Durham adtech firm Adwerx has confirmed layoffs amid economic uncertainty and a CEO shuffle – and early-stage startups stand at the ready to grab experienced talent.
That’s according to industry watchers, who say the silver lining in Adwerx’ decision to cut 40 positions is that experienced technologists could join startups in need of tenured talent.
Thom Ruhe, president and CEO of NC IDEA, said he sees tightening by Adwerx and Policygenius, which announced cuts in Durham earlier this year, as “an opportunity.”
“People being laid off from some of these established companies, it’s an opportunity to get picked up by some of the new ones,” he said, noting that the “vast majority” of firms in NC IDEA’s portfolio are hiring right now.
Scot Wingo, the serial entrepreneur behind car care startup Spiffy, said last week that the ecosystem has a way of reaching out amid turmoil, too. He said his firm has already hired two technologists displaced by recent cuts at Triagle tech firms. And he, too, sees it as a hiring opportunity for startup firms to bulk up on seasoned talent.
Mike Doernberg, interim CEO of Adwerx, is hoping the jobs gap – where more open positions exist than candidates to fill them – will work out in displaced workers’ favor.
Adwerx, which spun out of eMinor in 2015, is now being led by Doernberg, eMinor’s CEO. Former CEO Jed Carlson quietly stepped down in June for “personal reasons,” the company confirmed.
In an interview, Doernberg called it a “preemptive” move, one that doubles down on its core verticals of real estate and mortgages and away from some of the more “aspirational” initiatives the firm had explored.
“They require more investment,” he said Monday. “I think we just didn’t feel comfortable continuing that level of investment in light of where the world sits.”
And as Adwerx strategizes, Doernberg said he – alongside investors and board members – plan to talk up the displaced workers to hiring companies in the community. He plans to tap into people with a lot of contacts in the sector, such as Jason Caplain, cofounder of Bull City Venture Partners (an investor in Adwerx) and ChannelAdvisor CEO David Spitz (a board member) to help workers find jobs.
“These guys are an incredibly talented group of people,” Doernberg said of those laid off. “The company was really just making some strategic changes, so I think it’s a great opportunity for other companies.”
But as economic uncertainty continues, Adwerx and Policygenius are likely not alone. Mike Walden, economist and professor emeritus at North Carolina State University, said the slow down will mean belt-tightening – including layoffs – across multiple sectors.
Ruhe believes a lot of the tech churn is temporary.
He said that, while there’s an obvious pullback on private equity funding in the industry that’s “lowering some of the growth ambitions,” it’s all cyclic.
“I’ve seen all this before,” Ruhe said. “This is just going to ebb and flow.”
