4 ms·

I don't live in Silicon Valley so this is a genuine question: Are things starting to fall apart over there or is Kent Beck just offering up some sage advice? (E

• potatolicious 10y ago
  The sky isn't falling, but there is a perceptible slowdown. Which is probably the best time to start thinking about this, as opposed to in the middle of a round of layoffs... Tech as a whole is still growing briskly - FB/GOOG/AAPL/etc are evidence enough of that. But there have been some high-profile (and expensive) startup busts, and certain niches are looking less healthy now than they were before (see: edu-tech or med-tech). The net effect is that demand for engineering talent is lower than before, but not by a catastrophic amount. If you were extremely employable before, you are likely to still be extremely employable now. If your interview skills were marginal before, you may not be employable now.
  • rubiquity 10y ago
    Thank you for the context!
  • abrichr 10y ago
    Other than the Theranos story, what makes you say med-tech is looking less healthy (or edu-tech for that matter)?
    • potatolicious 10y ago
      Perception matters - my admittedly unscientific feel is that there's more due diligence being done (which is a good thing, good lord), which also means less dumb money flowing around to companies that have no merit. Ed-tech I think is in a similar space, though not because of any particular scandal. More careful investors are good for the economy overall, but still represents reduced hiring demand from the previously irrationally frothy peak.