阿蘇托西·烏克伊沒想到事情會變成這樣。
不到兩周前,23歲的烏克伊還在等著入職美國最大的加密貨幣交易所Coinbase。他剛從伊利諾伊大學(xué)厄本那-香檳分校(University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)畢業(yè),也并非加密貨幣狂熱愛好者。接受入職邀請時他在Coinbase甚至沒有賬戶。烏克伊主要對機(jī)器學(xué)習(xí)技術(shù)感興趣,收到入職邀請時也正考慮在伊利諾伊大學(xué)攻讀博士學(xué)位。不過Coinbase和加密貨幣提供了接觸前沿的機(jī)會。再加上能開始償還助學(xué)貸款,還有遠(yuǎn)程辦公機(jī)會,于是烏克伊篤定選擇工作。
烏克伊顯然不知道,Coinbase為了準(zhǔn)備應(yīng)對熊市會突然取消他和其他數(shù)百人的入職邀請,這一變故讓烏克伊對進(jìn)軍加密貨幣圈深感不安。
“加密技術(shù)有很大的創(chuàng)新潛力,但我的悲慘經(jīng)歷也說明,這一行業(yè)可能非常不穩(wěn)定而且難以預(yù)測,”烏克伊說,他8歲從印度到美國,如今要在150天內(nèi)找到能擔(dān)保簽證的新雇主。“近期我有點不想再考慮進(jìn)入加密貨幣領(lǐng)域,因為其穩(wěn)定性比起其他一些大型科技公司和行業(yè)差很多。”
就在幾個月前,在立志從事開發(fā)工作的人們眼中,數(shù)字資產(chǎn)世界還代表著未來。即便區(qū)塊鏈、Web3和加密初創(chuàng)公司飛速募集資金,在風(fēng)投資本家看來還是不夠快。華爾街糾結(jié)多年后開始接受加密技術(shù)。新創(chuàng)新以驚人速度從各大知名流水線上產(chǎn)生。然而就在全美大學(xué)期末考試臨近之際,加密貨幣也迎來大跳水。當(dāng)時市場已遠(yuǎn)低于2021年11月的高點,加上宏觀經(jīng)濟(jì)環(huán)境變化和算法穩(wěn)定幣Luna的驚人崩塌引發(fā)連串拋售訂單,導(dǎo)致全球加密貨幣市值從3萬億美元的峰值跌至當(dāng)前的1萬億美元以下。6月12日晚間,加密貨幣借貸公司Celsius決定暫停賬戶取款后,全球加密貨幣市值似乎仍在走低。
如今,新一代加密貨幣人才發(fā)現(xiàn)自己正面臨意想不到的處境。不久前很多人希望加入的高速發(fā)展市場,已經(jīng)以戲劇性的方式回歸現(xiàn)實,讓初創(chuàng)企業(yè)和巨頭都陷入了困境,至少當(dāng)下影響了一些畢業(yè)生入職。
“個人意見,現(xiàn)在這行業(yè)我碰也不想碰,”加州大學(xué)伯克利分校(University of California at Berkeley)的一位畢業(yè)生告訴《財富》雜志,最近他加入Coinbase的入職邀請也被取消。
候選人已接受入職邀請的情況下Coinbase還反悔,可能引發(fā)迄今為止最嚴(yán)重的寒蟬效應(yīng),影響未來加密貨幣開發(fā)者和工程師對市場的看法。舉例來說,加州大學(xué)洛杉磯分校(UCLA)畢業(yè)生瑞安·里亞希原本計劃9月加入Coinbase。2021年下半年經(jīng)過一系列面試和評估,里亞希獲得了加密交易巨頭入職邀請,他立刻接受,甚至放棄了Meta(原名Facebook)面試。“我以為加密技術(shù)是真正的未來,”里亞希告訴《財富》雜志。“我希望在Coinbase打造互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的未來。”
“在我看來,這也是業(yè)內(nèi)頂級公司,”里亞希說。“現(xiàn)在,我可能再也不會申請這家公司。”
里亞希抵觸的還不僅是Coinbase。入職邀請取消幾天后,幣安(Binance)有人問他對某個職位是否感興趣。他的回答是:“不用了,謝謝。”里亞希表示,現(xiàn)在他會徹底避開加密貨幣和Web3公司。里亞希承認(rèn),以后可能會后悔。但是,“現(xiàn)在想做軟件工程師有成千上萬公司可以選擇,”里亞希說,“所以我要遠(yuǎn)離加密貨幣。”
扎揚·法扎爾剛從伊利諾伊大學(xué)畢業(yè),開始在名叫Dispatch的Solana區(qū)塊鏈擔(dān)任加密消息協(xié)議三級工程師。從長遠(yuǎn)來看,他很有可能一直從事加密工作,尤其是在從事非面向消費者業(yè)務(wù)的基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施公司。在法扎爾看來,現(xiàn)在幾乎所有加密貨幣市場都出現(xiàn)了拋售狂潮。“很大程度上是全市場的事,”法扎爾說。“每個人都很緊張。”
