4 ms·

Man, I feel bad for these people who were hired on for an experiment just to be dumped after a few months. That sucks.

darkstar999 12y ago
Every startup employee should know it's a risk.
jonknee 12y ago
It sucks, but it's also a great market to be a real estate broker and shouldn't be hard to find new work. Also, if you're ever hired on for an experiment it would be wise to assume you won't make a career out of it.
- austinlyons 12y ago
  I'm not sure the interviewee would know they are interviewing to join an "experimental" team.
austinlyons 12y ago
This "our idea didn't work out, so we are letting you go" probably happens more than we realize. Props to Jason for being open and honest about it.
- enjo 12y ago
  I've been in startups for about 15 years. One of the hardest things I've had to do was lay off 4 people we had just hired a month earlier. One of our partners had agreed to terms on a project that required us to staff up. When the project fell apart on their end the whole thing was cancelled. We just didn't have the budget at the time to keep those people on. It absolutely sucked. We tried to be generous with severance.. but these were people who had just turned down other jobs to take this one. We just kind of dumped them back into the market. It absolutely sucked. I vowed then and there to never hire people unless I was absolutely positive the money was in our bank account.
  - lucaspiller 12y ago
    This is one of the advantages of hiring contractors. They are used to the pump and dump, and if you really like them you can negotiate a longer term or permenant contract.
    - keithpeter 12y ago
      In the slightly stodgy public sector organisations I work in, using sessionally paid teaching staff to cover increased workloads is normal. If the workload increase becomes permanent, you can then advertise an established post. Seems prudent. Perhaps as someone round here suggested some time ago, you should treat these companies as film projects. A group of freelancers get hired in to complete a project then when their work finishes they go on to the next project?
- jsprogrammer 12y ago
  Open and honest after-the-fact is only marginally better than not. The important aspect is what was said during hiring.
pbreit 12y ago
Yes, it stinks, but SF/NYC real estate brokering is one of the more in-demand talents these days.
qeorge 12y ago
Definitely, I feel bad for them too. Getting fired/laid off sucks. But remember that the opposite scenario, where companies only hire folks when they are sure they have a permanent role for them, is far worse.
- tieTYT 12y ago
  Why is that worse? Also, isn't that the 37Signals way?
  - mooreds 12y ago
    It's worse because there are far fewer hires.
    - WalterSear 12y ago
      That's hardly a problem, these days.
      - mooreds 12y ago
        For developers, sure. For other professionals, the market is not white hot. From the article, it looks like it was mostly commercial brokers and brokerage supporting staff who were laid off. I don't know the job market in NYC, so I can't comment on how hard it will be for them to find another job (after they were hired in late 2014 for this one). As far as "the 37Signals way", that path isn't right (or even available) to every company.
        WalterSear 12y ago
        Good point. In my little bubble, everyone is a developer and never leaves the house without a large stick to beat off the hordes of roaming recruiters :)
    - qeorge 12y ago
      Yes, this is what I meant. We want companies to take a chance on people who might not have perfect resumes, or for new ventures that might not work out. This gives people without traditional bona fides a chance to prove themselves, and to get experience. I was only in the job market very briefly before giving up on the whole mess and starting a business. I didn't finish college, so it was brutal. The jobs I did get were non-traditional companies who took a chance on me. Sales jobs in particular will give anyone a chance to prove themselves. I came to deeply appreciate that.

Every startup employee should know it's a risk.

It sucks, but it's also a great market to be a real estate broker and shouldn't be hard to find new work. Also, if you're ever hired on for an experiment it would be wise to assume you won't make a career out of it.

austinlyons 12y ago
I'm not sure the interviewee would know they are interviewing to join an "experimental" team.

austinlyons 12y ago

This "our idea didn't work out, so we are letting you go" probably happens more than we realize. Props to Jason for being open and honest about it.

enjo 12y ago
I've been in startups for about 15 years. One of the hardest things I've had to do was lay off 4 people we had just hired a month earlier. One of our partners had agreed to terms on a project that required us to staff up. When the project fell apart on their end the whole thing was cancelled. We just didn't have the budget at the time to keep those people on. It absolutely sucked. We tried to be generous with severance.. but these were people who had just turned down other jobs to take this one. We just kind of dumped them back into the market. It absolutely sucked. I vowed then and there to never hire people unless I was absolutely positive the money was in our bank account.
- lucaspiller 12y ago
  This is one of the advantages of hiring contractors. They are used to the pump and dump, and if you really like them you can negotiate a longer term or permenant contract.
  - keithpeter 12y ago
    In the slightly stodgy public sector organisations I work in, using sessionally paid teaching staff to cover increased workloads is normal. If the workload increase becomes permanent, you can then advertise an established post. Seems prudent. Perhaps as someone round here suggested some time ago, you should treat these companies as film projects. A group of freelancers get hired in to complete a project then when their work finishes they go on to the next project?
jsprogrammer 12y ago
Open and honest after-the-fact is only marginally better than not. The important aspect is what was said during hiring.

pbreit 12y ago

Yes, it stinks, but SF/NYC real estate brokering is one of the more in-demand talents these days.

qeorge 12y ago

Definitely, I feel bad for them too. Getting fired/laid off sucks. But remember that the opposite scenario, where companies only hire folks when they are sure they have a permanent role for them, is far worse.

tieTYT 12y ago
Why is that worse? Also, isn't that the 37Signals way?
- mooreds 12y ago
  It's worse because there are far fewer hires.
  - WalterSear 12y ago
    That's hardly a problem, these days.
    - mooreds 12y ago
      For developers, sure. For other professionals, the market is not white hot. From the article, it looks like it was mostly commercial brokers and brokerage supporting staff who were laid off. I don't know the job market in NYC, so I can't comment on how hard it will be for them to find another job (after they were hired in late 2014 for this one). As far as "the 37Signals way", that path isn't right (or even available) to every company.
      - WalterSear 12y ago
        Good point. In my little bubble, everyone is a developer and never leaves the house without a large stick to beat off the hordes of roaming recruiters :)
  - qeorge 12y ago
    Yes, this is what I meant. We want companies to take a chance on people who might not have perfect resumes, or for new ventures that might not work out. This gives people without traditional bona fides a chance to prove themselves, and to get experience. I was only in the job market very briefly before giving up on the whole mess and starting a business. I didn't finish college, so it was brutal. The jobs I did get were non-traditional companies who took a chance on me. Sales jobs in particular will give anyone a chance to prove themselves. I came to deeply appreciate that.