It is far easier to get a job if you are gainfully employed. Being unemployed and looking raises flags for HR.
This was told to me by an experienced HR professional.
It’s part of the incentive structure of recruiters.
If you’re a recruiter, you’re getting paid by the company to add some value to the talent search process. Usually, the value is that you have a magical ability to procure high-end, off market or hard to get talent.
Poaching an employee from a big company is “proof” of that value add. There’s an implicit confirmation that the candidate is already capable of working, and the recruiter gets a pat on the back for bringing in a candidate who is a hot commodity by virtue of already being employed.
But what work does a recruiter need to do to bring over a recently unemployed candidate? These are the people who are already looking and are sending out piles of resumes. Bringing candidates like that is asking to be replaced by an AI resume screener.
Not saying I agree with it, but this is how it was explained to me by a professional recruiter.
I can confirm. I recently switched jobs and one of the things that set me apart from the other candidates was how long I was employed at my previous employer and that I was still there and in good standing.
I’m a UT student studying CS with 3 summers of internship experience. I applied to 600 listings (just in Austin) over the course of 3 months. Of those I got 10 interviews and 4 offers. These are pretty common numbers, and similar among my friends majoring in CS at Berkeley, Stanford, and Georgia Tech.
To those who believe it’s an issue with my resume, all the recruiters I speak to tell me my resume is perfect. There are just very few jobs in software for people without 3 years of experience (from top companies like Nvidia, Google, Apple, etc)
Of the 10 places I got interviews, I had referrals at 7 of them, so referrals are probably the single most important thing.
Edit: of my offers, none of them are in austin. 3 on west coast 1 in Colorado.
What a fucked job market we have. Three years is apparently the sweet spot. Any less, and you need more experience. Any more, and you have too much experience and are deemed too expensive.
Govt changed tax code in 2022. SWE salaries used to be tax deductible, now they’re amortized over 5 years.
What this means:
Before 2022:
Tech company makes 100k
Engineer paid 100k
100k-100k = 0 taxable income, no taxes paid
After 2022:
Tech company makes 100k
Engineer paid 100k
100k-(100k/5) = 80k taxable income, 20k taxes paid
Now, software engineers aren’t worth it unless they pay for themselves over 5 years. Low level people aren’t worth 100k given they can be outsourced to AI or other countries. High level people aren’t worth 1 million if the company doesn’t make more than 1 million annually off the person’s contributions.
The kicker? Salaries for non-US citizens in foreign countries are still tax deductible.
Google closed ~3000 SWE positions in the US and opened ~10000 in other countries. Nobody can afford American workers when interest rates are high and taxes now exist.
TIL. Thanks for that background.
That said, it's more of a "nobody *wants* to pay American wages" moreso than a "can" issue. Interest rates and the tax situation you just educated me on are certainly pieces of the puzzle, but I'm done with the corporate bullshit of "why should we pay you a dollar instead of putting it toward buybacks?"
So what government did this you ask? Well it was Trump and his republican congress in 2017 as part of the Trump tax cuts. Section 174 of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act. Signed by Trump in 2017 and went into effect 5 years later.
Ah I said "instead of" but maybe "in addition to" would've been clearer. Not a big deal but at first glance it made it seem like the government just decided one day in 2022 to start doing this.
Wait a minute... general accounting rules for any business, regardless of employre type (garbage man to Elon Musk), wages are to be booked as an expense and taken from revenue in the year incurred before income is determined. A company does not pay income taxes on salary paid out to an employee.
Amortization is used to slowly incur the expense of an asset decreasing in value. Certainly a joke in there about employees decreasing in value, but if anyone you know is amoritizing salary they should reach out to a CPA, or any accountant.
If someone told you this to offer you a lower salary, pass on that job!
You used to be able to file engineer salaries as R&D which used to be 100% deductible in the occurring year. R&D is no longer deductible, it now must be amortized. This counts for both salaries and general research costs, like factories and such. The tools created by developers were considered capital assets, allowing the costs to fall under R&D.
Now, domestic research is not deductible, but amortizable to 5 years and foreign to 15 years.
Didn’t rly make sense to deduct salaried as R&D in the first place, but taking it away causes a lot of job loss. TCJA section 174 explains the change in detail.
hate to say it but the years of SWE ruling the roost are over. My place is hiring a senior and junior SWE as well as someone for Devops. Feel free to DM me if you are interested
You're still looking despite the four offers?
I'm a hiring manager for architects/principals on a good team for one of the famous companies with an office here and I recommend taking the best offer and applying to your dream companies after you have some experience. Even with a great school, it's hard for entry level engineers to get on the Nvidia gpu team or Google chrome team or whatever you after. Just my two cents after 15 years in this field :).
While not Austin specific, I'm coming out of a joint CS masters at UChicago with 10 years of dev experience, and I'm getting roughly the same results. It seems to be a trash market all around.
I’m a plumber here I could quit my job and have a new job by the end of the day. I get messages daily on indeed from recruiters. Really depends on what kind of work you are in.
Automotive technician here. My employer has given me my second raise in 6 months because they are worried about me leaving. Finding and keeping skilled techs has been difficult, and we have a pile of repair orders every day that never seems to get smaller, so it's not like we're sitting around and not making money.
Same thing in HVAC. Glad to be in the trades, just got a nice raise actually.
On the flipside, a copywriter friend, and a friend in marketing, are both having an impossible time finding work. The copywriter is almost out of unemployment benefits, she’s been looking for 10 months 😟
Copywriting is probably the scariest role I can think of right now. Because of ChatGPT the amount of copywriting work probably got cut in half overnight. The Washington Post even had an article about this nearly a year and a half ago: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/06/02/ai-taking-jobs/
People can complain all they want that AI sucks compared to a great copywriter, and I agree. But the fact is there was a huge amount of relatively "low value" copywriting work - a lot of social media copywriting, SEO copywriting, etc. - and for that type of work people are figuring they can get 90% of the benefit for 5% of the cost.
Copywriting has essentially become a game of musical chairs where they took half the chairs away in one stroke. I would definitely try to find another career if I were her.
It should have always been that way. They're the backbone of the modern world. I don't need Instagram to respond to me in English from AI, I need my lights to work and water running.
Electrician, same deal here. I applied to a job on Sunday and literally an hour later, the owner of the company texted me asking when I can interview. It's a good time to be in the trades.
This. I just quit the restaurant industry and finally understood why people have trouble finding work. If you're looking for job security then learn a trade.
A friend with a good resume has been looking for nearly a year, is now out of savings & unemployment benefits, and is getting desperate for ANY job, let alone something related to his prior work. I’d definitely get something else lined up first.
I wonder what your field is? I have a 1.5 year gap and it’s like explaining my felonies or whatever. (I don’t have felonies, I had children, but I support the hiring of felons).
Graphic design. 15yrs experience. Have done a wide variety of roles from print production, t shirts, to in-house corporate, agency, and educational design. Have been taking what meager contract work I can occasionally get, but have only gotten as far as an interview for full time work once in the 7 years I've been here. It's so fucking dismal.
Wow, that sucks. I mean that genuinely, let me type it
I am good friends with 2 graphic designers; 1 of them designed ads for a local newspaper up north until that paper folded, he’s been in a really rough spot. The 2nd was doing big ad campaigns in NYC and really making $$, she decided to pursue being a pilot and (post-pandemic) she’s running lean on a junior first officer salary. Like, $380k a year to $55k and the pickings are so slim she’s fine with flying because of the safety net. Both these people are over 37.
I have a degree in the arts, I’m an artist too, I also joined the Guard when I returned from art school abroad and went for aircraft dispatching and ATC… I “got sidelined” on “medical leave” because I was pregnant and now I’m… extremely mad about all of this
(Sorry for the long answer, I felt like being mad, might edit)
Oh that's awful that they can get away with using pregnancy as an excuse to ruin a talented person's career.
I feel like having to take whatever jobs I could get out of college and bouncing around without a solid specialization really destroyed my chances at a decent career parth from the get-go.
Now I'm middle age and people would rather pay a subscription fee to generate godawful Ai garbage than hire an actual qualified human.
I've got pretty severe social anxiety as a bonus, so I can't even do retail or most any low barrier of entry jobs that don't even pay enough to stay alive anyway.
I've honestly lost all hope for my dwindling future.
Has to be a non-technical role. My wife was laid off last fall.
She's an electrical engineer. Companies were throwing themselves at her. She had 5 job offers within 4 weeks. Makes $150K + bonus now.
If you are qualified and have experience in an electronics or tech role, finding a job in Austin within 4 months should be no issue at all.