最近科技行業(yè)整體情況確實不佳。Meta、Salesforce和微軟等巨頭不得不放緩和暫停部分招聘計劃,而羅賓漢(Robinhood)、Netflix和特斯拉(Tesla)等公司已開始裁員。根據(jù)人力資源公司Challenger, Gray & Christmas的數(shù)據(jù),5月科技行業(yè)共裁員4044人,而從1月到4月裁員約500人。科技行業(yè)招聘平臺TrueUp的數(shù)據(jù)顯示,求職人數(shù)也有所減少,從4月19日的477845人下降到6月10日的438904人,降幅達(dá)8.1%。
毫無疑問,加密技術(shù)領(lǐng)域是重災(zāi)區(qū)。TrueUp的數(shù)據(jù)顯示,3月至6月,TrueUp跟蹤的開放加密和Web3工作崗位數(shù)量從12358個減少到10681個,降幅13.5%。其中,Coinbase職位空缺從594個變?yōu)榱恪rypto.com職位從808個削減至7個,并于周一宣布現(xiàn)有員工將裁撤5%。Celsius的招聘職位從136個減為9個。招聘公司AC Lion的高級管理合伙人邁克爾·阿德勒表示,這可能“只是開始”。
阿德勒告訴《財富》雜志:“這可能變成長期趨勢,如果陷入衰退,股市持續(xù)下跌,資本成本不斷上升,會出現(xiàn)大量裁員。”
阿德勒說,求職者應(yīng)考慮的關(guān)鍵因素是:是否具備真正的商業(yè)模式,或者公司所在的行業(yè)是否在募集資金?換言之,阿德勒建議觀察公司發(fā)展前景時從長期和短期角度看待。如果公司正建設(shè)新互聯(lián)網(wǎng)基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施,而且比特幣24小時價格無論如何波動也影響不到該基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施,其前景肯定會比依賴交易量的公司樂觀。
阿德勒發(fā)現(xiàn),候選人對加入加密貨幣行業(yè)有些猶豫,但他表示,對年輕人來說現(xiàn)在邁出這一步可能很值得。阿德勒說:“如果你背著房貸還要養(yǎng)三個孩子,需要賺錢,那就另當(dāng)別論。但如果你剛畢業(yè),風(fēng)險承受能力更高,不妨試試。”
當(dāng)然,現(xiàn)在新畢業(yè)生在加密領(lǐng)域接觸的事物并不一定是新的。
技術(shù)或許比較新,但20多歲年輕人闖入逐漸崩潰的就業(yè)市場是常事,2008年金融危機(jī)后的MBA畢業(yè)生如此,早期阿納托利·雅科文科等程序員也是一樣。
2003年,Solana Labs聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人兼首席執(zhí)行官雅科文科從伊利諾伊大學(xué)香檳分校畢業(yè)并獲得計算機(jī)科學(xué)學(xué)位,準(zhǔn)備進(jìn)入職場。幾年之前互聯(lián)網(wǎng)泡沫破裂,一些人提醒雅科文科學(xué)計算機(jī)可能不是最佳選擇。但雅科文科堅持選該專業(yè),2003年底他創(chuàng)立的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)協(xié)議語音初創(chuàng)公司沒能跟高通(Qualcomm)達(dá)成合作,于是他找了工作。這也為后來他創(chuàng)建最大的區(qū)塊鏈之一Solana奠定了基礎(chǔ)。
雅科文科最近在接受《財富》雜志采訪時說:“最好的入場時機(jī)之一就是崩潰后,加密貨幣行業(yè)可能是新畢業(yè)生最好的選擇。”(財富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:梁宇
審校:夏林
阿蘇托西·烏克伊沒想到事情會變成這樣。
不到兩周前,23歲的烏克伊還在等著入職美國最大的加密貨幣交易所Coinbase。他剛從伊利諾伊大學(xué)厄本那-香檳分校(University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)畢業(yè),也并非加密貨幣狂熱愛好者。接受入職邀請時他在Coinbase甚至沒有賬戶。烏克伊主要對機(jī)器學(xué)習(xí)技術(shù)感興趣,收到入職邀請時也正考慮在伊利諾伊大學(xué)攻讀博士學(xué)位。不過Coinbase和加密貨幣提供了接觸前沿的機(jī)會。再加上能開始償還助學(xué)貸款,還有遠(yuǎn)程辦公機(jī)會,于是烏克伊篤定選擇工作。
