Ask HN: Has the tech recession affected you?
I don't see much talk of it here, but are we in the depths of a serious tech recession? VC world seems to have been decimated, massive layoffs at most tech firms, IT consulting and contracting also decimated.
Have you been affected? Is there any end in sight? Sharing your experiences can help others to know they're not alone.
174 comments
[ 3.8 ms ] story [ 264 ms ] threadAs far as I've been told, the funding for most startups is gone right now.
I suppose I'm "lucky" that I got laid off in 2021 after the company I was working for was acquired by private equity. It wasn't a bad time to find a job, and I went looking for something different which ended up being a small, local company that does fairly boring software development.
But it's certainly a recession for tech workers.
I suppose contractors are a "make hay while the sun shines" situation and it can turn...
Pay is also inching lower.
I send out my resume and barely get any answers. I don't even get a chance to interview.
That being said, I had a good luck streak in December! I'm waiting to hear back from several companies right now.
I am hoping to ride the wave. I'm doing far more than I am qualified because of LLM.
So maybe "boom" is the wrong word, but it sure seems to have put a stop to the outright austerity mindset.
AI boom is interesting in the sense, if the AI successfully increases programmer productivity, then it also would drive down the demands, unless AI can increase the pie by eating away other industries. So far I haven't seen this, AI seems to have a bigger impact on software industry itself than any other industry out there.
Not very optimistic that AI alone can change the tide, but considering how fast things can change (GPT-5 might be the AGI, or GPT-4 level model gets open sourced and runs much cheaper everywhere), 6 months in the future the outlook might change drastically.
Then say it. :)
Honestly they have some really interesting-looking roles open. I've also heard great things about working at Anduril and not-so great things about working at Palantir.
LINQ is powerful technology. Don't let anyone snub their noses at you.
If the only options for professional engagement were the languages popular with the HN commentariat (Python, Golang, Rust), I'd probably slit my wrists.
I've worked with loads of languages -- even PHP and Perl -- and would do it again without a second thought for the right company/project.
I do miss some of that nice syntax sugar.
5-6 months later we needed another lead engineer and we got over 300 for the exact same position, same pay, same location.
Sure seems recessionish to me.
Eager to improve my non-technical skills with this work.
I’m curious to see how the field fluctuates in these next years with the upheaval of cheap interest and split opinions on doom/boon of tech workers via LLM automation.
Since then, with the help of a few sporadic clients, government help, and living like a pauper I decided to go all in in becoming an entrepreneur, instead of continuing my 17+ year career as a consultant or someone else's employee. Seems like stuff hasn't improved in the past 9 months.
Not having a stable job is very stressful, but the interview rat race these days is more akin to real life Squid Game than anything I've experienced before. It is dehumanising. I'd rather be penniless, stressed, and working on my product at this point. If you can afford to, do it. Even if you don't, tbh.
In my experience it's even worse outside of tech.
Because I really need a job I've just been applying to everything. Minimum wage: I don't care. In a way I'm actually looking forward to just show up, do my job, and go home, without stress.
But I get almost no response on those. And I actually spent MORE time for cover letters for those than the tech stuff. On tech I get a response (interview or rejection) for about 1 in 4. Outside of tech? About 1 in 30.
I guess "15 years CV as software dev, that guy is too smart for us" or something like that.
I keep reading about "labour shortages" for lots of low-skilled jobs... Hmkay...
Also not eligible for social security because I'm technically homeless (as in: renting "unofficially").
Might be properly homeless soon... No idea what I'll do.
I don't have a right to work in tech or a high salary, and fine, there's a downwards turn. No problem. But that I have no options beyond "burn all your savings and go homeless fuck you" has left me rather ... disappointed.
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is: it's not "tech hiring" that's the problem. It's just "hiring" or "companies" or whatever.
> But I get almost no response on those.
Weren’t these the same people bitching about how no one wants to work?