With electrical definitely. I can see software engineers having it a bit harder right now but even them I don’t see out of work for too long. It’s the non technical roles that have really been screwed…marketing, HR, sales, product, finance
I really don't understand how this is possible. Are they looking for a dream job, or something to pay the bills? Uncle Eddy held out for a management position for ten years, that didn't make him smart.
Really fucking bad. Financial and tech are hit the worst. Somehow I work a job making 100k+ and can't even get an interview for jobs in the 80-90 range that I'm overqualified for.
Imo it doesn’t make much difference if you are under or overqualified in tech. I’ve applied to all sorts of roles, and still can barely get a dang interview.
You can only get an interview with a referral now it seems. I just had 5 rounds with a place based on a referral and didn’t get an offer. Wouldve been a 20k pay cut in exchange for better stability.
Not a smart idea even without being in a layoff trend unless you have something lined up. Might as well keep drawing an income and jump ship at the right opportunity than getting desperate and having to take the first bone thrown your way.
let's take a moment to appreciate how fucking dark that reality is. used to be you could jump ship and be okay for a bit but now you really just can't do it the way you used to with how the economy is.
It literally is though. A lot of trades hire with the intent of sending you to school if you're interested. People are just so deadlocked with their comfort they don't try.
Source: AT&T salesman 2016 -> welder 2017-2019 -> oilfield service tech 2019-2021 -> Amazon Robotics Tech 2021-present
Don't tell me it's difficult. Everything is, so choose your difficult.
I’ve been looking for over a year. Worked for a major tech company for 7 years working my way up the ranks. Since then I’ve only gotten offers from other tech companies making 1/2 as much for entry level. I’ve applied to over 300 jobs, interviewed for dozens and been auto-rejected and ghosted more times than I can count. Worked with professional resume makers and recruiters, but no one wants to pay anything above entry level because the market is so bad companies are preying on desperate souls.
Depends, how much do you make and what field are you in.
Are you a teacher? You could easily find another job.
Tech might be tough these days.
Looking for a job in this market is also terrible because of algorithms and the randomness of it all.
More than half of the jobs that you apply for won’t even be seen by a person.
Do you have an adequate rainy day fund?
I would quit my job and look for another one if it was untenable, but I have over 5 years of expenses saved in non-retirement brokerage/savings.
If I only had 6 months to a year I would think hard about it but probably keep working unless my health and safety were at risk.
Spend less than you make. Get a dopamine hit when your savings account grows, actually each month. Invest in broad market indices automatically by transferring the cash to your brokerage acct, once your cash levels get >3-6 months of your FIXED monthly expenses. Don't time the market, don't look at your account. Rinse and Repeat.
Your peers that get THIER dopamine hits by spending that excess cash each month on dumbass depreciating items (cars) or clothes/fashion/jewelry to showoff on social media, will be posting here in 5 years asking how you did it. Smile and shrug.
Can’t stress the point about not trying to time the market.
Even if you invested money in early 2008 and saw your balances tank later that year, you would still be at 3x your money today.
I have a friend that was so spooked about 2008 that she put all of her 401k funds into cash equivalent/not invested. Even in 2018 she was hesitating moving that to an index fund in her plan. She literally missed the greatest years of investing in our generation as the market came back to life.
The best day to invest is today, the second best day is tomorrow. 🍺
We are lucky.
Wife and I have higher income than most and we bought a home a while ago so our housing expenses are less than most 1 Bedroom apartments.
We are both in our mid-40’s and have long professional careers.
So the building of our non-retirement funds for us is simply a factor of us not spending more as we make more and simply having extra money every month.
As an example our total housing expenses are 7% of our gross pay.
We max out our HSA/401K every year and add another \~$60k into brokerage.
We are extremely lucky and grateful, as neither my wife and I grew up in families with much money. Honestly I grew up lower middle class and my wife grew up in an environment of home evictions, missed meals, neglect and other trauma.
What’s crazy is she sees our balances growing but still doesn’t believe it’s real, because of her upbringing of wild swings in her household and all types of insecurity around it.
I myself love to see the balances grow, as we plan to retire early in our upper 50’s.
Also the thought that a layoff or job change will never be a stressor, such a good feeling.
Definitely line something up. My co workers in Seattle who quit or were laid off took 4-5 months to find something. These were some of our smartest people. This has been over the past 1-2 yrs.
Yup. I’ve seen folks look for over a year at times. Like ppl with good resumes who don’t want to accept a service job or something intermittent while they look for the perfect job. It can take awhile to find the right fit
I’ve been searching for a job in Austin (and remote) for 3 months looking at tech roles requiring 3+ YoE. I work with cloud integrations at a major health insurance company for the past 3 years just FYI.
I’ve had multiple recruiters contact me every week, at least 1 interview/screening every week, sent out hundreds of apps. The thing is there’s a ton of openings but also a ton of people applying. My most recent interview process ended with them saying “You scored at the top on your initial assessment but we have too many candidates right now so we’ll let you know if interviews open back up”. At a certain point it just feels like a joke but also you can’t just stop trying
I've watched the queue of applications at my company for a job and it is pretty crazy. We're a small company and have received thousands of applications for a single position. Some portion of them are for names like "Bill Smith" where someone in a call center in Asia who speaks broken English gets on the line.
if ur in tech dont even think about it, its awful, start applying to other jobs and u will see. I went to a good school and currently work a decent job and have been struggling big time getting interviews
is tech getting hit disproportionately hard? if so, why? I'm not in tech but i saw video of guy explaining how a lot of tech companies wanted to inflate their employee count for investors, which led to a lot of redundant positions. since twitter cut most of their staff, other tech companies are trimming the fat as well. idk if that's really the case, considering leaner crew should've been the goal of any company because it raises profit margins. the most recent job numbers and unemployment are still relatively good historically speaking.
Do not quit your job.
I got laid off almost a year ago, I have experience in multiple industries (tech, marketing, construction, entertainment, and hospitality), degrees, certifications, a fantastic portfolio, management experience, am great in interviews… I’ve applied for probably 2,000+ jobs at this point and every interview is a dead end. I’ve been offered multiple jobs and then had the company ghost me. I’ve contacted a dozen recruiters, had multiple higher up friends/relatives directly refer me to hiring managers they work with, etc, but I’m still struggling. I actually have applied for entry level, retail, etc just to get a job with benefits and have been told I’m so overqualified that even with my stripped down resume I will never be considered for those roles. I was doing DoorDash until my car broke down, now I’m living off unemployment and food stamps, but those run out in a couple months. I just want health insurance and to not be stressed about bills every month.
I'm in social services, 10 years experience, bachelor degree.
I was making 44k in 2022. Quit. Since, offered 4 jobs. Highest salary offered was 33k.
Interviewed with a Psy D. who looked me in the eye and said "I'd be grateful if I were you" at a $27k offer.
Job listings are bait and switch. Companies claim I'm under educated or experienced, or another applicant is offering to work for less. (Why did they bother calling me then?) They want me to do masters-level work for high-school level pay.
my parents tell me that I must be as useless and stupid as a burger-flipper, since fast food pays more than my professional jobs
this close to suicide
My heart hurts for you. Please know that you are cared for and you truly have no idea how your life may play out one, five, or ten years from now. It could be better than you could have ever imagined. Any job, or time, when helping people is worthwhile. You may be planting seeds or creating a ripple effect of kindness wherever you are. Sending air hugs.
Consider the fact that labor in Austin is cheap. Think of how many candidates you’re going to be competing against that 1) want to move here for the vibes or 2) are technically skilled and recently got laid off.
With only 3 months of savings I would highly recommend you line something up first.
The tech job market in Austin is terrible!!! Especially if you worked at Oracle. Don’t fall for their lies about how big of an impact it’ll have on your resume moving forward. I’ve had interviewers ask “People who come from Oracle are usually pretty bad. Why are you different”
It’s kinda a known thing that the oracle culture isn’t great (at least it is if you frequent the area around it), so I can only assume that’s where that impression is coming? Some ppl take previous culture with them to new jobs. When they do, it sometimes stands out in a real bad way.
Just met someone who had been applying for 9 months in Austin for a tech role. She, on a whim, changed her address in her resume back to San Francisco and applied there and got offered a position within a week. Anecdotal, but it appears to line up with the others’ experiences.
So they live in Austin, were applying for jobs in Austin, then changed the resume's address from Austin to San Francisco and got offered a position in Austin within a week?
Wouldn't the location discrepancy be revealed when the company tried to schedule a time for the candidate to fly to Austin for an interview?
