YHK - yet another hacker news clone

I work at a YC company. It’s not really a startup anymore — we’re well past that phase. We’re hiring at an insane pace right now, roughly one new software engineer per day.

The weird part is… I don’t feel like there’s that much work to do.

I’m not saying there’s no work, but the pace of hiring feels disconnected from reality. I don’t see enough meaningful projects, clear ownership, or actual execution needs to justify this kind of growth. It doesn’t make sense to me.

I feel uncomfortable about it, but I also feel stuck. The job is good. The salary is good. Objectively, I’m lucky. And with the current market — especially with AI changing everything so fast — I’m scared to quit. It doesn’t feel like a safe time to voluntarily jump ship.

After seeing what happened with Bolt and similar companies that rapidly expanded headcount, I can’t shake the feeling that this is just a headcount inflation phase. Grow fast, look bigger, raise more, justify valuations. But with AI accelerating productivity, I keep thinking: what happens when leadership realizes they don’t need this many engineers?

It feels like we’re building up to a correction. And when it comes, it could be brutal. AI tools are already increasing individual output. At some point, won’t companies decide they can do more with fewer people?

I’m honestly lost and scared. I feel like we’re all pretending this makes sense, but deep down it doesn’t. I worry that sooner rather than later, a lot of us are going to be out of a job.

If anyone has advice — whether you’ve been through something similar, or you see this differently — I’d really appreciate it. Right now I feel stuck between staying in something that feels unsustainable and leaving into a market that feels even more uncertain.