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Lyft cuts internship salaries by 50%
Lyft just updated all interns with an e-mail; they are cutting the internship to just 8 weeks, and slashing the hourly rate (variable amount depending on function). Not sure how to handle this...
- _hardwaregeek 6y agoA lot of people here are being rather unsympathetic. Even if it's not the end of the world, it still sucks. Hopefully you can save some money from not having to move to the Bay Area.
- pmiller2 6y agoHow to handle it is either you take the internship, or you don't.
- johntiger1 6y agoI was depending on this internship to support me financially. At the current rate, it doesn't work out
- paulcole 6y agoIf you think it’s going to be tough to support yourself on 50% of what Lyft was offering, wait until you run the numbers on a $0 income.
- DavidPeiffer 6y agoI'm not sure what internships at Lyft pay, but their headquarters is in the bay area. After a 50% cut, they may come out ahead having $0 income compared to paying rent in their college town and the bay area, higher cost of living, and moving expenses (if not already covered). This is particularly true for non-programming roles which pay less. It's possible Lyft covers housing separate from salaries. I had 4 internships, never below the median pay for my degree, and I would have certainly thought twice about doing some of them if my pay was cut in half.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- nickff 6y agoIt looks like Lyft is making the internship remote as well (from other posts on this thread), so cost-of-living in SF is not a factor.
- kyawzazaw 6y agoIt's probably gonna be remote. So housing is not gonna be a problem. And OP having that internship experience is definitely gonna help them for the future. Considering it is unlikely to get another internship (not even similar pay), OP should do it. Additionally, their half cut rate is higher than what a lot of SWE interns get too (not even considering other profession interns)>
- Dibes 6y agoWhile I do not pretend to know your financial situation, I do have a good friend of mine who interned in the bay area for $15/hr with no benefits (housing or otherwise) and managed to live relatively fine for 8 months. It's not close to ideal, but I know it is possible.
- pmiller2 6y agoThen, it sounds like you need to either find additional sources of support, or turn down the internship.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- kyawzazaw 6y agoJust a perspective, your half cut rate is higher than what other SWE interns get.
- chefkoch 6y agoWhat are your fixed expenses that you can't live on 4800$ as a intern?
- stu2b50 6y agoHappy that you have a job still? 25/hr is still better than flipping burgers, by like a lot.
- guessmyname 6y agoLevels.fyi shows Lyft internship salaries if anyone is interested to know [1]. I am sorry to hear that, -50% is a lot of money but not the end of the world. Take the job and keep looking for the next one, you will definitely find something better knowing you are smart enough to pass Lyft’s interviews. The majority of interns in the tech industry do not do much in the first couple of months after joining the company anyway, so technically speaking you will get two months of free money and maybe a signing bonus, this is a much better scenario compared to people who have been laid off, furloughed or rejected from their internship program. [1] https://www.levels.fyi/internships/?search=lyft https://www.levels.fyi/internships/?search=lyft
- zuhayeer 6y agoWe do have internship salaries (pre-Covid) at https://www.levels.fyi/internships https://www.levels.fyi/internships
- _se 6y agoYou handle it by being happy that you still have an internship right now. There is a lot going on in the world, now is not the time to feel entitled to anything.
- anongraddebt 6y agoAgreed. Though I will say, it's still shocking to see. Not that cascading layoffs, furloughs, internship cancellations, and wage/salary reductions are unexpected right now. Shocking in how surreal it all feels. My gf and I have a number of friends in MBA/grad programs, and most have had their internships or job offers rescinded.
- wdb 6y agoYes, I have had three job offers rescinded since March. Meaning got job offer, accepting it, rescinded, interviews, got a new job offer, rescinded, more interviews, got a job offer and got rescinded. All due economic situation or COVID-19.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- forgotmylogin2 6y agoI would guess the chance of finding any other summer work right now, let alone another technical internship, is below 50%. The way you handle this is to take the internship and be happy it didn't get cancelled entirely.