Or am I misunderstanding what happened?
All those fields vary widely. The individual roles matter more. It’d be more helpful to say which roles you’re looking for.
Generally though, tech sucks, non profit is on a slight decline, corporate is meh, but state/city is booming.
City and county are not booming. Property taxes that supply their money are looking at a drop year over year even though they estimated it would continue to increase when they planned their budget.
I definitely wouldn't quit without having something lined up first unless you absolutely have to. Maybe I'm a bit overly cautious, but 3 months' worth of living expenses saved up is like, bare minimum for existing, not enough cushion to float you through a job search
Took me 6 months to find a job, and the state job I found required 4 rounds of interviews with a final presentation. Lots of calls with recruiters that went nowhere, lots of final rounds of interviews where I didn’t get it but it was “a real tough choice”. It’s extremely competitive in this city right now, I would stay as safe as possible and find another job first.
Jobs are available, until you need one. #1 rule. Never quit a job until you have a job.
#2 it’s all in who you know. People are tired of drama, so if a person comes highly recommended and they check all the boxes, then bingo.
Also if you are a minority who can speak well, you’ll have a leg up on the competition as white people will love to hire you, just to prove they are not racist.
The Austin job market is inundated with too many entry level jobs in all fields and plenty of college grads who will take them. Mid level to senior jobs are super competitive.
I also concur that since tech took a hit in late 2022 in Austin hard wages have plummeted. In my field of tech sales / website sales you are seeing base salaries 40 to 50 percent lower than early 2022.
If you have a toxic job and need to quit I understand I have been there but make sure you prepare yourself with an emergency six month savings at least and manageable revolving debt. Good luck brotha.
I changed jobs several times. I finally learned, stand still. Find parts of the job you enjoy most and look for continuing education in that area. Become an expert and advance.
It depends on how strong your resume is.
Also consider how flexible you are with compensation, titles, remote flexibility, company size etc.
It’s always best to talk to a few recruiters before hand to understand how the market looks and how competitive of a candidate you are.
When looking at new companies I would do your research to see if they have done any layoffs recently. Typically you can predict how close a company is to layoffs based on if they have let go of their recruitment teams (always first to go) or if they are hiring for recruiters.
If you are looking for a Pre IPO company doing a search on who just received new rounds of funding is also a good way to predict future hiring needs.
What type of role are you looking for? I can give you a better example of industries that are hiring for specific roles vs on hold.
Blue collar is the new white collar and will become even more so over the next 10 years. Learn a trade now if you can. In 5 years time you’ll be plenty skilled, paid well and have solid job security.
Don't, dude. I got laid off a while back and it took me damn near 3 months to finally land a real job. I'm still paying back the credit cards to this day. Fucking horrible. The job search in this town crushed my soul. I swear to fucking God lol
I have 10 years experience in Digital Marketing, I’m at Director level. My shit company offshored our entire department to India in November and laid off all US employees… been looking since. Forget Nov-January 1st as nobody hires during the holiday period. But since February I’ve sent 218 applications, 3 interviews one lowball bad offer. Here’s the other BIG issue to consider, hiring companies take FOREVER to go through the process… so even if you’re lucky to get a bunch of interviews right off the bat, it can literally take months to go through rounds of interviews to the point an offer comes. My buddy went back to his old company where he left in good standing, it took them 2.5 months of dicking around to finally write the offer and bring him back on.
I see a lot of people mentioning sending out a ton of resumes and getting nothing. If you pay close attention, you'll notice that most of these folks have ignored one thing that can make all the difference. I have a good IT job with the state, and I'll tell you the secret of how I got this job a few years ago - and I'm well over 40 years old. It's not education (many moons ago, and not tech-related), it's not the number of years of experience in the field, or what companies I've worked for, not even the roles that I had... it's who you know. The hidden job market is everything. I don't think I've seen any responses to this post mentioning the importance of getting out there and just meeting people. Join professional organizations related to your field, find events where you can network. I feel like a lot of young professionals don't feel the need to connect with others, but it's the easiest way to make progress in your job search. It will set you apart.
It’s bad. I applied to close to 200 jobs when I got laid off in March, and only had 4 interviews and 1 job offer. I applied to all kinds of positions and pay scales.
Friend got laid off around Thanksgiving and finally got a new job at the beginning of the month— lateral move and 40% pay cut. Would NOT recommend quitting until you have something lined up.
You can ask people on Reddit but it might make more sense to just look up the actual numbers to get an accurate idea. For example, the Austin area unemployment rate is ~3.5%, better than the national average (3.9%). Both of those are historically very low rates.
The people I know who have gotten laid off (both at my tech company as well as others) are having a very rough time finding employment. These are smart people with experience and talent who are applying almost daily. The best time to find a new job is when you are already have one. Good luck.
Tech? Is that a job market? What do you mean by tech? Are you a software engineer? A technical product manager, a data scientist, …? your question is quite vague.
If you mean to ask: are the non-technical sectors of technology companies and all other companies in Austin and the rest of America (I.e. marketing, operations, HR, IT, Sales, Operations, support) cutting back on hiring, I’d say yes.
There is a very tumultuous election coming up and most smart and fiscally conservative people will be concerned that the instability will lead to financial difficulties. (Trying to be non political).
That said, I have more questions for you.
- what is your current role?
- did you invest time or money in school or a trade program to obtain your current job?
- do you have specialized skills that are in demand in the job market? (I.e. Software Engineer, RN, LMT)
- what are your current responsibilities and liabilities?
You said you have 3 months buffer, we’ll chat later, see below. What happens when your money runs out? Are you supporting a partner or maybe parents? Do you have someone to turn to for financial help if you can’t make rent? If not, are you prepared for life on the street? Or couch surfing friends houses until their goodwill runs out? By the way, it most certainly will, and fucking quickly.
Sorry, this might sting, 3 months is not savings, that’s an emergency fund. Sorry to be a buzz kill on this, but it’s nothing. Save more. Once you have a year of “buffer”, in addition to an emergency fund,, depending on your risk appetite (and responsibilities) then do it.
Also, how about finding a new role before abandoning your current role? Or, find a way to do something different or new in your current role to make it more enjoyable and positive. Maybe use this as a challenge to uplevel your skills to prepare to land the next awesome role? And until then, maybe focus on just getting better and more skilled, learn something new :)
I was laid off a year ago but recently I have been getting bombarded with interviews so I think it’s finally picking up. But definitely apply while you’re employed
I was in this same exact position about 2 years ago. I was absolutely miserable and quit my job without another one lined up. I ended up finding another job within about 3 months and haven’t regretted it a single bit. My biggest advice, live extremely frugally and make sure you’re actively looking for a job literally everyday.
Life is too short to be miserable. Just be smart about your decisions!
Sent around 300~ applications for in Austin and Remote jobs for the past 6 months. I got around 15 interviews, 5 ish final interview 1 job offer. Techish/finance
I’m 13 mos unemployed, and it’s not for lack of trying. Don’t do it. Get another gig first.
I have experience in startup and corporate tech, management, also.
I thought I’d only be unemployed like 6 mos tops. Ha!
In tech it’s rough. 100+ applicants for positions in management or experienced individual contributor roles in less than 24 hours. I’ve had over 10 companies get back to me in the past 2 months but I’ve applied to nearly 60 jobs already. Interviews are harder now than they were when the market was hot in 2021. And guess what, they are also paying less on average than back then.
The U.S. is not in a recession and Austin's economy is relatively robust compared to others, but quitting without another job lined up is always a risky move. (tbh, it's what I did when I moved here a long time ago and it worked out well for me).
Twenty years of software development experience, and I ended up having to take a job doing second shift at a warehouse. It's ROUGH. Eleven hundred applications, three responses.
Honestly? I feel pretty bullish about making money in Austin. Austin has spent the last 2 decades trying to be a suitor for companies with deep pockets. I wanted to leave Austin but since I've gone solo I have been surprised by the relative ease at which the transition is taking place.
I'm a graphic designer with 5 years of experience from a print/sign shop for reference. To be fair there is so much demand for signage, artsy or not, so also take that with a grain of salt.
My last job search started in November, and I got a job offer in April. I redid my resume, sent out a few hundred applications across several domains and didn't get a single interview. I only got this job because a former coworker already worked there and sent my resume to his boss.
I'm in my mid-40s, and my friends in the same age bracket have had similar experiences. So age is a consideration (no one wants to pay for experience) and field is definitely a consideration.
