3 ms·
In 2009, the company I worked for was laying people off while it had job openings listed. They would even interview for some of those roles. But it was all wi
by hash-set 10y ago
In 2009, the company I worked for was laying people off while it had job openings listed. They would even interview for some of those roles. But it was all window dressing as they never hired anyone for quite a long time. The openings are for when some real superstar comes along and can be exploited. That way, there is an open req they can use.
- busterarm 10y agoI know D.E. Shaw did something like this in 2009.
- coredog64 10y agoAn open job req is useful in an environment of layoffs. Your boss comes to you and says "I need you to reduce headcount by three." If you have an open req, you can trade that in and only have to give up two employees.
- Bartweiss 10y agoI've seen a number of tech companies do this, even if they aren't laying people off. They just leave open reqs for every position, with no intention of filling them all. It's a win for them in at least three ways. They get to project a sense of growth and selectivity via the posting, they get a collection of potential candidates, and they get to grab any true superstars they see (or any normal hires who underprice themselves). The most distinctive experience I've had was applying to a position, getting radio silence and then a call two years later asking if I was interested. Further conversation made it pretty clear that they had finally turned a fake opening into a real one, and were contacting the applicants who had piled up in the meantime.