烏克伊顯然不知道,Coinbase為了準(zhǔn)備應(yīng)對熊市會突然取消他和其他數(shù)百人的入職邀請,這一變故讓烏克伊對進(jìn)軍加密貨幣圈深感不安。
“加密技術(shù)有很大的創(chuàng)新潛力,但我的悲慘經(jīng)歷也說明,這一行業(yè)可能非常不穩(wěn)定而且難以預(yù)測,”烏克伊說,他8歲從印度到美國,如今要在150天內(nèi)找到能擔(dān)保簽證的新雇主。“近期我有點不想再考慮進(jìn)入加密貨幣領(lǐng)域,因為其穩(wěn)定性比起其他一些大型科技公司和行業(yè)差很多。”
就在幾個月前,在立志從事開發(fā)工作的人們眼中,數(shù)字資產(chǎn)世界還代表著未來。即便區(qū)塊鏈、Web3和加密初創(chuàng)公司飛速募集資金,在風(fēng)投資本家看來還是不夠快。華爾街糾結(jié)多年后開始接受加密技術(shù)。新創(chuàng)新以驚人速度從各大知名流水線上產(chǎn)生。然而就在全美大學(xué)期末考試臨近之際,加密貨幣也迎來大跳水。當(dāng)時市場已遠(yuǎn)低于2021年11月的高點,加上宏觀經(jīng)濟(jì)環(huán)境變化和算法穩(wěn)定幣Luna的驚人崩塌引發(fā)連串拋售訂單,導(dǎo)致全球加密貨幣市值從3萬億美元的峰值跌至當(dāng)前的1萬億美元以下。6月12日晚間,加密貨幣借貸公司Celsius決定暫停賬戶取款后,全球加密貨幣市值似乎仍在走低。
如今,新一代加密貨幣人才發(fā)現(xiàn)自己正面臨意想不到的處境。不久前很多人希望加入的高速發(fā)展市場,已經(jīng)以戲劇性的方式回歸現(xiàn)實,讓初創(chuàng)企業(yè)和巨頭都陷入了困境,至少當(dāng)下影響了一些畢業(yè)生入職。
“個人意見,現(xiàn)在這行業(yè)我碰也不想碰,”加州大學(xué)伯克利分校(University of California at Berkeley)的一位畢業(yè)生告訴《財富》雜志,最近他加入Coinbase的入職邀請也被取消。
候選人已接受入職邀請的情況下Coinbase還反悔,可能引發(fā)迄今為止最嚴(yán)重的寒蟬效應(yīng),影響未來加密貨幣開發(fā)者和工程師對市場的看法。舉例來說,加州大學(xué)洛杉磯分校(UCLA)畢業(yè)生瑞安·里亞希原本計劃9月加入Coinbase。2021年下半年經(jīng)過一系列面試和評估,里亞希獲得了加密交易巨頭入職邀請,他立刻接受,甚至放棄了Meta(原名Facebook)面試。“我以為加密技術(shù)是真正的未來,”里亞希告訴《財富》雜志。“我希望在Coinbase打造互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的未來。”
“在我看來,這也是業(yè)內(nèi)頂級公司,”里亞希說。“現(xiàn)在,我可能再也不會申請這家公司。”
里亞希抵觸的還不僅是Coinbase。入職邀請取消幾天后,幣安(Binance)有人問他對某個職位是否感興趣。他的回答是:“不用了,謝謝。”里亞希表示,現(xiàn)在他會徹底避開加密貨幣和Web3公司。里亞希承認(rèn),以后可能會后悔。但是,“現(xiàn)在想做軟件工程師有成千上萬公司可以選擇,”里亞希說,“所以我要遠(yuǎn)離加密貨幣。”
扎揚·法扎爾剛從伊利諾伊大學(xué)畢業(yè),開始在名叫Dispatch的Solana區(qū)塊鏈擔(dān)任加密消息協(xié)議三級工程師。從長遠(yuǎn)來看,他很有可能一直從事加密工作,尤其是在從事非面向消費者業(yè)務(wù)的基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施公司。在法扎爾看來,現(xiàn)在幾乎所有加密貨幣市場都出現(xiàn)了拋售狂潮。“很大程度上是全市場的事,”法扎爾說。“每個人都很緊張。”
最近科技行業(yè)整體情況確實不佳。Meta、Salesforce和微軟等巨頭不得不放緩和暫停部分招聘計劃,而羅賓漢(Robinhood)、Netflix和特斯拉(Tesla)等公司已開始裁員。根據(jù)人力資源公司Challenger, Gray & Christmas的數(shù)據(jù),5月科技行業(yè)共裁員4044人,而從1月到4月裁員約500人。科技行業(yè)招聘平臺TrueUp的數(shù)據(jù)顯示,求職人數(shù)也有所減少,從4月19日的477845人下降到6月10日的438904人,降幅達(dá)8.1%。