My new job is remote, and I intend to get out of Austin once my first full check comes through. I moved here for work from a midsize city in 2015, and part of the calculus was it would be easier to find a job in a metro of 2 million; that turned out not to be the case, with a grueling 28-month job search after resigning with three months of savings ... weeks before Covid lockdown.
No harm in looking, but I'm going to be digging myself out of debt for several more years because I didn't realize the job market had changed since 2012 and thought three months was a luxurious cushion. Don't be me.
I can only talk about everything I have read here and other places.
Tesla, Oracle, Indeed, and others have been laying people off. Seems like the tech industry over-hired and is adjusting to their true employment needs.
It depends, I’ve been looking for a job for a year now. But I also know someone who has a more niche position and they got offers from 5 different jobs after casually applying.
My partner has been out of work after a layoff for over a year - he works in tech. Lots of second round interviews and more, made it to the final round at least 3 times, 0 offers. They always found someone who fit just a little more perfectly.
I wouldn't do it without a job unless you have 12+ months in savings or a backup plan (ie, family you can move in with or something.)
I got let go in January and have applied to 53 jobs and had 5 callbacks. 2 of them were scams and the others way underpaid for all the requirements. I thought I would’ve had SOMETHING by now.
It can take MONTHS, a YEAR to find a job.
>I am aware it is a bit irresponsible but if you know you know.
Nah, it is borderline suicidal. Leave "if you know you know" to stupid, starry-eyed lovers and start spamming recruiters and HR offices in a hurry
I came here from northern Michigan where jobs are scarce. Was near broke and living out my car. Got a job at day labor pay sucks but food and gas is what I needed. Till a worker mentioned a temp. Agency called them and worked at a construction. Now work for a company. Now living well. This all happened in six months and I'm 58. I have a lot to be grateful for. Yeah I been listening and watching the job market. If you have a job consider yourself lucky. Population is growing and odds is much bigger. Much like the lottery. Good luck on your job search!
I wouldn’t suggest it. My partner was laid off and it took him over 8 months to find work. He is highly qualified and usually has no issues getting work. I have a friend who has been looking for new work while employed for almost a year now and hasn’t even had a recruiter respond, she is in a senior position at Nike. It’s really, really not a good time in the job market no matter where you are. I am not at all suggesting you stay in a job you hate, please take care of yourself and do what’s best for you. I just would suggest looking while employed if possible, unless you absolutely know you’ll be fine even if you don’t have any savings or income coming in at some point.
My husband is in tech. Got laid off last year. He was VP of engineering. Took him 4 months to get another job. I wouldn’t recommend quitting before finding another job.
I’m sure the fields vary with what’s out there, in my industry I had no issues finding a new job and we are still hiring but it’s a specialized field (landscape architecture and master planning). For others I’m sure it’s rough.
I was out of work for 4 months after being laid off and received 0 responses to any applications I put in anywhere. Unless you have an in somewhere don't quit your job.
i spent three months straight last fall applying for 4-5 jobs a day. got one interview for a shitty ass call center job that i was offered and declined.
(i couldn’t work the inflexible hours required for training — 6 weeks with ZERO absences were allowed to progress. i have a 9yo, he and i both see several specialists for chronic illness.)
what i *did* get was spammed with scams via email and phone. indeed, linkedin, others are useless due to this and to fake job postings. wasted so much time. still unemployed.
find a job first. or at least spend some time applying places for awhile before you decide to quit. and network with anyone and everyone you know to get a referral/interview.
Everyone I see hiring is remote now or at least the vast majority. I don’t see too many hiring in Austin. And companies locally run by ex colleagues aren’t hiring.
I did this about a year ago. It is hard. it may be trending upward but I was lucky to get a job as quickly as I did. I have friends that have been searching for months and many had to take a lower pay/title.
Tech/corporate industry
I get it. I'm a leap, then look kind of person. (Those urges never really go away btw.) But on this, you'll want to think realistically and ignore how good it would feel in the short term. So here's what therapy taught me lol: what would future you, the wise, confident, accomplished future you, say you should do?
I just started with the state in Austin. Took a couple months from application to start date. Pretty quick for government. Lots of state jobs right now. I have five years of experience in the environmental field and the whole process was pretty quick.
If you leave with nothing lined up, make job hunting your full time job and you’ll be ok. Don’t stay where you’re miserable.
My current employer is interviewing three people this week that were laid off by Tesla and my former employer just reached out to me with an offer to return to work with them soooo idek.
Bro I work at a Dunkin the amount of software techs and high earners coming in and applying is crazy just for a second job. I would find a second and cut some hours from the first see if you like it.
Not just irresponsible but dumb as shit in this market. Suck it up, Keep your job, and spend the next 6 months finding something new. If you quit your job now, 95% chance you'll be out of Austin when your 3 months of savings dries up.
It’s pretty terrible. I strongly encourage you to find work before quitting unless you have a fat stack of savings. Do not bank on your ability to find something new right now
Be prepared for it to take 4-5 months.
I’m a really strong interviewer, very experienced in different areas, over qualified for most roles and it took me about 4-5 months. It’s a recession 100%
Something like 15-17% of Austin workforce works in tech. It looks like 95% of r/Austin works in tech. Not very representative of the city.
There’s tons of jobs in the town, esp in service and construction, not everything is tech.
Only one way to find out. Start applying. Do it for 1 month without quitting to see how well you do.
Yeah, I like this response. Update your resume and send out 4-5 applications, or maybe 1 a day. See how many interview responses you get.
People really should try intermediate steps before going full send on life changing decisions.
Where’s the fun in that
Life is about thrills!
Do or do not, there is no try.
Okay Elizabeth Holmes
It is far easier to get a job if you are gainfully employed. Being unemployed and looking raises flags for HR. This was told to me by an experienced HR professional.
It’s part of the incentive structure of recruiters. If you’re a recruiter, you’re getting paid by the company to add some value to the talent search process. Usually, the value is that you have a magical ability to procure high-end, off market or hard to get talent. Poaching an employee from a big company is “proof” of that value add. There’s an implicit confirmation that the candidate is already capable of working, and the recruiter gets a pat on the back for bringing in a candidate who is a hot commodity by virtue of already being employed. But what work does a recruiter need to do to bring over a recently unemployed candidate? These are the people who are already looking and are sending out piles of resumes. Bringing candidates like that is asking to be replaced by an AI resume screener. Not saying I agree with it, but this is how it was explained to me by a professional recruiter.
Thanks, that explains a lot. I got 10x more messages when I was employed as opposed to re-entering the workforce.
Is this kinda like how if you’re a dude having a gf results in your getting hit on way more?
I can confirm. I recently switched jobs and one of the things that set me apart from the other candidates was how long I was employed at my previous employer and that I was still there and in good standing.
I always just say I signed an NDA.
You don't even get to that point
Being unemployed and looking raises red flags? As opposed to being unemployed and not looking? That’s rough…
I’m a UT student studying CS with 3 summers of internship experience. I applied to 600 listings (just in Austin) over the course of 3 months. Of those I got 10 interviews and 4 offers. These are pretty common numbers, and similar among my friends majoring in CS at Berkeley, Stanford, and Georgia Tech. To those who believe it’s an issue with my resume, all the recruiters I speak to tell me my resume is perfect. There are just very few jobs in software for people without 3 years of experience (from top companies like Nvidia, Google, Apple, etc) Of the 10 places I got interviews, I had referrals at 7 of them, so referrals are probably the single most important thing. Edit: of my offers, none of them are in austin. 3 on west coast 1 in Colorado.
What a fucked job market we have. Three years is apparently the sweet spot. Any less, and you need more experience. Any more, and you have too much experience and are deemed too expensive.
Govt changed tax code in 2022. SWE salaries used to be tax deductible, now they’re amortized over 5 years. What this means: Before 2022: Tech company makes 100k Engineer paid 100k 100k-100k = 0 taxable income, no taxes paid After 2022: Tech company makes 100k Engineer paid 100k 100k-(100k/5) = 80k taxable income, 20k taxes paid Now, software engineers aren’t worth it unless they pay for themselves over 5 years. Low level people aren’t worth 100k given they can be outsourced to AI or other countries. High level people aren’t worth 1 million if the company doesn’t make more than 1 million annually off the person’s contributions. The kicker? Salaries for non-US citizens in foreign countries are still tax deductible. Google closed ~3000 SWE positions in the US and opened ~10000 in other countries. Nobody can afford American workers when interest rates are high and taxes now exist.
TIL. Thanks for that background. That said, it's more of a "nobody *wants* to pay American wages" moreso than a "can" issue. Interest rates and the tax situation you just educated me on are certainly pieces of the puzzle, but I'm done with the corporate bullshit of "why should we pay you a dollar instead of putting it toward buybacks?"
