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Tech’s talent wars have come back to bite it

nytimes.com

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Re: Tech’s talent wars have come back to bite it

#21

Post by Eumenes »

larrymyers wrote: post #3

The feels like exceptionally lazy reporting in the NYT. What was the expectation, that tech companies would be up and to the right perpetually? That public tech companies are immune to general market downturns? While a lot of tech companies are going through post-pandemic layoffs, most of them have headcounts that are still larger than where they were in Feb 2020, and have valuations that show steady growth. My predi…

Companies not in the 'tech' sector employ a sizable population of software developers and IT people. The average NYT reader may not know or understand this. People see "tech" and think of the Silicon Valley startup, with ping pong and the lavish perks. Average consumers of news generally have a negative view of these workers, because they get paid very well to "do nothing" and sit at a desk, plus the generous perks/benefits. You see this in any conversation involving housing too. Tech workers move to low cost of living areas and displace locals.

Re: Tech’s talent wars have come back to bite it

#23

Post by rayiner »

larrymyers wrote: post #3

The feels like exceptionally lazy reporting in the NYT. What was the expectation, that tech companies would be up and to the right perpetually? That public tech companies are immune to general market downturns? While a lot of tech companies are going through post-pandemic layoffs, most of them have headcounts that are still larger than where they were in Feb 2020, and have valuations that show steady growth. My predi…

Par for course: https://www.epsilontheory.com/gell-mann-amnesia/

It’s no surprise that after a decade of loose monetary policy, there’s a shakeout in capital-intensive industries like tech. That’s painful in the short term, but it’s a good thing overall. It’s necessary for capital to be better allocated across the economy.

Re: Tech’s talent wars have come back to bite it

#24

Post by voidfunc »

jwsteigerwalt wrote: post #7

There is a disconnect between “tech talent” and the overlap of layoffs. Sure, some firms have downsized across the board, but plenty of layoffs we are seeing in the last 12 weeks is focused on areas other than engineering.

Depending on how long and deep the recession is, engineers will get impacted at some point.

Re: Tech’s talent wars have come back to bite it

#25

Post by hoseja »

nindalf wrote: post #13
ciphol wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is typical NYT reporting on tech. "I literally heard it from NYT reporters at the time. There was a top-down decision that tech could not be covered positively, even when there was a true, newsworthy and positive story. I'd never heard anything like it." [1] [1] https://twitter.com/KelseyTuoc/status/1588231892792328192

This decision matters because the NYT influences other journalists to a large degree. The person who took that autocratic decision was AG Sulzberger, the 37-year old publisher and chairman of the NYT. Surely a man wielding so much power and influence would have earned the post through merit and hard work, right? In reality it’s a hereditary post of the Sulzberger family. It’s shocking that a man who is a product of n…

No post body was provided.

Re: Tech’s talent wars have come back to bite it

#26

Post by bambataa »

CaptainNegative wrote: post #12
bambataa wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if moving to a FAANG means you work just the same as before, except get paid twice as much and are surrounded by competent colleagues?

> and are surrounded by competent colleagues Current FAANG employee here -- how I wish this were true.

I’m sure it’s variable but mine are great.

Re: Tech’s talent wars have come back to bite it

#27

Post by justin66 »

nindalf wrote: post #13
ciphol wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is typical NYT reporting on tech. "I literally heard it from NYT reporters at the time. There was a top-down decision that tech could not be covered positively, even when there was a true, newsworthy and positive story. I'd never heard anything like it." [1] [1] https://twitter.com/KelseyTuoc/status/1588231892792328192

This decision matters because the NYT influences other journalists to a large degree. The person who took that autocratic decision was AG Sulzberger, the 37-year old publisher and chairman of the NYT. Surely a man wielding so much power and influence would have earned the post through merit and hard work, right? In reality it’s a hereditary post of the Sulzberger family. It’s shocking that a man who is a product of n…

> The person who took that autocratic decision was AG Sulzberger,

What evidence is there of this?

Asking because it's not traditionally the case that the NYT editorial staff needs to be interfered with by ownership in order to make terrible decisions.

Re: Tech’s talent wars have come back to bite it

#28

Post by troelsSteegin »

Across the executive mea culpas, there is this theme of "I over estimated demand". But, one could take the perspective that they correctly hired to extract value during peak demand, because on average each new resource is profitable, and are now are reducing resources because there is less value there to extract. An investor could argue that it is irresponsible not to hire for peaks and thus leave value inthe market. Tech jobs are always tied to the ups and downs of economic cycles. Perhaps the mea culpas are really "this cycle ended before I expected it to". Some roles and some firms are more buffered than others. It would be nice to know how volatile your value is.

Re: Tech’s talent wars have come back to bite it

#29

Post by zug_zug »

bambataa wrote: post #10
ht_th wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't quite understand. I like challenges; I don't mind doing "FAANG Level work", whatever that means, at a small company. I don't care much for salary beyond getting a good salary for my locale. Having a great work/life balance is much more important to me. I don't want a "FAANG Level compensation" if that means I've got to move, work crazy hours, have absurd living expenses, have a lot of interview rounds with st…

What if moving to a FAANG means you work just the same as before, except get paid twice as much and are surrounded by competent colleagues?

> FAANG means you work just the same as before, except get paid twice as much

(Ex fang) : Wish this were true. My experience is its working on a stack of entirely proprietary/2nd-rate tools with minimal documentation, weekly bugs within your core toolset, and with as much as 50% of your time being people-work.

Re: Tech’s talent wars have come back to bite it

#30

Post by aliqot »

hoseja wrote: post #25
nindalf wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This decision matters because the NYT influences other journalists to a large degree. The person who took that autocratic decision was AG Sulzberger, the 37-year old publisher and chairman of the NYT. Surely a man wielding so much power and influence would have earned the post through merit and hard work, right? In reality it’s a hereditary post of the Sulzberger family. It’s shocking that a man who is a product of n…

Quoted post unavailable.

>I don't want to Yepost but an explanation really presents itself.

What is yepost?

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