Handshake
(Picture is from stock.xchng.)

If you’ve been reading this blog, you may notice that I have to find a secure job this year. Is it really difficult to find a secure job in Vancouver now? How bad is the high-tech job market in Vancouver? Let’s see:

  • Electronic Arts (EA), one of the biggest game companies, just shut down Black Box Studio in downtown Vancouver. It is not clear how many employees were laid-off there. The news just mentioned that EA laid-off about 1,000 employees globally.
  • Intrinsyc, the company where I’m working now, had 2 lay off rounds last year (see here and here). I am not sure how many employees in Vancouver are affected; but it is, for sure, not a small number. In the first round, the HR personnel who recruited me, was laid off. In the second round, one of my best friends was laid off.
  • EQO, a provider of VoIP services, downsized from 35 employees to just 12 last year. I have a couple of friends working there. Most of them were laid-off.
  • Nokia (the company where I used to work). There is no official announcement yet. However, there was rumor that they are not going to use Vancouver as product creation center any more. It means some employees in Vancouver have to be relocated or let go. Let’s not speculate on this one yet.

I may have missed some other announcements, but it looks like many geeks are looking for jobs in Vancouver area.

What’s my plan? I have no idea yet.