- adventured 6y agoDepends on the work for sure. There are a million new jobs/gigs that are opening up right now for delivery, shopping and warehouse type work. Instacart has been trying to add several hundred thousand new contract workers ("full service shoppers" as Instacart calls them). https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/10/instacarts-hiring-spree-continues-as-it-faces-unprecedented-demand/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/10/instacarts-hiring-spree-co...
- munk-a 6y agoThere are several sectors of the economy that haven't been effected by this - med-tech/fin-tech firms in particular should (mostly) be doing fine.
- rckoepke 6y agoElective medical procedures have been canceled, so medical spending is down across the board. Most plans that are ACA-compliant will probably be reimbursing customers some of the premiums this year, similar to auto insurance. I've heard Fin-tech firms have been cutting lots of fat in the last 4 weeks, although I've also seen some large banks still hiring contractors.
- polyomino 6y agoThe only reason that many companies are able to operate at all today is because of the technology they use. Tech should be less affected overall compared to the rest of the economy.
- wdb 6y agoThe Fintech firms I am talking to all stopped hiring or having pay cuts. They offered lower salaries compared to last year when I wasn't looking (upto 30% lower)
- cracker_jacks 6y agoPicking up pennies in front of a steamroller... Does it make sense to cut the salaries of the lowest-paid, zero equity groups? The same group of people you'll be competing to hire from when they graduate.
- Invictus0 6y agoBeats cutting the salaries of full employees, no? And who says Lyft will still be hiring?
- thorwasdfasdf 6y agoas a graduate, you'd be extremely lucky to have any job at all, let alone a job at a tech company, let alone one as well known as Lyft. Let's face it, with the current vast oversupply of labor, employers have a lot more bargaining power. Back in my day, after the Tech bubble burst, I was a coder with little experience, and I worked for any start up that would let me, just so i could get more experience. One place, I got paid 0$, with just a thank you and a slice of pizza (1 slice, not 2).
- thelean12 6y agoOnce you have a big name on your resume, you'll get all the interviews you want when you go to look for a full time job. I'm not sure if Lyft is a big enough name, but I know having Google or Facebook on your resume as an intern is enough to have your choice in full time jobs as long as you can pass interviews. Lyft will get hurt big time from this when these interns go to find full time jobs.
- ianlevesque 6y agoAnd it was uphill in the snow, both ways!
- doingmyting 6y agoHad it lasted longer with every commute being uphill, OP would have ended up atop Mount Everest in short order
- nicharesuk 6y agoI'd be curious to know if you signed a contract already? If you signed a contract pre-cut you could technically sue (not sure if it would help but it's always an option), but if you still haven't signed a contract then this is a lesson to always have a back up plan and make sure you don't take anything for granted until that contract is signed.
- alex_g 6y agoMost internships are at-will employment.
- throwlaplace 6y agomost jobs are at-will employment.
- bdcravens 6y agoGiven the state of the courts right now, you'd likely be months away from any action being taken.
- kediz 6y agoI remember reading my offer and there was a line that goes like this "only the CEO has the power to sign contract". and everybody else's offer are "at-will".
- cpufry 6y agowhy not just cancel the internship program for now
- kyawzazaw 6y agoare you asking in the perspective of the company? They probably want to retain some reptutation.
- bdcravens 6y agoLevels.fyi shows the rate to be $60/hour for a software internship. If this is accurate, and it's cut to $30/hour, that's actually pretty good money. Many people are living on $15/hour. https://www.levels.fyi/internships/?search=lyft https://www.levels.fyi/internships/?search=lyft
- Matthias247 6y agoFor comparisons sake also: Internships in germany had been around 700Eur per month 10 years ago. Maybe it's 800 now. I think even half of an internship salary at one of the US companies is far above that - if not even still above the salaries of full-time employees in other countries. So it doesn't sound that terrible.
- ck_one 6y agoIn Germany you get at least minimum pay (~1500 Euro). For tech roles, you can get more (2,5k - 4k). Which is not that of a bad deal considering that all other costs are lower.
- Matthias247 6y agoThat would be very new. Maybe for research positions (postdoc). But for internships minimal wage does not apply.