毫無疑問,加密技術(shù)領(lǐng)域是重災(zāi)區(qū)。TrueUp的數(shù)據(jù)顯示,3月至6月,TrueUp跟蹤的開放加密和Web3工作崗位數(shù)量從12358個減少到10681個,降幅13.5%。其中,Coinbase職位空缺從594個變?yōu)榱恪rypto.com職位從808個削減至7個,并于周一宣布現(xiàn)有員工將裁撤5%。Celsius的招聘職位從136個減為9個。招聘公司AC Lion的高級管理合伙人邁克爾·阿德勒表示,這可能“只是開始”。
阿德勒告訴《財富》雜志:“這可能變成長期趨勢,如果陷入衰退,股市持續(xù)下跌,資本成本不斷上升,會出現(xiàn)大量裁員。”
阿德勒說,求職者應(yīng)考慮的關(guān)鍵因素是:是否具備真正的商業(yè)模式,或者公司所在的行業(yè)是否在募集資金?換言之,阿德勒建議觀察公司發(fā)展前景時從長期和短期角度看待。如果公司正建設(shè)新互聯(lián)網(wǎng)基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施,而且比特幣24小時價格無論如何波動也影響不到該基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施,其前景肯定會比依賴交易量的公司樂觀。
阿德勒發(fā)現(xiàn),候選人對加入加密貨幣行業(yè)有些猶豫,但他表示,對年輕人來說現(xiàn)在邁出這一步可能很值得。阿德勒說:“如果你背著房貸還要養(yǎng)三個孩子,需要賺錢,那就另當(dāng)別論。但如果你剛畢業(yè),風(fēng)險承受能力更高,不妨試試。”
當(dāng)然,現(xiàn)在新畢業(yè)生在加密領(lǐng)域接觸的事物并不一定是新的。
技術(shù)或許比較新,但20多歲年輕人闖入逐漸崩潰的就業(yè)市場是常事,2008年金融危機(jī)后的MBA畢業(yè)生如此,早期阿納托利·雅科文科等程序員也是一樣。
2003年,Solana Labs聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人兼首席執(zhí)行官雅科文科從伊利諾伊大學(xué)香檳分校畢業(yè)并獲得計算機(jī)科學(xué)學(xué)位,準(zhǔn)備進(jìn)入職場。幾年之前互聯(lián)網(wǎng)泡沫破裂,一些人提醒雅科文科學(xué)計算機(jī)可能不是最佳選擇。但雅科文科堅持選該專業(yè),2003年底他創(chuàng)立的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)協(xié)議語音初創(chuàng)公司沒能跟高通(Qualcomm)達(dá)成合作,于是他找了工作。這也為后來他創(chuàng)建最大的區(qū)塊鏈之一Solana奠定了基礎(chǔ)。
雅科文科最近在接受《財富》雜志采訪時說:“最好的入場時機(jī)之一就是崩潰后,加密貨幣行業(yè)可能是新畢業(yè)生最好的選擇。”(財富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:梁宇
審校:夏林
Ashutosh Ukey wasn’t expecting this.
Less than two weeks ago, the 23-year-old was lined up to work at America’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign graduate was no crypto fanatic. He didn’t even have a Coinbase account when he accepted the offer. Ukey’s interests were more focused on machine learning technology, which he was considering a doctorate program in at Illinois at the same time as the Coinbase offer. But Coinbase and crypto offered something new. Add on the opportunity to start paying off some student loans and to work remotely, and Ukey was sold.