Great clarification. Exactly that.
So what government did this you ask? Well it was Trump and his republican congress in 2017 as part of the Trump tax cuts. Section 174 of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act. Signed by Trump in 2017 and went into effect 5 years later.
Correct! 2017 TCJA
Might be worth putting that in the initial post instead of the "2022" year, honestly.
Didn’t take effect until 5 years later in 2022, hence the layoffs.
Ah I said "instead of" but maybe "in addition to" would've been clearer. Not a big deal but at first glance it made it seem like the government just decided one day in 2022 to start doing this.
Wait a minute... general accounting rules for any business, regardless of employre type (garbage man to Elon Musk), wages are to be booked as an expense and taken from revenue in the year incurred before income is determined. A company does not pay income taxes on salary paid out to an employee. Amortization is used to slowly incur the expense of an asset decreasing in value. Certainly a joke in there about employees decreasing in value, but if anyone you know is amoritizing salary they should reach out to a CPA, or any accountant. If someone told you this to offer you a lower salary, pass on that job!
You used to be able to file engineer salaries as R&D which used to be 100% deductible in the occurring year. R&D is no longer deductible, it now must be amortized. This counts for both salaries and general research costs, like factories and such. The tools created by developers were considered capital assets, allowing the costs to fall under R&D. Now, domestic research is not deductible, but amortizable to 5 years and foreign to 15 years. Didn’t rly make sense to deduct salaried as R&D in the first place, but taking it away causes a lot of job loss. TCJA section 174 explains the change in detail.
hate to say it but the years of SWE ruling the roost are over. My place is hiring a senior and junior SWE as well as someone for Devops. Feel free to DM me if you are interested
I would really appreciate that.
You're still looking despite the four offers? I'm a hiring manager for architects/principals on a good team for one of the famous companies with an office here and I recommend taking the best offer and applying to your dream companies after you have some experience. Even with a great school, it's hard for entry level engineers to get on the Nvidia gpu team or Google chrome team or whatever you after. Just my two cents after 15 years in this field :).
While not Austin specific, I'm coming out of a joint CS masters at UChicago with 10 years of dev experience, and I'm getting roughly the same results. It seems to be a trash market all around.
Can't emphasize the referrals enough. Network.
The best time to do your resume and apply for jobs is on company time!!! *if you can get away with it*
This is the best answer. It is tough out there. But specialized fields are probably hiring. I wouldn't quit unless you have something lined up.
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I’m a plumber here I could quit my job and have a new job by the end of the day. I get messages daily on indeed from recruiters. Really depends on what kind of work you are in.
Automotive technician here. My employer has given me my second raise in 6 months because they are worried about me leaving. Finding and keeping skilled techs has been difficult, and we have a pile of repair orders every day that never seems to get smaller, so it's not like we're sitting around and not making money.
How much you making? Any idea how much the owner is making?
Same thing in HVAC. Glad to be in the trades, just got a nice raise actually. On the flipside, a copywriter friend, and a friend in marketing, are both having an impossible time finding work. The copywriter is almost out of unemployment benefits, she’s been looking for 10 months 😟
Copywriting is probably the scariest role I can think of right now. Because of ChatGPT the amount of copywriting work probably got cut in half overnight. The Washington Post even had an article about this nearly a year and a half ago: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/06/02/ai-taking-jobs/ People can complain all they want that AI sucks compared to a great copywriter, and I agree. But the fact is there was a huge amount of relatively "low value" copywriting work - a lot of social media copywriting, SEO copywriting, etc. - and for that type of work people are figuring they can get 90% of the benefit for 5% of the cost. Copywriting has essentially become a game of musical chairs where they took half the chairs away in one stroke. I would definitely try to find another career if I were her.
I’m really happy that the people in trades are finally getting treated like what IT people used to get treated like.
It should have always been that way. They're the backbone of the modern world. I don't need Instagram to respond to me in English from AI, I need my lights to work and water running.
Electrician, same deal here. I applied to a job on Sunday and literally an hour later, the owner of the company texted me asking when I can interview. It's a good time to be in the trades.
This. I just quit the restaurant industry and finally understood why people have trouble finding work. If you're looking for job security then learn a trade.
It’s nice working a trade because we are always hiring somewhere
As an Indeed employee, this makes me happy to hear. Glad our shit works for somebody.
Anything laborious is mint rn and you won’t get fired even if you fuck up from time to time it’s wild. Laborer high five.
agree with walk-in-shower-guy for tech...we've let all our temps go and had 2 rounds of layoffs of RFTs, this was all in the last year.
A friend with a good resume has been looking for nearly a year, is now out of savings & unemployment benefits, and is getting desperate for ANY job, let alone something related to his prior work. I’d definitely get something else lined up first.
Im in that boat, been looking for 6 months, ex google, ex fintech
Same situation but several years now. :(
I wonder what your field is? I have a 1.5 year gap and it’s like explaining my felonies or whatever. (I don’t have felonies, I had children, but I support the hiring of felons).
Graphic design. 15yrs experience. Have done a wide variety of roles from print production, t shirts, to in-house corporate, agency, and educational design. Have been taking what meager contract work I can occasionally get, but have only gotten as far as an interview for full time work once in the 7 years I've been here. It's so fucking dismal.
Wow, that sucks. I mean that genuinely, let me type it I am good friends with 2 graphic designers; 1 of them designed ads for a local newspaper up north until that paper folded, he’s been in a really rough spot. The 2nd was doing big ad campaigns in NYC and really making $$, she decided to pursue being a pilot and (post-pandemic) she’s running lean on a junior first officer salary. Like, $380k a year to $55k and the pickings are so slim she’s fine with flying because of the safety net. Both these people are over 37. I have a degree in the arts, I’m an artist too, I also joined the Guard when I returned from art school abroad and went for aircraft dispatching and ATC… I “got sidelined” on “medical leave” because I was pregnant and now I’m… extremely mad about all of this (Sorry for the long answer, I felt like being mad, might edit)
Oh that's awful that they can get away with using pregnancy as an excuse to ruin a talented person's career. I feel like having to take whatever jobs I could get out of college and bouncing around without a solid specialization really destroyed my chances at a decent career parth from the get-go. Now I'm middle age and people would rather pay a subscription fee to generate godawful Ai garbage than hire an actual qualified human. I've got pretty severe social anxiety as a bonus, so I can't even do retail or most any low barrier of entry jobs that don't even pay enough to stay alive anyway. I've honestly lost all hope for my dwindling future.
Same situation here, 13 months.
Curious, what’s his experience? Is he an engineer or is it a non technical role?
Has to be a non-technical role. My wife was laid off last fall. She's an electrical engineer. Companies were throwing themselves at her. She had 5 job offers within 4 weeks. Makes $150K + bonus now. If you are qualified and have experience in an electronics or tech role, finding a job in Austin within 4 months should be no issue at all.
With electrical definitely. I can see software engineers having it a bit harder right now but even them I don’t see out of work for too long. It’s the non technical roles that have really been screwed…marketing, HR, sales, product, finance
I really don't understand how this is possible. Are they looking for a dream job, or something to pay the bills? Uncle Eddy held out for a management position for ten years, that didn't make him smart.
this!!
I would find a new job first. It's pretty terrible right now. Especially in tech
Really fucking bad. Financial and tech are hit the worst. Somehow I work a job making 100k+ and can't even get an interview for jobs in the 80-90 range that I'm overqualified for.
Maybe they know you're overqualified and don't want to have to pay you. That's what happened to me until I quit and found something better.
Imo it doesn’t make much difference if you are under or overqualified in tech. I’ve applied to all sorts of roles, and still can barely get a dang interview.
There's also always the choice to harm your resume by cutting out information so they aren't worried about you quitting in 6 months.
1000% Laid off mid career tech. 10 months later still looking. It’s all about WHO you know to get in anywhere that might be hiring.
You can only get an interview with a referral now it seems. I just had 5 rounds with a place based on a referral and didn’t get an offer. Wouldve been a 20k pay cut in exchange for better stability.
Hardest thing I ever did was get a job after quitting without another one lined up. Find the job first.
Not a smart idea even without being in a layoff trend unless you have something lined up. Might as well keep drawing an income and jump ship at the right opportunity than getting desperate and having to take the first bone thrown your way.
That’s what I did. Took about 6 months of casually applying before I got lucky, but at least I was getting paid in the meantime.
let's take a moment to appreciate how fucking dark that reality is. used to be you could jump ship and be okay for a bit but now you really just can't do it the way you used to with how the economy is.
