IMHO, I believe the peak was due to a combination of Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP) and the pandemic, both of which have faded out this year. Elon Musk's highly publicized firing of a big part of the Twitter work force also set a precedent for lay-offs in the industry. But I am still optimistic that we will many such peaks ahead of us.
>But I am still optimistic that we will many such peaks ahead of us.
I'm not. But I don't think my industry is too represenative on what affects HN hirings. I've seen maybe 5-ish game positions on Ycomb job boards ever (they don't even have it as a category to filter into).
> Elon Musk's highly publicized firing of a big part of the Twitter work force also set a precedent for lay-offs in the industry
Layoffs across the industry were already well underway when Musk completed his first round. I think some tech company execs were happy to use Musk as a high profile excuse, but investors everywhere were demanding layoffs/corrections as early as Summer 2022.