What Ukey didn’t know, of course, was that before he even started, Coinbase would abruptly rescind his job offer and hundreds of others as it prepares for the bear market setting in—a move that has left Ukey feeling uneasy about working in crypto.
“There’s a lot of potential for [crypto] to be innovative, but, as I’ve learned the hard way, it can be pretty volatile and unpredictable,” says Ukey, who came to the U.S. from India at the age of 8 and is now facing a ticking clock of 150 days to find a new employer who can sponsor a visa. “For the immediate future, I am kind of reluctant to go into crypto because it’s a lot less stable than some of the other big tech sectors and industries.”
Just a few months ago, the world of digital assets seemed to be the future for any wannabe developer. Blockchain, Web3, and crypto startups couldn't raise cash fast enough for the amount of interest from venture capitalists. Wall Street was embracing crypto after years of hemming and hawing. And the new innovations were coming off the proverbial assembly line at breakneck speeds. Then, right as final exams at colleges across the country neared, crypto plunged. The market was already well off its November 2021 highs by then, but a shifting macroeconomic environment and the alarming implosion of algorithmic stablecoin Luna set off a cascade of sell orders that has sent the market from its $3 trillion peak value globally to less than $1 trillion today, though that number continues to decline seemingly by the minute following crypto lending firm Celsius’ decision late Sunday to pause all withdrawals.
Now, the next generation of crypto whiz kids find themselves in unexpected territory. The high-flying market that so many had banked on entering not that long ago has barreled back down to Earth in dramatic fashion, ensnaring startups and giants alike in the fallout and warding off some new graduates from working in crypto—at least today.
“Personally, I’m not touching it with a 10-foot pole right now,” a recent University of California at Berkeley graduate, whose offer to join Coinbase was also recently rescinded, tells Fortune.