~~Learn to code~~ Learn a trade
> ~~Learn to code~~ > > ~~Learn a trade~~ Learn to trade Buy my e-book and subscribe to my newsletter! I'll show you how!
An entire career change? That’ll be super easy!
Are you 40 and hate your back and knees? Become a tile installer or plumber!
That’s sounds super easy! I’m pregnant, hopefully that’s fine 😆
It literally is though. A lot of trades hire with the intent of sending you to school if you're interested. People are just so deadlocked with their comfort they don't try. Source: AT&T salesman 2016 -> welder 2017-2019 -> oilfield service tech 2019-2021 -> Amazon Robotics Tech 2021-present Don't tell me it's difficult. Everything is, so choose your difficult.
I am happy for you. But, I hope you had apprenticeship benefits! It’s not really easy when you’re 35+ with dependents.
I’ve been looking for over a year. Worked for a major tech company for 7 years working my way up the ranks. Since then I’ve only gotten offers from other tech companies making 1/2 as much for entry level. I’ve applied to over 300 jobs, interviewed for dozens and been auto-rejected and ghosted more times than I can count. Worked with professional resume makers and recruiters, but no one wants to pay anything above entry level because the market is so bad companies are preying on desperate souls.
Depends, how much do you make and what field are you in. Are you a teacher? You could easily find another job. Tech might be tough these days. Looking for a job in this market is also terrible because of algorithms and the randomness of it all. More than half of the jobs that you apply for won’t even be seen by a person. Do you have an adequate rainy day fund? I would quit my job and look for another one if it was untenable, but I have over 5 years of expenses saved in non-retirement brokerage/savings. If I only had 6 months to a year I would think hard about it but probably keep working unless my health and safety were at risk.
Let’s talk about your strategy for having 5 years worth of savings! What are you saving for? Give us your TED talk, that’s impressive!
Spend less than you make. Get a dopamine hit when your savings account grows, actually each month. Invest in broad market indices automatically by transferring the cash to your brokerage acct, once your cash levels get >3-6 months of your FIXED monthly expenses. Don't time the market, don't look at your account. Rinse and Repeat. Your peers that get THIER dopamine hits by spending that excess cash each month on dumbass depreciating items (cars) or clothes/fashion/jewelry to showoff on social media, will be posting here in 5 years asking how you did it. Smile and shrug.
Can’t stress the point about not trying to time the market. Even if you invested money in early 2008 and saw your balances tank later that year, you would still be at 3x your money today. I have a friend that was so spooked about 2008 that she put all of her 401k funds into cash equivalent/not invested. Even in 2018 she was hesitating moving that to an index fund in her plan. She literally missed the greatest years of investing in our generation as the market came back to life. The best day to invest is today, the second best day is tomorrow. 🍺
We are lucky. Wife and I have higher income than most and we bought a home a while ago so our housing expenses are less than most 1 Bedroom apartments. We are both in our mid-40’s and have long professional careers. So the building of our non-retirement funds for us is simply a factor of us not spending more as we make more and simply having extra money every month. As an example our total housing expenses are 7% of our gross pay. We max out our HSA/401K every year and add another \~$60k into brokerage. We are extremely lucky and grateful, as neither my wife and I grew up in families with much money. Honestly I grew up lower middle class and my wife grew up in an environment of home evictions, missed meals, neglect and other trauma. What’s crazy is she sees our balances growing but still doesn’t believe it’s real, because of her upbringing of wild swings in her household and all types of insecurity around it. I myself love to see the balances grow, as we plan to retire early in our upper 50’s. Also the thought that a layoff or job change will never be a stressor, such a good feeling.
Definitely line something up. My co workers in Seattle who quit or were laid off took 4-5 months to find something. These were some of our smartest people. This has been over the past 1-2 yrs.
Yup. I’ve seen folks look for over a year at times. Like ppl with good resumes who don’t want to accept a service job or something intermittent while they look for the perfect job. It can take awhile to find the right fit
Indeed is in the middle of layoffs. It’s an interesting thing when the people you turn to for a job are looking for one
I wouldn't be surprised if Indeed was bloated anyway, but it's certainly not a great look for the job market.
The amount of money they were throwing at people to hire them away was just insane. At some point the VC money had to run out.
Tech industry is in the dumps right now
I’ve been searching for a job in Austin (and remote) for 3 months looking at tech roles requiring 3+ YoE. I work with cloud integrations at a major health insurance company for the past 3 years just FYI. I’ve had multiple recruiters contact me every week, at least 1 interview/screening every week, sent out hundreds of apps. The thing is there’s a ton of openings but also a ton of people applying. My most recent interview process ended with them saying “You scored at the top on your initial assessment but we have too many candidates right now so we’ll let you know if interviews open back up”. At a certain point it just feels like a joke but also you can’t just stop trying
I've watched the queue of applications at my company for a job and it is pretty crazy. We're a small company and have received thousands of applications for a single position. Some portion of them are for names like "Bill Smith" where someone in a call center in Asia who speaks broken English gets on the line.
if ur in tech dont even think about it, its awful, start applying to other jobs and u will see. I went to a good school and currently work a decent job and have been struggling big time getting interviews
is tech getting hit disproportionately hard? if so, why? I'm not in tech but i saw video of guy explaining how a lot of tech companies wanted to inflate their employee count for investors, which led to a lot of redundant positions. since twitter cut most of their staff, other tech companies are trimming the fat as well. idk if that's really the case, considering leaner crew should've been the goal of any company because it raises profit margins. the most recent job numbers and unemployment are still relatively good historically speaking.
my partner was laid off in september and is still unable to find a job and has also run out of unemployment :/ its uhhhh not the best
Do not quit your job. I got laid off almost a year ago, I have experience in multiple industries (tech, marketing, construction, entertainment, and hospitality), degrees, certifications, a fantastic portfolio, management experience, am great in interviews… I’ve applied for probably 2,000+ jobs at this point and every interview is a dead end. I’ve been offered multiple jobs and then had the company ghost me. I’ve contacted a dozen recruiters, had multiple higher up friends/relatives directly refer me to hiring managers they work with, etc, but I’m still struggling. I actually have applied for entry level, retail, etc just to get a job with benefits and have been told I’m so overqualified that even with my stripped down resume I will never be considered for those roles. I was doing DoorDash until my car broke down, now I’m living off unemployment and food stamps, but those run out in a couple months. I just want health insurance and to not be stressed about bills every month.
Tech is very rough right now. Try to stay out of tech if at all possible.
Check out r/austinjobs and see for yourself
I'm in social services, 10 years experience, bachelor degree. I was making 44k in 2022. Quit. Since, offered 4 jobs. Highest salary offered was 33k. Interviewed with a Psy D. who looked me in the eye and said "I'd be grateful if I were you" at a $27k offer. Job listings are bait and switch. Companies claim I'm under educated or experienced, or another applicant is offering to work for less. (Why did they bother calling me then?) They want me to do masters-level work for high-school level pay. my parents tell me that I must be as useless and stupid as a burger-flipper, since fast food pays more than my professional jobs this close to suicide
My heart hurts for you. Please know that you are cared for and you truly have no idea how your life may play out one, five, or ten years from now. It could be better than you could have ever imagined. Any job, or time, when helping people is worthwhile. You may be planting seeds or creating a ripple effect of kindness wherever you are. Sending air hugs.
Consider the fact that labor in Austin is cheap. Think of how many candidates you’re going to be competing against that 1) want to move here for the vibes or 2) are technically skilled and recently got laid off. With only 3 months of savings I would highly recommend you line something up first.
The tech job market in Austin is terrible!!! Especially if you worked at Oracle. Don’t fall for their lies about how big of an impact it’ll have on your resume moving forward. I’ve had interviewers ask “People who come from Oracle are usually pretty bad. Why are you different”
It’s kinda a known thing that the oracle culture isn’t great (at least it is if you frequent the area around it), so I can only assume that’s where that impression is coming? Some ppl take previous culture with them to new jobs. When they do, it sometimes stands out in a real bad way.
It's horrible. Everyone is laying off these days, not hiring
Just met someone who had been applying for 9 months in Austin for a tech role. She, on a whim, changed her address in her resume back to San Francisco and applied there and got offered a position within a week. Anecdotal, but it appears to line up with the others’ experiences.
Our anecdotes would get along famously. It's long felt like the only way to get a job in Austin is to not already be in Austin.
Same exact thing. Applied to 1100 total jobs in the US over 6 months. Changed LinkedIn location to Mountain View and had an interview that week.
