Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by cyrusshepard 1344 days ago
Your comment seems to assume that 1) employment levels for software engineers is the same in India 2) that the OP has overstated the social stigma of layoffs in India, and finally 3) the current employment landscape that you find yourself in will last indefinitely.

Based on this, I suspect it's highly likely the hubris in this comment will not age well.

2 comments

1) India is the chief exporter of software engineering for the world. There are a billion people in India (or more). So naturally on a per-population basis the number will be lower. Given that there are nearly entire towns dedicated to tech services I doubt finding a new job is difficult for those that want one. Especially given how huge labor arbitrage is in the west right now.

2) No idea. My Indian contractor coworkers never seemed to care. It's the H1Bs that panic during a layoff (understandably).

3) I don't think it will, that's why I get mine while the gettin' is good and hopefully have enough to not worry about the future whenever the FAANGs finally succeed at driving wages into the ground. However, given there are nearly 4 jobs for every engineer currently in the field according to the BLS I'm not worried at all about the next decade. I'll just continue to stack cash and re-evaluate every once in a while.

Regarding 3), I believe that solving problems and creating systems will always be relevant.
True. In fact, at my last interview they looked hard at my resume and then asked, "And so why should we hire you?".

I snapped off my sunglasses and, trying to contain my annoyance, said, "Guys, I solve problems and create systems."

After a long moment of silence, they looked at each other and nodded in approval. The boss reached out his hand to shake mine. I was hired.

And I just happened to be in the next room filming this epic moment...which included a Rudy-style slow clap building to a frenzy.

https://media.tenor.com/L0RMEbQrLXwAAAAM/meme-sunglasses.gif

Most startups doing these layoffs are not really solving any real problems. Many are wrapping up existing solutions in a better UI/UX. Which might be nice to have in an upcycle, but in a downtrend, will be the first on the chopping block.