Coinbase’s decision to pull already accepted offers out from underneath candidates’ feet has perhaps had the most significant chilling effect to date on how potential crypto developers and engineers think about the market. Ryan Riahi, for instance, was set to join Coinbase come September. The newly anointed graduate from UCLA had gone through a series of interviews and assessments late in 2021 to earn an offer from the crypto exchange giant, which Riahi leapt to accept, even dropping interviews at Meta to do so. “I thought that crypto could really be the future,” Riahi tells Fortune. “And that I would work on building this future of the Internet” at Coinbase.
“It really seemed like a top company to me,” Riahi adds. “Now, I’d probably never apply to them again.”
And it’s not just Coinbase. Days after the offer was pulled, someone from Binance reached out to Riahi about an opening. His response? "No thanks." For now, Riahi says he’s avoiding crypto and Web3 companies altogether. It could be something that he comes to regret, Riahi recognizes. But "there’s a million and one companies to work at as a software engineer nowadays," Riahi says, "so I’m going to stay away from crypto."
For Zayyan Faizal, a recent graduate from Illinois who just started work as the third engineer for a crypto messaging protocol on the Solana blockchain known as Dispatch, there is still plenty of hope of working in crypto over the long run—especially at infrastructure companies that working on non-consumer-facing businesses. The way Faizal sees it, just about everything is selling off now. “It very much is a market-wide thing,” Faizal says. “Everybody’s just kind of on edge.”
The broader tech industry has indeed been undergoing its own reckoning of late. Giants like Meta, Salesforce, and Microsoft have had to slow and pause hiring in some parts of the businesses, while others such as Robinhood, Netflix, and Tesla have laid workers off. In total, there were 4,044 job cuts in tech during the month of May, compared to about 500 from January through April, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. And job listings have fallen as well, going from 477,845 as of April 19 to 438,904, as of June 10, representing an 8.1% decline, according to TrueUp, a tech job marketplace company.
But there's no question crypto has been particularly ugly. Between March and June, the count of open crypto and Web3 jobs tracked by TrueUp declined 13.5% from 12,358 to 10,681, according to data from the company. Of that, Coinbase has gone from having 594 jobs open to zero. Crypto.com has slashed its openings from 808 to seven, and just announced Monday that it was cutting 5% of its corporate workforce. Celsius’ listings went from 136 to nine. And that’s likely “just the beginning,” says Michael Adler, senior managing partner for recruitment firm AC Lion.
“We’re in for a long haul,” Adler tells Fortune. “If we’re going into a recession, the stock market keeps going down, and capital keeps getting more expensive, I think there’s going to be a lot of layoffs.”
The critical factor job seekers should consider, says Adler, is this: Is there a real business model or is the company in the business of raising money? In other words, Adler suggests looking at a company’s prospects in terms of the long term and the short term. For one that's building the infrastructure of a new Internet, something that is removed from the immediacy of Bitcoin’s 24-hour price change, the prospects are bound to be rosier than that of a company dependent on trading volumes.
Adler has been seeing some hesitation among candidates about joining the ranks of crypto companies, but, for younger ones, Adler says taking the leap now may be worth it. "If you have a mortgage and three kids, you need to make money," Adler says. "It's a whole different ballgame. So, if you're coming out of school and you have a higher risk tolerance, go for it."
None of what new grads are facing in crypto today is necessarily new, of course.
The technology may be, but the experience of entering a dissolving job market is something that 20-something-year-olds have been doing for decades, whether it be in the form of MBA students in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis or programmers like Anatoly Yakovenko in the early aughts.
In 2003, Solana Labs cofounder and CEO was preparing to enter into the workforce after graduating from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a computer science degree. But the dot-com bubble bursting in the years ahead had some advisers cautioning Yakovenko that computer science may not actually be the best choice at the time. But Yakovenko stuck with it, landing a job in late 2003, after a voice over the Internet protocol startup he had founded failed to get off the ground, with Qualcomm—a move that paved the way for the eventual creation of what is now one of the largest blockchains out there today in Solana.
“One of the best times to get in is right after a crash,” Yakovenko recently told Fortune. “Crypto’s probably the best choice for new grads right now.”