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Funny to contrast this with people boasting on HN not too long ago about job-hopping twice a year or more. Loyalty works both ways. After 40+ years programming

Funny to contrast this with people boasting on HN not too long ago about job-hopping twice a year or more. Loyalty works both ways. After 40+ years programming I never expect much stability or loyalty from employers, though it happens. The tech industry revolves around short-term results, growth at all costs, and pumping the share price, which can work out in the employee's favor, but can also lead to over-hiring and layoff cycles, projects staffed and abruptly canceled, "pivots" as dumb ideas get played out.

0-sodium 3y ago
Loyalty doesn't go both ways - many of my laid off colleagues had been with the company 10+ years and now are destitute in a very intense labor market.
- gregjor 3y ago
  I can't speak to individual situations. Many tech companies grew with unsustainable business models, over-hiring, and a focus on growth over sustainable profits. That was obvious over the last decade, the only question was when would the bubble burst. Now we know. I've been through a few boom & bust cycles and layoffs during my career. Some companies care about their employees, and some don't. Employers -- especially in tech -- know their people will jump if they get a better offer, so they treat them accordingly, as interchangeable cogs. Many employers don't value loyalty or their people despite their phony values and mission statements, nothing surprising there. Senior people with 10+ years still have options, the contraction will mostly hurt more junior people. But even seniors will have to reset their expectations: the adult day care/resort spa workplaces will disappear and people who want to get a job will have to look outside of the tech-oriented Silicon Valley sphere. I always fell back on enterprise logistics during tech industry busts -- boring compared to a hot startup, but reliable and profitable.

0-sodium 3y ago

Loyalty doesn't go both ways - many of my laid off colleagues had been with the company 10+ years and now are destitute in a very intense labor market.

gregjor 3y ago
I can't speak to individual situations. Many tech companies grew with unsustainable business models, over-hiring, and a focus on growth over sustainable profits. That was obvious over the last decade, the only question was when would the bubble burst. Now we know. I've been through a few boom & bust cycles and layoffs during my career. Some companies care about their employees, and some don't. Employers -- especially in tech -- know their people will jump if they get a better offer, so they treat them accordingly, as interchangeable cogs. Many employers don't value loyalty or their people despite their phony values and mission statements, nothing surprising there. Senior people with 10+ years still have options, the contraction will mostly hurt more junior people. But even seniors will have to reset their expectations: the adult day care/resort spa workplaces will disappear and people who want to get a job will have to look outside of the tech-oriented Silicon Valley sphere. I always fell back on enterprise logistics during tech industry busts -- boring compared to a hot startup, but reliable and profitable.