According to Ava Labs CEO Emin Gün Sirer, the cuts were necessary to restructure and reallocate resources in the ongoing crypto bear market.
The cryptocurrency job market continues to face issues with layoffs amid the challenges and uncertainty of the crypto bear market. One of the recent ones is the recent sack of 12% of the Ava Labs workforce. Ava Labs is the team behind the popular Avalanche blockchain. The 12% cut in the crypto giant’s staff represents at least 40 employees.
According to Ava Labs CEO Emin Gün Sirer, the cuts were necessary to restructure and reallocate resources during the ongoing crypto bear market. The layoffs targeted certain divisions more heavily, especially the marketing department. It is also part of a wider trend in the crypto industry as many firms deal with funding issues and constrained market growth while trying to recover their market caps.
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 Cuts Show Challenges Remain despite Some Positives
Some coins are recovering in price, and there has been considerable growth in some of the popular cryptocurrencies over the past few weeks. Avax, the native crypto of the Avalanche network, has also seen more than 20% growth in price in the past month, with its price forming a bottom at $8.6 and presently around $12.
Some companies have been having a slight uptick in hiring over the past month, and some are also working on their talent acquisition in anticipation of a potential market rebound and bull run in 2024. However, the recent layoffs still reflect some form of struggle, especially for companies that have had far better situations and are presently a shadow of their all-time high in terms of market capitalization.
One of the laid-off employees named Brandon Suzuki who was part of the marketing team described his experience on X. First, he expressed being open to new opportunities and was also grateful for the support he had received in the little time since being laid off. Brandon stated:
“Unfortunately, I was let go from @AvaLabs this morning. If anyone has resources for web3 marketers, please let me know… The amount of support I’ve received today has been incredible. Thank you to everyone who reached out; I’ve already made many new connections and friends. To my colleagues and friends at @AvaLabs, and to those affected by the restructuring, stay strong.”
Industry leaders advise job seekers to continue building skills and networks, even during the downturn. According to Cointelegraph, Neil Dundon, founder of CryptoRecruit, a top crypto recruiting firm, mentioned how challenging it currently is to get a job in the industry. He believes that there will have to be more signs that point to the start of a bull market before we can expect a major increase in crypto jobs.
With the slight uptick in prices and some recoveries noticed in the industry, some experts agree that they have seen an increase in recruitment in the past few weeks. Although they may still be insignificant, it seems like only the beginning of renewed hope. Cointelegraph also reported that Kevin Gibson, founder of Proof of Search, said some of the companies trying to increase their talent pool are doing so to ensure that they have the right talents with them when they are needed, as some of those skills may be challenging to get when the market condition improves in 2024.
Temitope is a writer with more than four years of experience writing across various niches. He has a special interest in the fintech and blockchain spaces and enjoy writing articles in those areas. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in linguistics. When not writing, he trades forex and plays video games.