Compensation, Market

What’s Going on with Startup Comp?

  • On March 30, 2025
Carta just reported on the state of startup compensation! The good news: Average salaries and equity grants rose slightly. Layoffs are at the lowest point in 3 years. These industries grew headcount: energy, hw, med device. Ready for the bad news? Startups “haven’t been this reluctant to hire in at least 5 years.” Net headcount […]
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Career Management, Career Tips, Market

2025 Recruiting Take-Aways

  • On January 19, 2025
I spoke on AABA’s recent career panel addressing the Bay Area in-house market with talent acquisition experts Angela Cheung (ex Uber) and Herman Gee (Exelixis). Here are 5 takeaways: Pay for top in-house lawyers has generally been trending up, despite recent layoffs. This is in line with Levels.fyi’s report on tech/engineering comp. Compensation is made […]
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Market

Jobs Taking Longer to Land

  • On January 12, 2025
No, it’s not your imagination. WSJ reported this week that white collar jobs, including legal jobs, are taking longer to land.   What’s going on now with the economy? It’s complicated. Over 2 million jobs have been added to the US economy over the last year, but “more people who are out of work are having a hard […]
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Market

Crackdown on Minor Infractions (Stealth Layoff?)

  • On November 24, 2024
A little horror story for you all: companies are now cracking down on minor infractions, possibly as a stealth layoff per WSJ. Here are the sins employees committed recently leading to their termination: –    Meta employees used $25 meal allowances on household items instead of restaurant meals. –    E&Y employees watched multiple training […]
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Change, Market

2024-25 Economic Trends Affecting the Job Market

  • On November 17, 2024
I am often asked what I’m seeing. The short answer: the job market is better than last year and seems to be improving. I’m testing the market and consuming reports for you. Analysis from this past week: Highlights from the LinkedIn newsletter The Work Shift (“Keeping you informed about the economy, labor market and evolving […]
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Market

What’s Going on with the Bay Area Job Market?

  • On July 7, 2024
The Bay Area job market and pay have dropped from peak 2022. Per SFGate, the good news: “Workers in the Bay Area received the highest average tech pay of any American metro. The bad news: “but also withstood the largest year-over-year drop at 15.25%.” Pay decline was due to area layoffs. Comp dropped 26% for […]
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Job Search, Market

Job Hunting is Like House Hunting in the Bay Area

  • On June 9, 2024
We all know the joys of buying a house in the Bay Area. Supply is low, and there is fierce competition. Yes, job hunting now is like this. Here are some applicable lessons for the win: Target the area. Like knowing what neighborhood you want to be in, you have to know what jobs and […]
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Market, Networking

Hidden Market vs. Early Job Market

  • On April 13, 2024
Is there a secret backdoor to the job market? While unposted or “hidden jobs” exist, they’re not that common. Here are the circumstances I’ve seen for hidden jobs: small companies/startups in growth mode, super strategic jobs the employer doesn’t want to notify the market about, and replacement of someone sitting in the job that the […]
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