Solana ‘memecoin frenzy’ prompts uptick in Rust dev demand

August 7, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Ava Labs cuts 12% of staff to ‘reallocate resources’ toward expansion

November 7, 2023 Coin Telegraph

AVA Labs

Ava Labs CEO Emin Gün Sirer however stressed the firm is well-positioned with significant runway and resources at its disposal.

Ava Labs, the team behind the Avalanche Blockchain, has confirmed it laid off 12% of its employees in a recent wave of staff cuts, citing the need to reallocate its resources.

The firm’s founder and CEO Emin Gün Sirer confirmed the news on Nov. 7 after several former Ava Labs employees announced on X (formerly Twitter) they had been laid off.

“This reduction in force affected 12% of Ava Labs, and allows us to reallocate resources to double down on the growth of our firm and the Avalanche ecosystem,” Gün Sirer said.

Gün Sirer acknowledged that bear markets can be tough to navigate but iterated Ava Labs is well-positioned with significant runway and resources at its disposal.

Today we parted ways with some of our Ava Labs team members. We are no longer a 12 person startup, but we strive to capture the speed and energy of a small, nimble team.

This reduction in force affected 12% of Ava Labs, and allows us to reallocate resources to double down on the…
— Emin Gün Sirer (@el33th4xor) November 7, 2023

Ava Labs has 335 employees, according to LinkedIn, which suggests around 40 people were impacted.

Ava Labs vice president of growth and strategy Garrison Yang hinted that many of the layoffs came from the firm’s marketing team.

In an Oct. 6 post on X, former game growth marketing team-member Zach Manafort was among those revealing he was laid off. His departure comes despite being active in the Avalanche community since 2020.

It looks like my time at @AvaLabs has come to its end. Despite the recent layoffs, my time here has been filled with invaluable experiences and growth.

As I transition forward, I am open to explore opportunities in marketing or operations.

My passion for these fields combined…
— Trading Aloha (@TradingAloha) November 6, 2023

The layoffs came as a surprise to Manafort who thought “things were just getting started.”

Brandon Suzuki, who also previously worked in Ava Labs’ marketing unit, similar confirmed that he was laid off on Oct. 6.

Unfortuantely, I was let go from @AvaLabs this morning. If anyone has resources for web3 marketers, please let me know!
— Brandon Suzuki (@BrandonSuzuki_) November 6, 2023

The most recent round of layoffs comes only days after a 50% staff cut by nonfungible token marketplace OpenSea on Nov. 3.

Neil Dundon, founder of CryptoRecruit, told Cointelegraph that job openings are still hard to come by in the crypto industry, despite a recent uptick in crypto market cap.

“The Crypto market is still very tough unfortunately right now. Money is tight. VC has dried up.”

Dundon said there needs to be more signs pointing to a bull market before there’s any meaningful uptick in hiring again.

“This is how it has always behaved and it’s no different this time around.”

On the other hand, Kevin Gibson and Daniel Adler, the founders of Proof of Search and Cryptocurrency Jobs, both told Cointelegraph that they have seen a slight increase in hiring over the last few weeks.

Gibson attributed this to cryptocurrency firms acting under the impression that they may lose out on the talent pool when market conditions improve in 2024. He added:

“It is still an employer's market so we are encouraging companies to take advantage of this to keep building as it will be very different in 2024.”

Gibson noted that some of these positions were only 2-3 day per week roles as opposed to full-time positions.

Adler shared a similar sentiment:

“As we're approaching the end of the year, teams are doing a final hiring push and following through on their hiring plans and roadmap.”

Magazine: How to protect your crypto in a volatile market — Bitcoin OGs and experts weigh in

FTX collapse could see crypto sector layoffs accelerate

November 15, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Blockfi

While the full impact of FTX’s collapse is still unfolding, some have already warned of an increase in layoffs to come “in the months to follow.”

The fall of crypto exchange FTX and potential resulting contagion could lead to an acceleration of crypto-company layoffs in the coming months, recruitment specialists warn.

A Nov. 14 report from crypto data aggregator platform CoinGecko found that as of Nov. 13, the crypto space has seen 4,695 employees let go in 2022 so far, presenting 4% of staff cuts across all “technology startups.”

However, the authors of the report warn that crypto layoffs could increase in the coming months when the “full impact” of FTX’s sudden collapse takes effect:

“With the collapse of FTX since November 2 and its full impact on the cryptocurrency space still unfolding, further cryptocurrency layoffs may occur in the months to follow.”

Speaking to Cointelegraph, CryptoRecruit founder Neil Dundon argues that while FTX’s events will cause some layoffs, it hasn’t changed the broader trend that crypto recruitment follows crypto prices.

“Layoffs have been consistent effectively following the same trend as crypto prices. FTX hasn’t changed that broader trend albeit a tragic event,” he said, adding:

“There will be layoffs because of it but that will present opportunities for good projects to scoop up good talent which we are collecting.”

Kevin Gibson, the founder of recruitment firm Proof of Search was less optimistic, sharing that he had one candidate that was due to start employment today but had his offer “pulled” during the first call with the company.

Gibson said it was hard to comment on how the FTX collapse will shake out as it’s “changing daily” but said his candidate’s experience “will not be an isolated incident.”

Companies across the crypto sector have already undergone a number of layoffs throughout the year as a result of the market downturn.

Among the most recent staff cuts in the industry include payment processor Stripe’s layoff of 1,000 employees, Flow blockchain developer Dapper Lab’s 22% cut, and venture capital firm Digital Currency Group’s 10% layoff. All layoffs took effect in early November.

Digital asset-focused investment firm Galaxy Digital was also reported to be eyeing off a 20% cut on Nov. 1.

Coinbase is understood to have cut another 60 staff on Nov. 10, according to Yahoo Finance.

The latest CoinGecko report follows an earlier Nov. 4 report which looked into the cities most impacted by cryptocurrency layoffs.

At the top of the list was San Francisco — home to Silicon Valley, one of the world’s largest technology and innovation hubs — which was followed by Dubai, New York City and Singapore.

Kevin Gibson