tough one. can’t say how much i don’t envy him as a founder. stay lean, stay humble, appreciate the honesty and feeling bad for folks who got the message
They are about to have no income, and no health insurance, in a fucking difficult job market where it can take extremely well qualified people months to find positions.
"I am deeply sorry to those people who were expecting to join our company..." does not begin to address the level of absolute upheaval he's just caused in 75 people's lives.
I've left one of the big FANGs for an opportunity that I thought was better, but did not pan out, when I emailed my old (skip) boss about how to re-interview for my old team, he simply asked "when do you want to start?" (Even get new sign on RSUs)
It's very different right now. Every team is starved for headcount. Job openings don't grow on trees these days — not even in FAANG-land.
Which I do think applies to this case, esp with ones say starting next Monday, their old position is probably not backfilled yet and why not hire someone who already knew the job.
AFAIK, most FANNG companies still have some sort of 6 month to a year hire back no interview policy.
However, hiring is still tough.
? This is the hottest job market in living memory. Labor economists have run out of ways to describe it. A damp log can get a six-figure signing bonus.
- low unemployment + high employer demand for new positions + high wage growth = hot job market
- where the market was in 2016-2021
- where the market was in 2022
- where the market is currentlyHe's been on the board during his whole 'leave from the company' (read : very long vacation) and had pull to make sure this doesn't happen. But he made sure that he did nothing. It's just a convenient narrative to pull now that he's 'back' as CEO (although he never really left the company).