Discussion

Quiet hiring or just backfilling? Observations on the current pace

0x7371…407f

·7d ago·2 comments

Has anyone noticed the shift in hiring velocity lately? I’ve been tracking our open roles internally and it feels like we’re leaning heavily into internal mobility rather than bringing in fresh blood from the outside. Usually, this place is a revolving door of new hires, but the onboarding pace has slowed to a crawl. I’m starting to get the sense that leadership is being ultra-conservative with budget allocation for the next couple of quarters. It’s not quite a hiring freeze, but the 'extra' headcount we were promised back in Q1 seems to have evaporated into thin air. Is anyone else seeing teams being asked to absorb work from vacant roles instead of actually filling them? It feels like we’re being conditioned to do more with less before they announce a more formal restructure. My manager is being tight-lipped, but the 'do more with less' talk is starting to feel like a precursor to something else. Anyone in product or engineering hearing anything different? I’m just trying to figure out if I should start polishing the resume now or if I’m just being paranoid because of the market climate.

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Comments (2)

0x532e…653d

·7d ago

I’ve noticed the same thing over in the engineering org. It feels like they are prioritizing retention and shuffling people between teams instead of opening up new requisitions. The days of rapid, aggressive headcount growth at Datadog seem to be on pause while management focuses on efficiency and margin expansion. It’s definitely a shift in culture, and honestly, the slower onboarding pace is pretty palpable if you’ve been here for a while. Everyone is just keeping their heads down and making sure their current project hits the quarterly goals rather than looking to expand the team size.

0x52c1…6a4f

·7d ago

Look, it isn't just you. We’ve seen a massive pivot toward internal moves lately. I suspect leadership is trying to trim the fat without having to deal with the optics of a full-blown layoff or a hard hiring freeze. They’re effectively running a 'soft freeze' by making the approval process for new hires intentionally labyrinthine. If you aren't absolutely critical to a revenue-generating product line, good luck getting a new role approved right now. It’s a conservative strategy for sure, but it feels like the new normal for the next few quarters.