Cockburn was on one of his regular jaunts through LinkedIn this week, on the lookout for more gainful employment than the Speccie currently offers him. During his perusal, one word kept catching his eye on the profiles of other users: “Rescinded.”
Prospective employees are deciding to denote when a company had made them a job offer — and then changed their mind after a change in corporate hiring plans. The cryptocurrency wallet company Coinbase appears to be one of the biggest offenders.
Ashutosh, a software engineer, posted the following:
After considering several factors, I had chosen to join Coinbase over pursuing a PhD. Unfortunately, I just got an email today saying my offer had been rescinded (as well as those of many other people) due to a massive hiring plan change by Coinbase… After having planned so much of the next stage of my life, seeing it fall apart so quickly was heartbreaking.
Other jobseekers are taking a more optimistic outlook, such as Xinyi, another software engineer whose offer was rescinded:
This situation is undoubtedly unfortunate. I cannot start the journey at Coinbase as I’ve planned since this January. However, I cannot control the market or others’ decisions, but I believe it’s my #opportunity to start everything all over again!
Why the change of heart? Cockburn looked to Coinbase’s corporate blog for answers:
In response to the current market conditions and ongoing business prioritization efforts, we will extend our hiring pause for both new and backfill roles for the foreseeable future and rescind a number of accepted offers… We always knew crypto would be volatile, but that volatility alongside larger economic factors may test the company, and us personally, in new ways.
Could they be sugarcoating matters? According to CBS, “Coinbase has seen its stock price plunge 81 percent this year, and has recently announced plans to shed one-fifth of its staff.”
But in America’s recessing economy, tanking crypto companies aren’t the only ones rescinding job offers.
Daniel, an international student studying data analytics, signed on at Turnberry Solutions after graduating, but they rescinded his offer soon after. “I am an international student so it is hard to find a new job,” he told Cockburn.
Ariel was an intern at Twitter before they offered him a full-time position as a software engineer. However, the tech giant had to rescind later due to “recent circumstances,” likely meaning the economy.
Cockburn wishes these job prospectors luck — with the economy as it is, they’ll need it.
