[HN Gopher] Wave of Bay Area tech layoffs may foreshadow somethi...
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       Wave of Bay Area tech layoffs may foreshadow something worse
        
       Author : pg_1234
       Score  : 30 points
       Date   : 2023-06-30 18:23 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.sfgate.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.sfgate.com)
        
       | fnordpiglet wrote:
       | The primary justification seems to be a pizza delivery startup
       | going under and a pets.com imploding due to payroll issues, as
       | well as some random doom tweet.
       | 
       | I'll put $5 on 2024 being one of the most frothy markets as
       | materially relevant AI stuff hits production, the much predicted
       | and prepared for recession never materializes, and inflations
       | dips out of sight.
        
         | reducesuffering wrote:
         | I agree. June tech layoffs are almost a 1 year low[0]. US
         | unemployment is still record low, even with inflation mostly
         | abating.
         | 
         | [0] https://www.trueup.io/layoffs
        
       | resuresu wrote:
       | Its over.
        
       | Daishiman wrote:
       | And nothing of value was lost.
       | 
       | I've been watching the market closely for the past two years and
       | it's just stunning to see the number of startups that have no
       | obvious value add proposition.
       | 
       | It's mostly dishonest swindling with no path to profitability.
        
         | toomuchtodo wrote:
         | https://youtu.be/BzAdXyPYKQo (audio nsfw)
        
         | xg15 wrote:
         | "pre-profit" indeed...
        
       | nerdchum wrote:
       | I see H1Bs becoming more and more prominent in the big companies
       | both as leadership and as ICs.
       | 
       | I was on a team (at a big famous SF company) that was all Indian
       | people on visas and the entire leadership structure up to Satya
       | Nadella was Indian.
       | 
       | If anything this seems ominous for Americans.
        
         | amiga1200 wrote:
         | It's the same everywhere. In the Australian government most
         | directors who hire developers are Indian and seem to have all
         | Indian teams on worker visas. It's impossible to get a
         | government position now. Last year three government directors
         | were found guilty of hiring subcontinent developers for a fee.
        
           | WeylandYutani wrote:
           | I suppose the Dutch language is good for one thing: nobody
           | can learn it! I've seen Germans (oh it's just a dialect)
           | break down into tears trying. And it has absolutely no use
           | whatsoever abroad.
        
         | Dig1t wrote:
         | I'm looking at changing roles at my current job, positions are
         | few and far between right now, especially for the area in which
         | I want to live.
         | 
         | I've been scouring the internal job board, which is just a
         | version of the external board with extra internal information
         | attached, and all the promising jobs seem to have a notice
         | plastered on them that says:
         | 
         | "THIS NOTICE IS BEING FILED AS A RESULT OF THE FILING OF AN
         | APPLICATION FOR PERMANENT ALIEN LABOR CERTIFICATION. ANY PERSON
         | MAY PROVIDE DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE BEARING ON THE APPLICATION TO
         | THE REGIONAL CERTIFYING OFFICER OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF
         | LABOR."
         | 
         | When I apply for them I never hear anything back.
         | 
         | I don't really know what that notice means, but I am a citizen
         | and really want (and am more than qualified for) the jobs they
         | are posted under.
        
           | amiga1200 wrote:
           | Same in Australia. The jobs are advertised but I never hear
           | anything back. For me it's not a racial thing as I too am an
           | naturalized immigrant, but it seems the preference for
           | subcontinental "skilled" workers is prioritized.
        
           | DeRock wrote:
           | Those job postings are part of the "labor market test" that
           | is a pre-requisite for applying for an employment based
           | greencard. The intent is to ensure there are no able and
           | willing Americans able to do the job that the immigrant is
           | applying for their green card based on. In practice, they are
           | often set up by immigration lawyers to be mostly a formality,
           | and there is little chance of being offered a job that is
           | advertised as part of it.
        
         | throwaway019254 wrote:
         | It's not SF company. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, WA
         | (Seattle area).
        
           | flappyeagle wrote:
           | Github and Linkedin are both bay area companies
        
             | paxys wrote:
             | Neither of them have ever had Indian CEOs, so what they
             | claim couldn't have been true.
        
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       (page generated 2023-06-30 23:02 UTC)