- kenhwang 6y agoOn one hand, this makes sense because interns (and junior engineers) are often terrible productivity/$. Internship programs tend to be more a marketing/recruitment tool which is a bit of a luxury right now. On the other hand, this is absolutely terrible optics and feels like desperation. I know Lyft already started furloughing and cut executive pay, but this is a bigger % than the 30% executive cut.
- tfehring 6y agoFor the sake of comparison, $4,800/month (mentioned by another commenter) is $57,600 extrapolated to a full year, or 1.7x the median US salary. That's the median for all US workers, so it includes mid-career professionals, not just college students. There are people as smart and capable as you making less than $15/hour all across the country - and, for that matter, people who got laid off from those $15/hour jobs and didn't send their rent checks today. Have some perspective, be grateful that you're in such a fortunate position to begin with, and recognize this setback as the minor speedbump that it is.
- literallycancer 6y agoWhat's the median for lawyers, medical professionals, architects, civil engineers or logisticians?
- tfehring 6y agoProbably also much higher than the overall US median of $34k/year. What's your point?
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- throwaway139481 6y agoLyft employee here: I think part of the motivation for this is that internships are being conducted remotely, so interns do not have Bay Area living expenses. Another part of it obviously is that we're cutting costs due to the downturn (the layoffs and salary reductions for full-time employees were also part of that). This is not ideal, just explaining some of the rationale.
- munk-a 6y agoCan you provide a bit information about the general salary reductions? The snippet above doesn't mention or give any detail around those.
- throwaway139481 6y agoThat said, I'm sympathetic to your situation and wish we as a company could have done more for you. We're all going through a tough time right now.
- johntiger1 6y agoThanks for the sympathy, I don't blame Lyft. They always seem to try and do right by the employees (at least compared to their major competitor). But the financial hit is hard. And if they are squeezing the intern program like this, it really worries me about the future of the company (esp. full time and new grad roles).
- mattm 6y agoThe future for the company looked worrisome even before this. Like another commenter said internships are "terrible productivity/$". Companies look at it as an investment to be able to hire later on. If there's low chance of hiring later on then having interns doesn't make much sense anymore.
- duxup 6y agoFor the OP, if your are asking what you do as an intern, you do the internship for 8 weeks. It's an internship, it's something you do for experience and to get on your resume. Unless you think you can't survive on the resulting internship income, or unless you have a better offer... it would still seem to be in your best interest to do it.
- renewiltord 6y agoOh boy, that's rough. So that's a cut to 1/3rd of the total comp you would have made otherwise. Well, almost a decade ago when I interned in San Francisco I made less than 4000 dollars a month and stayed in a shared room with other kids. Haha, good times. Hard to remember those days. I bet with the hours I put in, I was actually close to SF's minimum wage. I think it's the duration cut that's really rough. I would have taken a shot at proving myself for rent+food alone.
- emit_time 6y agoThe internships are remote now, it sounds like.
- renewiltord 6y agoOh that's even more painful. Damn, that's unfortunate for the kids going in now.
- mattm 6y agoThis seems more like Lyft trying to actually do the right thing. Training junior engineers remotely is incredibly difficult not to mention interns. From a purely business point of view, the economical thing would have been to just cancel the internships. These interns will probably learn very little and they will be a burden to people who have to manage them since the employees workload will increase with the layoffs that have just occurred and all the uncertainty. I think Lyft should be commended for this move. Yes it sucks to the interns but things are not normal now.
- renewiltord 6y agoTo clarify, I'm more sympathising with the interns than blaming anyone. Obviously, in these trying times I understand the constraints companies are under.