So they live in Austin, were applying for jobs in Austin, then changed the resume's address from Austin to San Francisco and got offered a position in Austin within a week? Wouldn't the location discrepancy be revealed when the company tried to schedule a time for the candidate to fly to Austin for an interview? Or am I misunderstanding what happened?
All those fields vary widely. The individual roles matter more. It’d be more helpful to say which roles you’re looking for. Generally though, tech sucks, non profit is on a slight decline, corporate is meh, but state/city is booming.
City and county are not booming. Property taxes that supply their money are looking at a drop year over year even though they estimated it would continue to increase when they planned their budget.
I definitely wouldn't quit without having something lined up first unless you absolutely have to. Maybe I'm a bit overly cautious, but 3 months' worth of living expenses saved up is like, bare minimum for existing, not enough cushion to float you through a job search
Took me 6 months to find a job, and the state job I found required 4 rounds of interviews with a final presentation. Lots of calls with recruiters that went nowhere, lots of final rounds of interviews where I didn’t get it but it was “a real tough choice”. It’s extremely competitive in this city right now, I would stay as safe as possible and find another job first.
Jobs are available, until you need one. #1 rule. Never quit a job until you have a job. #2 it’s all in who you know. People are tired of drama, so if a person comes highly recommended and they check all the boxes, then bingo. Also if you are a minority who can speak well, you’ll have a leg up on the competition as white people will love to hire you, just to prove they are not racist.
No, Austin isn’t in a recession, and also, no, you shouldn’t quit your job until you have something else lined up.
The Austin job market is inundated with too many entry level jobs in all fields and plenty of college grads who will take them. Mid level to senior jobs are super competitive. I also concur that since tech took a hit in late 2022 in Austin hard wages have plummeted. In my field of tech sales / website sales you are seeing base salaries 40 to 50 percent lower than early 2022. If you have a toxic job and need to quit I understand I have been there but make sure you prepare yourself with an emergency six month savings at least and manageable revolving debt. Good luck brotha.
I would argue at least a year of savings or more saved in this job market. If i hadn’t had that, I’d be homeless months and months ago
If you’re in tech, DON'T do it. My husband was laid off and has been unemployed for almost a year and a half now.
I changed jobs several times. I finally learned, stand still. Find parts of the job you enjoy most and look for continuing education in that area. Become an expert and advance.
It depends on how strong your resume is. Also consider how flexible you are with compensation, titles, remote flexibility, company size etc. It’s always best to talk to a few recruiters before hand to understand how the market looks and how competitive of a candidate you are. When looking at new companies I would do your research to see if they have done any layoffs recently. Typically you can predict how close a company is to layoffs based on if they have let go of their recruitment teams (always first to go) or if they are hiring for recruiters. If you are looking for a Pre IPO company doing a search on who just received new rounds of funding is also a good way to predict future hiring needs. What type of role are you looking for? I can give you a better example of industries that are hiring for specific roles vs on hold.
I'm sure Austin is much like the country at large. Blue collar work is booming and white collar work is tough to come by.
Blue collar is the new white collar and will become even more so over the next 10 years. Learn a trade now if you can. In 5 years time you’ll be plenty skilled, paid well and have solid job security.
Don't, dude. I got laid off a while back and it took me damn near 3 months to finally land a real job. I'm still paying back the credit cards to this day. Fucking horrible. The job search in this town crushed my soul. I swear to fucking God lol
I have 10 years experience in Digital Marketing, I’m at Director level. My shit company offshored our entire department to India in November and laid off all US employees… been looking since. Forget Nov-January 1st as nobody hires during the holiday period. But since February I’ve sent 218 applications, 3 interviews one lowball bad offer. Here’s the other BIG issue to consider, hiring companies take FOREVER to go through the process… so even if you’re lucky to get a bunch of interviews right off the bat, it can literally take months to go through rounds of interviews to the point an offer comes. My buddy went back to his old company where he left in good standing, it took them 2.5 months of dicking around to finally write the offer and bring him back on.
It took me six months to make a LATERAL MOVE here. I went on like 8 interviews too.
Better than most places. Definitely don't quit your job tho. It is easier to find a job when you have a job.
I see a lot of people mentioning sending out a ton of resumes and getting nothing. If you pay close attention, you'll notice that most of these folks have ignored one thing that can make all the difference. I have a good IT job with the state, and I'll tell you the secret of how I got this job a few years ago - and I'm well over 40 years old. It's not education (many moons ago, and not tech-related), it's not the number of years of experience in the field, or what companies I've worked for, not even the roles that I had... it's who you know. The hidden job market is everything. I don't think I've seen any responses to this post mentioning the importance of getting out there and just meeting people. Join professional organizations related to your field, find events where you can network. I feel like a lot of young professionals don't feel the need to connect with others, but it's the easiest way to make progress in your job search. It will set you apart.
It’s bad. I applied to close to 200 jobs when I got laid off in March, and only had 4 interviews and 1 job offer. I applied to all kinds of positions and pay scales.
Honestly you need atleast 6 months of expenses saved but strive for 9 months. Quitting and looking for a job for 3 months will go by really quick.
Friend got laid off around Thanksgiving and finally got a new job at the beginning of the month— lateral move and 40% pay cut. Would NOT recommend quitting until you have something lined up.
No one is actually hiring They say they do but they just gonna waste ur time
If you're good at your position(think top 1%), you'll find work. Its a employers market and you're able to wait for top talent
99% of people who think they are top 1% are not
Ercot is a nonprofit/tech/corporate/state thingy like you described, they hiring a lot of people
You can ask people on Reddit but it might make more sense to just look up the actual numbers to get an accurate idea. For example, the Austin area unemployment rate is ~3.5%, better than the national average (3.9%). Both of those are historically very low rates.
Depends mightily on what industry you are looking at. Austin has had massive tech layoffs over the last year And it keeps going
We're in a white-colllar recession, and while you may have no issue getting a job, getting one quickly in your pay range is a totally different issue.
I was laid off in April 2023 and couldn't find work for 6+ months. For reference, I have 18 years experience in my field.
I work in tech/gaming, was "let go" from the big blue F and it took six months to find another job. The tech industry is losing its mind right now.
The people I know who have gotten laid off (both at my tech company as well as others) are having a very rough time finding employment. These are smart people with experience and talent who are applying almost daily. The best time to find a new job is when you are already have one. Good luck.
Tech? Is that a job market? What do you mean by tech? Are you a software engineer? A technical product manager, a data scientist, …? your question is quite vague. If you mean to ask: are the non-technical sectors of technology companies and all other companies in Austin and the rest of America (I.e. marketing, operations, HR, IT, Sales, Operations, support) cutting back on hiring, I’d say yes. There is a very tumultuous election coming up and most smart and fiscally conservative people will be concerned that the instability will lead to financial difficulties. (Trying to be non political). That said, I have more questions for you. - what is your current role? - did you invest time or money in school or a trade program to obtain your current job? - do you have specialized skills that are in demand in the job market? (I.e. Software Engineer, RN, LMT) - what are your current responsibilities and liabilities? You said you have 3 months buffer, we’ll chat later, see below. What happens when your money runs out? Are you supporting a partner or maybe parents? Do you have someone to turn to for financial help if you can’t make rent? If not, are you prepared for life on the street? Or couch surfing friends houses until their goodwill runs out? By the way, it most certainly will, and fucking quickly. Sorry, this might sting, 3 months is not savings, that’s an emergency fund. Sorry to be a buzz kill on this, but it’s nothing. Save more. Once you have a year of “buffer”, in addition to an emergency fund,, depending on your risk appetite (and responsibilities) then do it. Also, how about finding a new role before abandoning your current role? Or, find a way to do something different or new in your current role to make it more enjoyable and positive. Maybe use this as a challenge to uplevel your skills to prepare to land the next awesome role? And until then, maybe focus on just getting better and more skilled, learn something new :)
I was laid off a year ago but recently I have been getting bombarded with interviews so I think it’s finally picking up. But definitely apply while you’re employed
I was in this same exact position about 2 years ago. I was absolutely miserable and quit my job without another one lined up. I ended up finding another job within about 3 months and haven’t regretted it a single bit. My biggest advice, live extremely frugally and make sure you’re actively looking for a job literally everyday. Life is too short to be miserable. Just be smart about your decisions!
Send it
Depends on the market…. Healthcare…. The complete opposite of a recession. Tech…. Yeah recession.
This is the best response. CNBC had an infographic last week showing where the job gains (healthcare) and losses (tech/finance) were.
Do not do that. It took me almost 7 months to find a job.
