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Everyone paying attention the pattern of layoffs? Ebay, Mozilla, DigitalOcean, 23andMe, Intel... Pay down your credit card debt and make sure you have at least

Everyone paying attention the pattern of layoffs? Ebay, Mozilla, DigitalOcean, 23andMe, Intel... Pay down your credit card debt and make sure you have at least 6 months of expenses in the bank, if you're young and haven't been through this before.

bdcravens 7y ago
Always wise. Also a good idea to remember that there are a large number of software jobs outside of big name tech.
jimbob45 7y ago
Is the intuition on credit card debt just that unemployment can jeopardize your ability to make payments?
- codezero 7y ago
  payments, and ability to even get a job if your score takes a hit... a lot of companies do credit checks before hiring :/
  - Keverw 7y ago
    Yep, depends on the state though. Can also affect your insurance rates too such as car insurance, not sure if other types of insurance use it as an indicator but wouldn't surprise me.
- glofish 7y ago
  add to that risk the predatory nature of credit card debt, the interest is already super high, they can increase that further after a late payment, plus it stays on your record for 6 years
- throwaway5752 7y ago
  Yes, just reduce your debt, particularly discretionary high interest ones like credit cards.
- marcosdumay 7y ago
  Well, other people's unemployment may also reduce your salary prospects, stop career progression and make switching jobs much harder. That said, you shouldn't ever carry any credit card debt anyway.
inkeddeveloper 7y ago
You're going to have to prove there's a pattern here. Unless the pattern is companies that haven't maintained their status in their respective industries.
baron816 7y ago
None of these are likely the result of systemic factors. If anything, there being layoffs at some firms without it impacting general employment levels is a sign of a healthy and balanced economy.
- bhouston 7y ago
  There are weird indicators of recession in segments of the economy already. But new monetary policy is containing the problems so far. Predicting recessions is a losers game though. In that the large majority of predictions are wrong but eventually a recession happens. Most people's predictions are based on bad analyses.
- mtgx 7y ago
  If it impacted general employment, that would be a pretty big sign that the recession had already begun a while ago, wouldn't it?
jgalt212 7y ago
> Pay down your credit card debt and make sure you have at least 6 months of expenses in the bank, if you're young and haven't been through this before. If you think you're about to get sacked, the last thing to do is pay down debt regardless of the interest rate. If you're about to get sacked, I'd recommend opening a home equity line of credit. You can live off this while you plot your next move.
angmarsbane 7y ago
Papyrus is closing 200+ retail stores, Express is closing retail stores...the retail apocalypse growing every day too.
- nradov 7y ago
  Nothing new there. The retail apocalypse has been going on for years.
AviationAtom 7y ago
People's heads are in the clouds again, ala 1999 and 2008. You can't believe people are delivering anything more than hopes and dreams unless you lay eyes on said product. Most these startups sell hype and vaporware, but people get starry-eyed over them and turn into Phil "Take My Money" Fry. Cynicism isn't a bad thing when it comes to money.
tehjoker 7y ago
Luv 2 watch 10yr bond yield inversions and increasing fed interventions in overnight repo markets to protect overleveraged institutions. Also luv to read about family offices switching to stable assets. Recessions are basically caused by rich people deciding they can make more money by crashing the economy than by lending. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-23/world-s-wealthiest-families-stockpiling-cash-on-recession-fears https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-23/world-s-w...
OrgNet 7y ago
I was thinking the same thing... the housing market will probably crash soon... bitcoin to the moon? just kidding.
rowathray 7y ago
Also, there have been a few rather defensive sounding VC posts on HN lately. Usually it's all Techbro Tony Robbins platitudinal stuff, but it's been getting darker these days. Did you see the one with Paul Graham lashing out at "haters" or whatever? Yikes. Gives a sense things aren't going that well, and they want to justify their decisions. Moreover, I'm getting less recruiter spam on LinkedIn, but to be fair half of that was just WeWork.

bdcravens 7y ago

Always wise. Also a good idea to remember that there are a large number of software jobs outside of big name tech.

jimbob45 7y ago

Is the intuition on credit card debt just that unemployment can jeopardize your ability to make payments?

codezero 7y ago
payments, and ability to even get a job if your score takes a hit... a lot of companies do credit checks before hiring :/
- Keverw 7y ago
  Yep, depends on the state though. Can also affect your insurance rates too such as car insurance, not sure if other types of insurance use it as an indicator but wouldn't surprise me.
glofish 7y ago
add to that risk the predatory nature of credit card debt, the interest is already super high, they can increase that further after a late payment, plus it stays on your record for 6 years
throwaway5752 7y ago
Yes, just reduce your debt, particularly discretionary high interest ones like credit cards.
marcosdumay 7y ago
Well, other people's unemployment may also reduce your salary prospects, stop career progression and make switching jobs much harder. That said, you shouldn't ever carry any credit card debt anyway.

inkeddeveloper 7y ago

You're going to have to prove there's a pattern here. Unless the pattern is companies that haven't maintained their status in their respective industries.

baron816 7y ago

None of these are likely the result of systemic factors. If anything, there being layoffs at some firms without it impacting general employment levels is a sign of a healthy and balanced economy.

bhouston 7y ago
There are weird indicators of recession in segments of the economy already. But new monetary policy is containing the problems so far. Predicting recessions is a losers game though. In that the large majority of predictions are wrong but eventually a recession happens. Most people's predictions are based on bad analyses.
mtgx 7y ago
If it impacted general employment, that would be a pretty big sign that the recession had already begun a while ago, wouldn't it?

jgalt212 7y ago

> Pay down your credit card debt and make sure you have at least 6 months of expenses in the bank, if you're young and haven't been through this before. If you think you're about to get sacked, the last thing to do is pay down debt regardless of the interest rate. If you're about to get sacked, I'd recommend opening a home equity line of credit. You can live off this while you plot your next move.

angmarsbane 7y ago

Papyrus is closing 200+ retail stores, Express is closing retail stores...the retail apocalypse growing every day too.

nradov 7y ago
Nothing new there. The retail apocalypse has been going on for years.

AviationAtom 7y ago

People's heads are in the clouds again, ala 1999 and 2008. You can't believe people are delivering anything more than hopes and dreams unless you lay eyes on said product. Most these startups sell hype and vaporware, but people get starry-eyed over them and turn into Phil "Take My Money" Fry. Cynicism isn't a bad thing when it comes to money.

tehjoker 7y ago

Luv 2 watch 10yr bond yield inversions and increasing fed interventions in overnight repo markets to protect overleveraged institutions. Also luv to read about family offices switching to stable assets. Recessions are basically caused by rich people deciding they can make more money by crashing the economy than by lending. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-23/world-s-wealthiest-families-stockpiling-cash-on-recession-fears https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-23/world-s-w...

OrgNet 7y ago

I was thinking the same thing... the housing market will probably crash soon... bitcoin to the moon? just kidding.

rowathray 7y ago

Also, there have been a few rather defensive sounding VC posts on HN lately. Usually it's all Techbro Tony Robbins platitudinal stuff, but it's been getting darker these days. Did you see the one with Paul Graham lashing out at "haters" or whatever? Yikes. Gives a sense things aren't going that well, and they want to justify their decisions. Moreover, I'm getting less recruiter spam on LinkedIn, but to be fair half of that was just WeWork.