- kosigz 6y agoLyft engineer here. I agree that this is an unfortunate turn of events — and I would be sad to be in your position. To add a bit more context: • we just parted ways with 23% of our staff (layoff + furlough) this week. • remaining team members are taking a 3 month 10% cut in base salary. • unlike many companies, we're still conducting our internship program — so it's good that you at least have the option to continue with your internship, unlike many others whose internships were canceled. At $9600 per month, Lyft had one of the highest salaries for an internship; $4800 per month is still a decent chunk of change, particularly as you don't have to be in Seattle, NYC, or San Francisco anymore. If you have other options, I think everyone would understand if you chose to pursue those instead. If not or if you choose to join us anyway, having an internship at Lyft can lead to a full-time offer and/or make you more competitive when applying for full-time jobs in the future. The real value of an internship is more-so in giving you practical experience rather than the compensation.
- yhoneycomb 6y agoVery well written post.
- Jommi 6y ago9600 per month for an internship? Is that pure cash? Jesus Christ no wonder new companies are basing their development somewhere else.
- dchyrdvh 6y agoAfter taxes, rent, bills and food that's 3000. And 4800 turns into 500. That's like a coffee budget.
- kyawzazaw 6y agosome places give additional housing stipend or corporate housing. And a lot of these companies have free food. let's not pretend it is merely a coffee budget. many people survive in Bay Area on less. Also, internship is probably gonna be remote.
- dzonga 6y agoone thing, I don't understand about these companies is why base your locations in super expensive cities i.e NY, SF, Seattle. And be hurting for cash. if lyft had focused on recruiting in low cost of living cities for decent engineers. & have a good remote program. they wouldn't be hurting for cash atm.
- apengwin 6y agoThey're based in expensive cities because it's where a lot of people want to live. Also they're relatively close to a lot of top colleges(Cal, Stanford, Columbia) , which makes it easy to recruit, and form partnerships with academic research groups
- Jommi 6y agoI don't think what you said is really defensible. Yes they might not be hurting _as much_ if they had majority of their operations based elsewhere. But I don't thi n you can say they wouldn't be hurting for cash at all. Also, you should check lyfts company page where they have offices. It's not just California.
- rocketpastsix 6y agoLook I'll be blunt: you handle this by being grateful. The alternative is that you could be without a job and a paycheck and struggling to figure out how to pay your bills. I live in Nashville. We got hit with a devastating tornado at the start of March that put a good number of people out of work followed by the safer at home order that increased the number of people out of work. Some of those people live in the same apartment I do and I see them struggling with how they will pay for things. You have a job, you have a paycheck and it sounds like you are remote so you get to work from hopefully a lower cost of living area. Save your money, sign up for You Need A Budget and learn where and how you can cut costs. This probably won't be the last time something like this happens. So instead of throwing a pity party, do the things needed to make this a non event. Things like living in a lower cost of living area, cutting your expenses, having a robust and resilient emergency fund and be grateful you still have a job while millions have no idea when they will go back to work or how they are going to pay their bills.
- bobbiechen 6y agoSorry to hear that. That's an interesting choice to make on Lyft's part, to cut duration and salary rather than cancel entirely. For the interns, I hope there's enough structure and guidance to make it worthwhile. I had an internship cancelled a few years ago, in 2017. Etsy replaced their CEO and laid off a large portion of their employees, and cancelled our internships along the way. The message to us was along the lines of, "It's not about the money; it's going to be chaotic around here for a little while, and it wouldn't be a good or useful experience as an intern." And they backed it up by paying out a stipend of a significant fraction of what the entire summer's pay would have been, which they really didn't have to do. At that time there was a bit of a scramble, but within a couple weeks all of us would-be interns got picked up by other companies, and looking back, this unlucky turn of events completely changed the course of my career, as I ended up interning with the SRE team at Squarespace and discovering a new world. I really respect Etsy in making the tough call at the time to cancel outright (and pay a stipend) instead of dragging things on. But of course, in today's environment where all companies are affected instead of just one, it seems much less likely that Lyft's interns would be able to find other internships. So maybe this halfway measure will work out better. Best of luck to the Lyft interns and their mentors - hopefully you can make the best of an unfortunate situation.
- n_sanity 6y agoEvery single other person I've heard from has had their internship cancelled. I'd consider yourself lucky that you merely got a paycut. And both my internships paid below yours (after paycut). The important piece of the internship is the experience, not the money.