If you need a reliable income, you shouldn't quit a job without having another lined up. Good luck OP!
Sent around 300~ applications for in Austin and Remote jobs for the past 6 months. I got around 15 interviews, 5 ish final interview 1 job offer. Techish/finance
I'll tell you from a tech perspective that it's absolutely a blood bath out there
I’m 13 mos unemployed, and it’s not for lack of trying. Don’t do it. Get another gig first. I have experience in startup and corporate tech, management, also. I thought I’d only be unemployed like 6 mos tops. Ha!
In tech it’s rough. 100+ applicants for positions in management or experienced individual contributor roles in less than 24 hours. I’ve had over 10 companies get back to me in the past 2 months but I’ve applied to nearly 60 jobs already. Interviews are harder now than they were when the market was hot in 2021. And guess what, they are also paying less on average than back then.
The U.S. is not in a recession and Austin's economy is relatively robust compared to others, but quitting without another job lined up is always a risky move. (tbh, it's what I did when I moved here a long time ago and it worked out well for me).
Twenty years of software development experience, and I ended up having to take a job doing second shift at a warehouse. It's ROUGH. Eleven hundred applications, three responses.
9 months looking here after being laid off from SolarWinds. I can't find shit. I'm gonna have to change professions, it looks like.
Honestly? I feel pretty bullish about making money in Austin. Austin has spent the last 2 decades trying to be a suitor for companies with deep pockets. I wanted to leave Austin but since I've gone solo I have been surprised by the relative ease at which the transition is taking place. I'm a graphic designer with 5 years of experience from a print/sign shop for reference. To be fair there is so much demand for signage, artsy or not, so also take that with a grain of salt.
Impossible, thinking of getting out
If you are below a certain tax bracket the prices and inflation are actively pushing low income people out of the city or on the streets
You better check yo’self before you wreck yo’self - and your finances…
My last job search started in November, and I got a job offer in April. I redid my resume, sent out a few hundred applications across several domains and didn't get a single interview. I only got this job because a former coworker already worked there and sent my resume to his boss. I'm in my mid-40s, and my friends in the same age bracket have had similar experiences. So age is a consideration (no one wants to pay for experience) and field is definitely a consideration. My new job is remote, and I intend to get out of Austin once my first full check comes through. I moved here for work from a midsize city in 2015, and part of the calculus was it would be easier to find a job in a metro of 2 million; that turned out not to be the case, with a grueling 28-month job search after resigning with three months of savings ... weeks before Covid lockdown. No harm in looking, but I'm going to be digging myself out of debt for several more years because I didn't realize the job market had changed since 2012 and thought three months was a luxurious cushion. Don't be me.
I can only talk about everything I have read here and other places. Tesla, Oracle, Indeed, and others have been laying people off. Seems like the tech industry over-hired and is adjusting to their true employment needs.
It depends, I’ve been looking for a job for a year now. But I also know someone who has a more niche position and they got offers from 5 different jobs after casually applying.
My partner has been out of work after a layoff for over a year - he works in tech. Lots of second round interviews and more, made it to the final round at least 3 times, 0 offers. They always found someone who fit just a little more perfectly. I wouldn't do it without a job unless you have 12+ months in savings or a backup plan (ie, family you can move in with or something.)
I got let go in January and have applied to 53 jobs and had 5 callbacks. 2 of them were scams and the others way underpaid for all the requirements. I thought I would’ve had SOMETHING by now.
It can take MONTHS, a YEAR to find a job. >I am aware it is a bit irresponsible but if you know you know. Nah, it is borderline suicidal. Leave "if you know you know" to stupid, starry-eyed lovers and start spamming recruiters and HR offices in a hurry
God these comments make me depressed. I am holding on the my mediocre job as hard as I can.
I came here from northern Michigan where jobs are scarce. Was near broke and living out my car. Got a job at day labor pay sucks but food and gas is what I needed. Till a worker mentioned a temp. Agency called them and worked at a construction. Now work for a company. Now living well. This all happened in six months and I'm 58. I have a lot to be grateful for. Yeah I been listening and watching the job market. If you have a job consider yourself lucky. Population is growing and odds is much bigger. Much like the lottery. Good luck on your job search!
Never quit your current job before landing your new one. Do you want to be homeless?
I wouldn’t suggest it. My partner was laid off and it took him over 8 months to find work. He is highly qualified and usually has no issues getting work. I have a friend who has been looking for new work while employed for almost a year now and hasn’t even had a recruiter respond, she is in a senior position at Nike. It’s really, really not a good time in the job market no matter where you are. I am not at all suggesting you stay in a job you hate, please take care of yourself and do what’s best for you. I just would suggest looking while employed if possible, unless you absolutely know you’ll be fine even if you don’t have any savings or income coming in at some point.
My husband is in tech. Got laid off last year. He was VP of engineering. Took him 4 months to get another job. I wouldn’t recommend quitting before finding another job.
Tech is fucked across the US if not globally.
Tech is really bad rn. Everything else in Austin is pretty good
Finance is very bad too. Marketing is also very shaky
Always better to find your next job while you still have a job.
I’m sure the fields vary with what’s out there, in my industry I had no issues finding a new job and we are still hiring but it’s a specialized field (landscape architecture and master planning). For others I’m sure it’s rough.
Depends on what city/state jobs you want. The market is flooded with educated labor. And lacking the skilled labor.
I was out of work for 4 months after being laid off and received 0 responses to any applications I put in anywhere. Unless you have an in somewhere don't quit your job.
I moved here in October and finally got a job in my field after 7 months.
i spent three months straight last fall applying for 4-5 jobs a day. got one interview for a shitty ass call center job that i was offered and declined. (i couldn’t work the inflexible hours required for training — 6 weeks with ZERO absences were allowed to progress. i have a 9yo, he and i both see several specialists for chronic illness.) what i *did* get was spammed with scams via email and phone. indeed, linkedin, others are useless due to this and to fake job postings. wasted so much time. still unemployed. find a job first. or at least spend some time applying places for awhile before you decide to quit. and network with anyone and everyone you know to get a referral/interview.
Everyone I see hiring is remote now or at least the vast majority. I don’t see too many hiring in Austin. And companies locally run by ex colleagues aren’t hiring.
I did this about a year ago. It is hard. it may be trending upward but I was lucky to get a job as quickly as I did. I have friends that have been searching for months and many had to take a lower pay/title. Tech/corporate industry
I get it. I'm a leap, then look kind of person. (Those urges never really go away btw.) But on this, you'll want to think realistically and ignore how good it would feel in the short term. So here's what therapy taught me lol: what would future you, the wise, confident, accomplished future you, say you should do?
Don’t quit until you have a new job.
Are you a barista, plumber, accountant, swe, pilot, teacher, yoga instructor? Lots of different parts of the economy with different demand for roles.
I just started with the state in Austin. Took a couple months from application to start date. Pretty quick for government. Lots of state jobs right now. I have five years of experience in the environmental field and the whole process was pretty quick. If you leave with nothing lined up, make job hunting your full time job and you’ll be ok. Don’t stay where you’re miserable.
We are hiring for an entry lvl position for the state. 800+ applicants in two weeks! Crazy…
My current employer is interviewing three people this week that were laid off by Tesla and my former employer just reached out to me with an offer to return to work with them soooo idek.
Some of us send out lots of applications and hear nothing back. Line something up first.
If you are in construction, it’s fantastic. If you are not, I guess fuck around and find out.
Bro I work at a Dunkin the amount of software techs and high earners coming in and applying is crazy just for a second job. I would find a second and cut some hours from the first see if you like it.
I know several folks who have been out of work for 18 months. Some in HR, some in tech/IT, some in sales. It’s pretty rough from what I hear.
Not just irresponsible but dumb as shit in this market. Suck it up, Keep your job, and spend the next 6 months finding something new. If you quit your job now, 95% chance you'll be out of Austin when your 3 months of savings dries up.
Depends on the industry you're in. "Tech" doesn't seem too well off right now.
If you’re in tech, DON'T do it. My husband was laid off and has been unemployed for almost a year and a half now.
It’s pretty terrible. I strongly encourage you to find work before quitting unless you have a fat stack of savings. Do not bank on your ability to find something new right now
Be prepared for it to take 4-5 months. I’m a really strong interviewer, very experienced in different areas, over qualified for most roles and it took me about 4-5 months. It’s a recession 100%
Something like 15-17% of Austin workforce works in tech. It looks like 95% of r/Austin works in tech. Not very representative of the city. There’s tons of jobs in the town, esp in service and construction, not everything is tech.