INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The massive surge of COVID-19-related layoffs has put tech in a unique position
While the startup world is facing layoffs itself, it is also trying to help get people back to work.
Back at the end of 2019, the
SoftBank-backed belt-tightening period led to a flurry of crowdsourced spreadsheets with employee names from companies like Oyo, WeWork,
The spreadsheets popped up as a bet on the network effect, with the ultimate goal of hoping the sheets land in the hands of a recruiter
looking to hire one of hundreds laid off
Now, as COVID-19 cripples the economy, layoffs have surged dramatically past that one period.
On one end, we&ve reported on numbers of tech
companies cutting staff, from Oyo, toZipRecruiter, to TripActions
But on the other, brighter end, we&ve also seen the rise of platforms to connect those laid off and pledges from employers to not fire any
employees during this trying time.
In a world where people are laid off on Zoom, tech efforts to give community, and a course of action, to
those laid off is undeniably important.
So many start-ups have done or are planning layoffs that at this point it would be easier to list
the ones that *haven't* cut staff
So here are some places trying to help laid off employees:
— erin griffith (@eringriffith) April 2, 2020
The current climate of the
pandemic, and the massive unemployment that has resulted, means that a spreadsheet with a long list of employee names and unverified contact
information doesn&t cut it.
Shannon Anderson, the director of talent at Madrona Venture Group in Seattle, saw her firm portfolio companies
struggling with layoffs and the changing economy
Two of the portfolio companies, Textio and Rover, laid off staff, along with a number of other companies.
&We wanted to anticipate a
reduction in force across the ecosystem,& said Anderson
&It a global problem.&
So, to help boost the network of those laid off, Anderson reached out to a number of HR leaders, including Chris
Brownridge, the founder of Silver Lining, a job platform for those who have been laid off
He started Silver Lining after he shut down his startup last summer and had to lay off his staff of 20.
&I felt the pain [of layoffs] from
the employer side, and it is painful for the employer, especially when you care about [your workers],& he said back in January
&I don&t want to keep seeing spreadsheets thrown around; I think that is not the right answer
We need a standardized way to deal with it, with a community behind it.&
Silver Lining is a platform that lets candidates submit profiles
for recruiters from top companies to review
Job seekers on the site range from architects, UX designers, engineers, community managers and more.
Then COVID-19 spread across the
world, forcing people to stay home and spend less
The economy downturn unevenly impacted companies around the world: where layoffs exist for the travel sector, usage surges exist for the
But as a whole, the labor force is struggling, with 6.6 million Americans filing for unemployment just last week alone.
Madrona said it is
donating a portion of its budget to help Silver Lining offer more services to those laid off
The firm declined to share the total amount of the donation.
Silver Lining will also now offer coaching, resume writing and emotional
support to folks on the platform, Brownridge says
Thanks to donations from Madrona, Skytap, Bandwidth, Voodle, Female Founders Alliance and more, the site is free to use.
The uptick in
layoffs has led Boston-based Drafted, a referral startup, to launch a product called the Layoff Network to help those who have been laid off
The startup previously was sending out a newsletter, Layoff List, of weekly list of layoffs with spreadsheets hyperlinked
During the SoftBank layoffs, Olivia Clark, the creator of the newsletter, noticed a surge in traffic — more than 1,000 recruiters
subscribed.
Now she says traffic is &up 2,000%& and, in just two weeks, Drafted engineering team has productized that newsletter into a job
search network.
The Layoff Network connects with recruiters people who have been recommended by their colleagues and &endorsed& for their
If you&re laid off, you can sign up and create a profile and ask a previous employer or colleague to recommend you
Clark says this is similar to LinkedIn &endorse& feature to make sure the people are credible.
Once the person has been endorsed, they
will be added to a talent feed
That is where recruiters can search for nominees, job titles, companies or locations
Unlike a spreadsheet, this is clearly easier to navigate and adds another layer of human touch.
Clark says that the platform will be free
for individuals who have been laid off, and who are recruiting or hiring
Drafted has a paid enterprise level that is for organizations that are conducting mass layoffs and want to provide support for former
employees.
The grassroots efforts are vast and diverse
Here a list that posts companies that are actively hiring
Here a list for Canadian tech workers, and one for Colorado tech scene
And here a live tracker of startups that have issued layoffs, started by the team over at Human Interest, a startup that has nothing to do
with layoffs.
Megan Murphy, who created Chicago Superstars for those laid off from the Chicago tech scene, has not received donations or
As the number of unemployed people increases, Murphy says she noticing a lack of clarity on which companies are hiring, and which job
postings are still active
If a company was hiring for a position in January, it might not be anymore (to help keep costs down).
&I can&t waste time crafting cover
letters and custom resumes for jobs that won&t actually move forward,& she said
&There are tons of crowdsourced tools trying to flag who actually hiring still, while others are trying to flag who instituted a hiring
freeze or laid people off, and in the meantime, company career pages aren&t up to date
We need one source of truth — and right now nobody really set up to do that.&
1575 Remote Jobs From 100+ Companies Hiring Remotely:
https://t.co/pMk38QwvDX
— Brianne Kimmel (@briannekimmel) March 24, 2020
For now, Murphy says she getting creative in her own search, and
asking for others to do the same
&Virtual communities and experiences are about to be more important than ever.& She notes guerrilla Slack channels and Reddit as an example
of organic communication.
As for how she able to keep up with the demand of people needing help for their next job? Murphy, who is looking
for a job herself after getting laid off, says she has fewer interviews from potential employers, so she been able to help those reaching
out.
The work done by these entrepreneurs scratches at the same hope that lies within the hundreds of lines of contact information within a
crowdsourced layoff spreadsheet: a need for a community in a trying time
And these days, more than most, remind us of the power of having a group of people together in the first place.
