In the past few weeks, you’ve probably seen a torrent of news stories about fast-growing, sexy startups suddenly being fired.

For many young talent who have started their careers after the GFC, this is the first time we have navigated the world of work in a significant market downturn (and one in particular for the technology sector). It’s scary, it’s real and it will probably continue.

It’s one thing to see newspaper articles and numbers fired.fyibut it hits a lot harder when it’s the people around you.

We have smart, talented friends and community members who lost their jobs through no fault of their own, and it fucking sucks.

As aspiring founders building an entire community around careers, it’s quite a confrontational and unfamiliar experience.

But the media buzz about corporate layoffs/shutdowns only covers a small segment of the market.

For every employer you see, there are a ton of technology companies and startups that have recently raised funding, are growing rapidly, and are still actively hiring.

Looking at the bigger picture, there are many reasons to still be optimistic. In recent years incredible for the ANZ tech & startup ecosystem.

The technology sector is now the third largest contributor to Australian GDP and the opportunities available today are a different world than graduates even a decade ago.

Tech is fast becoming the most sought after career path in Australia with over 750,000 of us now working in the industry.

We recently saw a record amount of venture capital funding going to Australian startups, with $3.6 billion invested in startups in the first quarter of 2022.

And with Aussie scale-ups like Airwallex, SafetyCulture and CultureAmp making waves globally, it’s clear that Atlassian and Canva are no longer just two fluke that happened down under.

We are excited to witness a paradigm shift among young people realizing they don’t need to move abroad to build a high-impact career in technology.

And we are confident that the Australian tech & startup sector will continue to thrive and grow in the long term.

Rather than taking down businesses that are struggling as a community, we should unite as a community to help those affected get through this difficult time.

Earlywork community member Ben Kennedy put it best:

I’m starting to see a lot of people in the startups kicking other startups while they’re down.

Instead of using your energy to let social media know how smart you are to say the consensus, go build something.

Positive sum mentality, my guys – when they win, the ecosystem wins.

— Ben Kennedy 🦎🇦🇺 (@bentkennedy) June 29, 2022

This is the main challenge our community has faced since we started.

And in building a career community for tech & startups, we felt we had an important role to play.

That’s why we introduce Between worka collaboration between Earlywork and After work Connecting fired tech talent to great roles faster

Between work is a free initiative to help tech and start-up workers affected by recent layoffs in Australia and New Zealand find their next job faster.

Workers who are affected can register their details here to discreetly and quickly get in touch with technology companies that are still hiring.

So far, we’ve registered over 100 employers to hire laid-off talent, including Canva, Airwallex, Amazon, Salesforce, Airtasker, and Linktree, with over 1000+ positions available.

Companies that hire people can Register here to access the list of fired talent, including junior, mid-level and senior talent in various disciplines.

Collectively, Earlywork’s and AfterWork’s network of technical operators are also here to support as both mentors to job seekers and advisors to companies considering accelerating their hiring.

Layoffs aren’t fun for anyone. We’ve personally met some great techies who have sadly lost their jobs – through no fault of their own – and we know there are many more.

As we thought about the stories in our communities, we realized we could play an important role in helping these people find their next step.

We made Between Work as a landing place for everybody that are affected, by connecting them to their next launch pad.

It is a difficult time in the market, but there are still many opportunities. We wanted to make sure the affected job seekers knew where they were.

When looking for a job, make sure to prioritize your mental health and spend time on things that give you energy, be it spending time with family and friends, exercising, meditation, or anything else.

After all, work is only one aspect of life and although we spend a lot of time on it, your health comes first.