what Flexport is, all I know is that it was the only jobs ad in Hacker News for a long time

Totally! I was literally spammed by FP recruiters .. hyper growth, hyper growth ... and now you see it ... give me a break!

I've come to the conclusion that such come-hithers in these times are to get easy fodder for the next 'layoff' to save the existing team members.

Re: Flexport slashes 20% of global workforce over weak 2023 volume forecast

#173

Post by abduhl »

grey-area wrote: post #130
warent wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EDIT: Thank you all for generously sharing your time in writing up such thoughtful answers. -- Would love to hear more on your perspective / insight. This is all intentional, right? My understanding is that the fed is leaning into this particularly hard in order to dislodge the stubborn housing bubble. For an individual (someone who isn't a current business owner), does this basically mean we should continue stockpil…

If you'd like more insight on where this is going, I'd recommend looking into Jeremy Grantham. He called this correctly in 2021, before it burst: https://www.livewiremarkets.com/wires/grantham-this-is-a-bub... He feels there is still farther to fall (and I agree with him there): https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/prepare-for-an-epic-... Falling stock prices are really a reflection of real-world problems - while…

The Jeremy Grantham interview you cite to for him "correctly" calling a bubble in 2021 was posted on May 28, 2021. S&P was at $420.04. S&P closed today at $395.52. The S&P continued to climb from May 28, 2021 until January 2022.

I would not label this "correctly" calling a bubble when he is off by over 6 months and equities remain within 10% of when he gave his interview.

Re: Flexport slashes 20% of global workforce over weak 2023 volume forecast

#174

Post by kasey_junk »

ryanSrich wrote: post #126
warent wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EDIT: Thank you all for generously sharing your time in writing up such thoughtful answers. -- Would love to hear more on your perspective / insight. This is all intentional, right? My understanding is that the fed is leaning into this particularly hard in order to dislodge the stubborn housing bubble. For an individual (someone who isn't a current business owner), does this basically mean we should continue stockpil…

2008 lasted nearly 17 months. The hard part is deciding when the recession actually started. The media and government is in denial, so they'd tell you we aren't even in a recession yet. But the rule of thumb is typically two negative quarters of GDP growth, which we hit this summer. If you run a VC backed business my suggestion is 24-30 months of runway is a good starting point. As far as individuals go, it's not a b…

It’s also hard to figure out when the recession ends.

The q1/q2 numbers were more than made up by the q3 gdp growth. The numbers for q4 aren’t out yet but the consensus thinks they’ll be slightly positive making 2022 a positive year. That’s after 2021 which was a barn burner.

The GDP curve is already nothing like 2008 so it’s hard to use it as a guide.

Re: Flexport slashes 20% of global workforce over weak 2023 volume forecast

#175

Post by jupp0r »

grey-area wrote: post #112

A global recession is coming against a backdrop of the Fed raising rates, that is going to be very painful. A lot of people here don't seem to realise this is the case or are in denial. This is a bubble bursting, this is serious. Lots of companies are laying off workers or at least freezing hiring because they anticipate earnings cratering, or are already seeing it happen. They haven't reported on it yet, but they wi…

Unemployment is at a record low. US economy added 223k new jobs in December. US Q3 GDP increased annualized 3.2% over Q2.

Some companies are doing layoffs (mainly those that overhired during COVID), others aren't. Look at the data instead of clickbait headlines and everything looks much less bleak.

If you are really certain you can forecast how the economy is going to do with high accuracy, get a job at some hedge fund and get rich.

Re: Flexport slashes 20% of global workforce over weak 2023 volume forecast

#176

Post by operatingthetan »

confidantlake wrote: post #98
pm90 wrote: post #14

This is really surprising considering the number of open recs they post on linkedin.

It is time we stop treating recs on linkedin as evidence of hiring. It is just as much an advertising tool as it is a genuine desire to hire people.

Exactly. I've been told this before: "we have open reqs so there can't be a layoff!" Of course one follows eventually whether there are reqs or not. The reqs are just sitting there and they aren't responding to applications.

Re: Flexport slashes 20% of global workforce over weak 2023 volume forecast

#177

Post by htkibar »

hamandcheese wrote: post #97
zitterbewegung wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are naive they just want to rehire positions at lower rates if you see in the article they are cutting 600 but are hiring for 350 to 400 people. It would immediately allow them to replace higher wages workers that have been with the company with entry level positions . Also it seems like an identification of long term trends and they figure they want to invest in automation.

The roles fired and not the same as the roles hiring, for the most part.

The way the article is written is a reorganisation almost, normally you are supposed to let your workers move into other roles, if they are willing. Not the same as reduction in force.

Re: Flexport slashes 20% of global workforce over weak 2023 volume forecast

#178

Post by distortionfield »

idopmstuff wrote: post #125
grey-area wrote: post #112

A global recession is coming against a backdrop of the Fed raising rates, that is going to be very painful. A lot of people here don't seem to realise this is the case or are in denial. This is a bubble bursting, this is serious. Lots of companies are laying off workers or at least freezing hiring because they anticipate earnings cratering, or are already seeing it happen. They haven't reported on it yet, but they wi…

As far as I can tell, layoffs seem concentrated among high-earning folks - I can definitely see how anyone browsing HN would think we're headed straight for a recession. But it seems like overall, and especially in lower-wage jobs, employment is still humming along and people are very much not getting laid off. That actually really gives me hope for a soft landing - those high-wage folks are much less likely to have…

[dead]

Re: Flexport slashes 20% of global workforce over weak 2023 volume forecast

#179

Post by abirch »

jupp0r wrote: post #175
grey-area wrote: post #112

A global recession is coming against a backdrop of the Fed raising rates, that is going to be very painful. A lot of people here don't seem to realise this is the case or are in denial. This is a bubble bursting, this is serious. Lots of companies are laying off workers or at least freezing hiring because they anticipate earnings cratering, or are already seeing it happen. They haven't reported on it yet, but they wi…

Unemployment is at a record low. US economy added 223k new jobs in December. US Q3 GDP increased annualized 3.2% over Q2. Some companies are doing layoffs (mainly those that overhired during COVID), others aren't. Look at the data instead of clickbait headlines and everything looks much less bleak. If you are really certain you can forecast how the economy is going to do with high accuracy, get a job at some hedge fu…

Have you seen housing? https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2022/12/01/real-estate-... it's going to get hit even harder.

Unemployment is low due to a lot of early retirement/retirement. It is obvious we're headed for a recession, the question is how bad will it be. Will China's housing market collapse?

Re: Flexport slashes 20% of global workforce over weak 2023 volume forecast

#180

Post by themitigating »

grey-area wrote: post #138
idopmstuff wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As far as I can tell, layoffs seem concentrated among high-earning folks - I can definitely see how anyone browsing HN would think we're headed straight for a recession. But it seems like overall, and especially in lower-wage jobs, employment is still humming along and people are very much not getting laid off. That actually really gives me hope for a soft landing - those high-wage folks are much less likely to have…

But it seems like overall, and especially in lower-wage jobs, employment is still humming along and people are very much not getting laid off. There will not be a soft landing. When has there ever been a soft landing and how would raising rates into a recession ever result in one? Raising rates takes 1 year to come through to the real economy - we haven't even seen the impact yet, only on stock prices which foreshado…

"Unemployment is the goal of this Fed policy - that is the point - cause unemployment so that inflation goes away."

Why would this be a goal?

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