With Rackspace Layoffs, Eyes Turn to Rising San Antonio Tech Economy
Summary
Rackspace is cutting about 270 jobs in the U.S.—some 6 percent of its 4,500-person workforce—the company’s CEO Taylor Rhodes announced yesterday, almost five months after it was acquired by private equity firms for $4.3 billion. The layoffs went into effect yesterday, according to a Rackspace spokesperson, and more may come outside of the U.S. “In a situation like this, it’s never pleasant, but if there’s a silver lining I’m glad it didn’t happen five years ago when there was nothing,” says Lorenzo Gomez, the CEO of the Geekdom co-working space in downtown San Antonio. Since, San Antonio has seen a relative tech renaissance, with many of the newly formed companies focusing on solving similar tech problems as Rackspace—background IT, cloud computing, or cybersecurity issues that Gomez describes as working in “the plumbing of the Internet.” Those companies include startups led or founded by former Rackspace employees, or so-called “Rackers,” such as Jungle Disk, Promoter.io, HelpSocial, and Filestack, among many others. Geekdom is hosting a job fair with coding school Codeup on April 11, an option for Rackers who may be looking for a new employer, Gomez says, as well as startup events at the end of the month. The same can be said about the new ideas that spark innovation—though perhaps San Antonio’s tech community sees it as a little less painful when you have funding (and other resources) to help you.
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