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How much have tech layoffs affected engineers vs. other departments?

blog.interviewing.io

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Re: How much have tech layoffs affected engineers vs. other departments?

#91

Post by chrischen »

adam_arthur wrote: post #89

This is likely to be the recession that halts the rapid inflation in tech wages. Rising risk free rate has hit growth companies the hardest, and there are likely to be a large swath of layoffs right as we have tons of people bootcamping and switching into the industry. Supply and demand of labor in tech will enter balance for the first time since ~2010. The FFR is looking to have a reasonable chance to go to 5% at th…

Tech is pretty different in that its whole point is automation and reduction of redundancies. I would imagine over time there wouldn’t be a need for a mediocre engineers as their jobs would just be done by code written one time by a superior engineer.

We’ve seem this already happen to “mom and pop” web dev shops getting pushed out by the work of a handful of companies (Weebly, squarespace, Shopify).

Re: How much have tech layoffs affected engineers vs. other departments?

#92

Post by illusiveman »

yulaow wrote: post #26
radicalbyte wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a large backlash happening against blockchain right now in Europe, from your profile I would assume that that is the problem.

Actually it's the opposite. I am done with dapps and blockchain development and just looking for fullstack (preferring only backend when possible) typescript/golang positions. I am getting a good amount of recruiters contacting me for blockchain related positions but every single time I speak with them their projects are so ridiculously stupid I am flabbergasted that they got investors. "Normal web dev" recruiters? J…

I used to have 2 requests a week on average on Hired. Now, my profile has expired twice without a single request.

Definitely, something is wrong with that service. Guess fewer companies are using it.

By contrast, it's odd the day I don't get a message on LinkedIn.

Re: How much have tech layoffs affected engineers vs. other departments?

#93

Post by adam_arthur »

chrischen wrote: post #91
adam_arthur wrote: post #89

This is likely to be the recession that halts the rapid inflation in tech wages. Rising risk free rate has hit growth companies the hardest, and there are likely to be a large swath of layoffs right as we have tons of people bootcamping and switching into the industry. Supply and demand of labor in tech will enter balance for the first time since ~2010. The FFR is looking to have a reasonable chance to go to 5% at th…

Tech is pretty different in that its whole point is automation and reduction of redundancies. I would imagine over time there wouldn’t be a need for a mediocre engineers as their jobs would just be done by code written one time by a superior engineer. We’ve seem this already happen to “mom and pop” web dev shops getting pushed out by the work of a handful of companies (Weebly, squarespace, Shopify).

Yup, a single dev can build out a massive business via severless cloud components in what used to take a large army of engineers.

It just so happens job growth has historically exceeded efficiency gains. The equilibrium point seems close from my perspective, especially if there’s a shock of recession to hammer tech employment

Re: How much have tech layoffs affected engineers vs. other departments?

#94

Post by xwowsersx »

wepple wrote: post #77
walshie4 wrote: post #27

The fact that snap's web3 team being cut is one of the listed examples is pretty comical IMHO.

This is a flimsy PR piece for interviewing.io submitted by the founder. It worked, front page of HN is great for backlink value

Just because you can surmise as to the obvious ways in which writing this post might generally serve the interests of the author or the company behind does not, in itself, establish that the piece is flimsy. Your comment, on the other hand, with its baseless assertion and borderline ad hominem IS flimsy. Be better.

Re: How much have tech layoffs affected engineers vs. other departments?

#95

Post by spacemadness »

thwayunion wrote: post #11
dominotw wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have 15 yoe and have senior software engineer title so do people with 2 yrs experience. I might be doing same thing over and over. Time to make a radical change :/.

There's also nothing wrong with plateauing for a while or even topping out, especially if you are generally happy with life and career. There's pride to be had in being a good individual contributor; not everyone needs to make it to Senior Super Special Principal :)

I keep being told I shouldn’t be writing code at my level and should be knee deep in design docs and estimations all day long. This is actually what happens but I would much prefer to be writing software and am wondering if I can even be happy in this career any longer. This industry has some real bizarre notions of career progression.