There is something Victorian in this prostration a working-class person must have to do just to be thrown a coin, and when you've sent your 50th CV, your tongue is sandpaper dry from the forced boot licking.
Look, I am not applying to the best company in the world, and you're not offering that much compared to the competition, nor your product is earth-shatteringly interesting. If only I could write "I need money, I am capable for this position, that's all there is to it." Because we all know that is the truth.
And all that effort, just to be ignored in the best of cases. Not even an automated "No. End of message." email.
Who wants to settle for that type of partner/employee, especially if that's who they are in the honeymoon phase of dating/interviewing.
Not everyone works to 'transact your time and expertise for money' - some people want to 'fulfill a mission' with meaningful work, and build a purpose driven career.
The analogy works better than you think - at the end of the day, all I'm talking about is making a good first impression. What you may be looking for is up to you, but if you are looking to enter a mutually beneficial relationship whether it's personal, romantic, or financial - acting like a sourpuss isn't going to help you.
Of course people want a meaningful job to some extent. According to Herzberg's dual-factor theory, challenging or meaningful work is a motivator that gives positive satisfaction in the workplace. But Herzberg successfully identified that the hygiene factors such as salary (meaningful in the 'transaction' sense of a job) are much more important.
'Transacting your time and expertise for money' is one of the main drivers for working (a hygiene factor), 'fulfill a mission' is merely a motivator. We have known and taught this to managers since the 70s.
A competent employer will of course know about this - be it through having competently trained management or just experience. Managers know that some candidates are completely happy with a high hygiene + low motivation mix. In some situations, this is completely fine and not 'acting like a sourpuss' as you describe it.
Are we?
Who wants to be hired? (2023)
Oct: 547
Nov: 431
Dec: 461
-----
Who wants to be hired? (2022)
Oct: 272
Nov: 307
Dec: 200
Given the numbers, I would say tech unemployment was 2x worser in 2023 than the year before.
I work as a DoE contractor and that means my job is pretty much stable unless I intentionally try to get fired or if the federal government is insolvent (in which case we have a much bigger problem than just 1 random dude not having a job).
I turned down an offer from a bulge bracket 2 years ago and I am glad I did because that company had its own little down sizing.
My decision to take my time and find a “perfect” job is feeling a lot less achievable now.
Almost every job I've ever landed I interviewed in December. Just last month I interviewed a dozen people or so for roles in my company. My recruiter friends that I talked to all landed a bunch of offers last month.
Everyone is about to get swarmed with resumes right now but there's a pool out there with a three week headstart and less competition because of the reasoning I mentioned.
Late December is a perfect time for interviewing because of code freezes and lack of progress on bigger projects. We had more time to interview than candidates in pipeline during that back half. Plus it's a time of year when generally people are relaxed and in a good mood.
In my experience, you _can_ get hired but it tends to be much slower. These were all also small companies so only 1 - 2 people were sorting through applications.
I'm still saving money in case layoffs happen, especially because I'm remote and moved far outside of tech markets and bought a house last year.
I have a large amount of anxiety looking around my network at folks who I know are competent and have been out of work for more than 6 months. I'm very glad I didn't follow the trend and stayed at a more stable company.
Otherwise though I'm very well rested, and my M+ rating in World of Warcraft is better than ever.
So, it may just be my perception is skewed for other reasons than a recession. Either way, it sucks.
and they didn't even counter and moved on. very established company too, a highly unusual practice according to every recruiter, article, AI rehash, and person I’ve told this to
I would say this is a symptom of the market. Employers flexing on the big pool
The way things are you'd have much better luck negotiating a salary review after a six month probation or something.
California, by the way.
many people, including engineers, are obsessed with looking for a silver lining when the reality is that I lost all my leverage and every new recruiter call is at least a month and a half from new money hitting my bank account, if everything goes perfectly.
I’ve had great experiences with many companies that did something weird during the interview process or administratively
these functions are separate
there is no need to look for a silver lining