Week 22 🛟​ Lifeguard Blues + 2-for-1 Employment

Why earn one salary, when you could earn two? Also, be sure to bring your own flotation device to the pool this summer.

Last week we combed through the page-turner that is the Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report and were pleased to see that as of late April, there were 11.4 million roles that need filling — remaining at an all-time high.

It seems, despite the doom and gloom predicted by startup investors and news anchors, workers still have a lot of options, with "almost two open jobs for every unemployed worker” reports Bankrate Chief Financial Analyst, Greg McBride.

Some, are taking the economy up on its offer of 2-for-1 employment, including a 26-year-old who Business Insider covered. This millennial professional puts in roughly 40-hours a week, but is holding down two ‘full-time’ jobs which has helped him get out of debt and garnished him a cool $200,000 annual combined salary.

Telecommuting and a shift to more results-based work environments are responsible for this epic career hack.

Who’s Hiring

• Working remote is here to stay. Remotion, a video workspace that helps remote teams talk like they’re in person, has several engineering roles open.

• We are huge fans of Notion and it looks like we’re not the only ones. The all-in-one workspace for note-taking, task management, and project management is massively expanding its teams in San Francisco, New York City, and internationally.

• Mediafly, a sales enablement, and content management company is hiring and they were named one of the 2022 Best Places to Work by Purpose Jobs.

• Excited to build the tools that make healthcare better for everyone? Check out the Front End Engineer role open at Healthvana.

Who’s Not

A couple of weeks ago we noted that Bolt, a tech startup that helped to popularize the 4-day workweek, was hiring. This week, they’ve laid off a third of their employees (about 250 people) in an effort to stretch their dollars and reach profitability with the money they’ve already raised. The company has been plagued by a series of unfortunate events in 2022 including its Founder & CEO, Ryan Breslow, lashing out on Twitter accusing startup accelerator, Y Combinator, of being corrupted by “money, power, and greed” and then stepping down from his role as CEO days later, a high profile lawsuit by one of its clients, Authentic Brands, and a scathing expose in the New York Times. Will all this turmoil on top of rising interest rates and stock market sell-offs be a harbinger for Bolt?

Lacework, a well-funded startup in the cybersecurity space, is one of the latest tech darlings to ax 20% of their employees, amid fears of a broader economic slowdown. In a statement, Lacework confirmed the layoffs and shared that they were initiated due to a "decision to restructure our business."

Recent Raises

• London-based marketplace, Florence connects much-needed home care shifts to local nurses and caregivers looking for extra work. They’ve just raised $35 million with a raised total of almost $50 million since 2017. This Series B round was led by Axa Venture Partners. The funding will be used to further expand the product offering to include services beyond elderly care.

• Onramp Funds, out of Austin Texas provides working capital to eCommerce small businesses and has raised $42 million in equity and debt funding led by Luther King Capital Headwater Investments. The company will also be providing more guidance to merchants when it comes to navigating the pandemic-induced supply chain bottleneck.

• Hourly.io, an app that approaches the tracking of hourly wages, payroll generation, and workers’ compensation a bit differently, has raised $27 million in a round led by Glilot Capital Partners.

• The recruitment and retention platform HourWork raised $2.5 million Series A led by MassMutual in their effort to help “recruit by re-engaging the people you already know – past applicants and former employees.”

Other News

Where are all the Wendy Peffercorns? Aside from many locations not being able to open their pools this past holiday weekend, it’s projected by the American Lifeguard Association that “around a third to nearly half the nation's more than 300,000 pools will likely be affected as the summer begins.”

The lack of "oiling and lotioning, lotioning and oiling…” is leading to a few Beast-sized concerns: fewer open pools, safety for swimmers with fewer lifeguards at pools and beaches alike, more ‘swim at your own risk’ signs, and dwindling interest in lifeguarding in general with many of the typical applicants now choosing other higher-paying jobs.

Reads + Listens

About 34% of the workforce say they are freelancers in some capacity. That’s around 57 million people in the U.S. and the number of adults working freelance is expected to increase with more companies reporting they are open to the idea of hiring freelance workers in the near future.

We sat down with John Paller on the Talent+Tech podcast to talk about the next generation of employment and how his company, Opolis, is addressing the needs of this rising freelance workforce.

Sponsored by Avra Talent. For over 5-years Avra has been a trusted partner for venture-backed startups who need to hire fast. Learn more about how Avra can help you fill open roles while building a talent foundation that scales.