Re: How much have tech layoffs affected engineers vs. other departments?

#96

Post by adam_arthur »

dilyevsky wrote: post #90
adam_arthur wrote: post #89

This is likely to be the recession that halts the rapid inflation in tech wages. Rising risk free rate has hit growth companies the hardest, and there are likely to be a large swath of layoffs right as we have tons of people bootcamping and switching into the industry. Supply and demand of labor in tech will enter balance for the first time since ~2010. The FFR is looking to have a reasonable chance to go to 5% at th…

Contrary view - this will sprout more startups that were previously starved for talent rest&vesting at faang&co and we'll see much tighter market in 2-3 years.

It will definitely do that if FAANG comp compresses via lower equity issuances. The difference is startups generally can’t compensate at the level that FAANGs do or did.

And if discount rate stays higher, valuations will be much lower at the same revenue and growth rates than they had been in the past.

Of course this also implies the value of the dollars you earn is greater via opportunity of higher yielding investments.

Re: How much have tech layoffs affected engineers vs. other departments?

#97

Post by dilyevsky »

lumost wrote: post #47
themagician wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More and more senior engineers are non-coding or practically so. I see it everywhere. As industries have matured, people have matured into higher level management roles and there hasn't been enough people to replace them. There's still plenty of fresh blood, software engineering actually looks a lot like the labor shortages do in the rest of the market—there's a lack of people who actually want to do the work. Everyo…

Not for nothing, but that sounds a bit like a market peak if I've heard one. Why would the person actually doing the work settle for a mere 300k when the director/VP gets double without doing the hard work? there is a balance here - but it seems like a good time to lure engineers with real equity compensation to early stage startups.

Which industry has it different? I mean there are exceptions like sport teams but by and large this stuff happens everywhere else too.

Re: How much have tech layoffs affected engineers vs. other departments?

#98

Post by dilyevsky »

adam_arthur wrote: post #96
dilyevsky wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Contrary view - this will sprout more startups that were previously starved for talent rest&vesting at faang&co and we'll see much tighter market in 2-3 years.

It will definitely do that if FAANG comp compresses via lower equity issuances. The difference is startups generally can’t compensate at the level that FAANGs do or did. And if discount rate stays higher, valuations will be much lower at the same revenue and growth rates than they had been in the past. Of course this also implies the value of the dollars you earn is greater via opportunity of higher yielding investme…

> It will definitely do that if FAANG comp compresses via lower equity issuances.

I think it will absolutely happen at least in short term. In fact in many cases already happened.

Re: How much have tech layoffs affected engineers vs. other departments?

#99

Post by nsxwolf »

conqrr wrote: post #65
0xB31B1B wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are absolutely ways to measure the performance of an individual. That leetcode style questions are not a great indicator of ability to do the job well does not mean you cannot predict job performance at all.

The bar here is interview performance bar. There is no way to judge a person's performance in 4 hours. Anything you come up with can be hacked or imperfect. Therefore there is no way to set a bar.

In my current role I've done about 30 whiteboard interviews in the last 2.5 years, and I come down on the side that they are about as predictive as throwing darts.

The most successful candidates I've helped hire in my career were the ones where we had an informal process where we just talked about things and I went with my gut. They say that's not objective or measurable, full of bias, etc.

I toss my hands up in frustration.

Re: How much have tech layoffs affected engineers vs. other departments?

#100

Post by andirk »

victor9000 wrote: post #85

I just went through a round of interviews and received offers from large, small, and medium sized companies. So the opportunities are still there if you can navigate the interview gauntlet.

I tell people that you are looking for _one_ position, not 10,000. There will always be a position somewhere that fits your needs. Its more difficult in down times to a degree. And if your industry is in a huge slump, find a new industry! There's more work to do than can ever be done.
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