January 2, 2026
Paychecks and punchlines
Ask HN: Who is hiring? (January 2026)
WFH vs Hybrid, AI hype, and FetLife joins the fray
TLDR: StorPool’s tough systems job anchors January’s hiring thread, while openings span remote and hybrid. Commenters clash over office days, roll their eyes at AI buzzwords, cheer transparent pay, and trade jokes about FetLife’s listing—proving the job hunt is now a full-on culture debate.
January’s Ask HN hiring thread dropped, and the comments turned into a mini culture war. StorPool’s hardcore systems role flexed with wild stats and the line “This isn’t CRUD,” which had veterans nodding while others joked about a CRUD-free diet—cue hype vs substance debates. Check the details: StorPool role. The remote crowd went loud: Temporal’s "WORK FROM HOME" got instant cheers and “WFH is my love language” memes, while Clever Benefits’ “Hybrid — 2 days/week onsite” sparked arguments about whether commuting is ever worth it.
Pay transparency stole the spotlight when Piq Energy posted “$150k–$250k + equity,” prompting a mix of “finally” and “that’s SF-only math.” Want the numbers? See the Piq Energy role. The curveball cameo? FetLife hiring a DevOps engineer FetLife listing, which unleashed cheeky one‑liners about “kink‑tainer orchestration” and resume awkwardness—some said “ship the bits, not the brand,” others weren’t so sure. Meanwhile Pango’s claim of the “world’s first Agentic Operating System” and an “AI e-commerce employee of the future” drew eye‑rolls, bingo cards, and a few true believers.
Strongest opinions: REMOTE FOREVER, no office days; real systems work > buzzword soup; and show the comp. Drama: VC-backed hype vs self‑funded grit, and whether adults-only platforms are career‑safe. Jokes flew, memes multiplied, and the job board felt like a town hall with punchlines.
Key Points
- •StorPool is hiring Senior Software Engineers for its Core Storage team, with multiple full-time, remote roles (UTC−1 to UTC+5).
- •The product targets high performance and reliability, claiming <100µs latency, 113M+ IOPS per cluster, and 99.999% availability.
- •Responsibilities include writing custom Linux drivers, optimizing lock-free data structures, building fault-tolerant distributed algorithms, and kernel-level debugging.
- •The work is positioned as deep systems programming rather than typical CRUD development, focused on low-latency, robust infrastructure.
- •Benefits include competitive salary, fully remote work, meaningful time off, and a yearly education budget; application link is provided.