Disappointed candidates gave up $400k salaries to join Coinbase
The more that emerges about the rescinded job offers at Coinbase, the more that anyone else wooed by big hiring plans at the latest crypto darling might have a careful think about their current seat and decide they're actually quite well situated after all. After Coinbase said it was hiring 6,000 people, candidates seem to have given up big jobs for a sniff of crypto magic, only to be left hanging by the sudden decision to "rescind a number of outstanding offers for people who have not started yet."
Those people are now complaining bitterly on public forums.
On Blind, for example, someone called Datadog, says he'd signed a Docusign and given up a $406k job, and was due to start at Coinbase in August. Instead, the job has been cancelled and he has two months' severance pay. Someone else called Nutanix says he/she had offers Microsoft and Amazon, but forsook them for Coinbase, only to have the job yanked. Another poster called TeaLove says he was due to start a $405k job at Coinbase on Monday having given up a $205k role at his current company to join, and that he already has the Coinbase laptop: "It was a dream job for me and now I’m feeling lost."
Students have it hardest, especially students on visas. On LinkedIn, Chung Wook Ahn, a Masters Student at Washington University, says he was due to start in two weeks on an OPT Visa and now only has 90 days to find a new role. "I am left speechless of the irresponsibility Coinbase has shown in managing hires, and helpless about my current situation," he says. Ashutosh Ukey at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, says he accepted an offer from Coinbase instead of pursuing a PhD: "I was going to start on a STEM OPT VISA and I am only allowed a certain number of days on unemployment. I had even rejected three PhD offers and declined to interview at other companies since I had accepted Coinbase's offer in mid-March. All of these other options are no longer available to me."
Even worse, a post on Blind suggests Coinbase emailed candidates during the week of May 16th and promised them it wouldn't be rescinding offers, with that promise underlined for additional effect. Coinbase didn't respond to a request to comment on the veracity of that email.
In the email sent to candidates whose offers were being rescinded, Coinbase head of HR L.J. Brock promised to provide them with, "job placement support, resume review, interview coaching and access to our strong industry connections."
Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: sbutcher@efinancialcareers.com in the first instance. Whatsapp/Signal/Telegram also available (Telegram: @SarahButcher)
Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libelous (in which case it won’t.)
