Dropbox is temporarily halting its recruiting efforts, in a blow for tech workers seeking jobs as startups ramp up mass layoffs

• Dropbox has temporarily halted all recruiting efforts as the company works through the challenges of integrating new hires remotely, Business Insider has learned.
• "In order to ensure we're onboarding new hires effectively and managing the strain on these teams during the shelter-in-place orders in effect across the globe, we've paused recruiting efforts temporarily," a Dropbox spokesperson confirmed.
• The file-sharing service is continuing to honor all pending offers and ongoing interview processes, but interviews for new applicants to its 133 open positions will be put on hold, the company said.
• Dropbox's decision comes amid industry turmoil, as startups begin to furlough or cut jobs to grow leaner amid a coronavirus-driven economic downturn.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Dropbox has temporarily halted all recruiting efforts as the company works through the challenges of integrating new hires remotely, Business Insider has learned.

The file-sharing service is continuing to honor all pending offers and ongoing interview processes, and has left its job portal open to applications. But interviews for new applicants to its 133 open positions advertised on LinkedIn will be put on hold, the company confirmed.

Like other major tech companies, Dropbox has sent its employees to work remotely from home - a move prompted by the coronavirus outbreak racing across the country and prompting statewide directives to avoid going outside. But the company says that remote introductions to new hires are filled with too many difficulties.

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"Fully remote recruiting and onboarding into a new company comes with unique challenges - bringing new hires into Dropbox takes a great deal of collaboration between many teams, including hiring managers, learning and development, IT, benefits, and recruiting," a Dropbox spokesperson explained.

"In order to ensure we're onboarding new hires effectively and managing the strain on these teams during the shelter-in-place orders in effect across the globe, we've paused recruiting efforts temporarily," the spokesperson added.

Dropbox's college internship program will still continue to take place in the summer remotely, a move that some other big tech companies like Google have already committed to.

Industrywide turmoil

Dropbox's decision is yet another hurdle for tech workers on the hunt for a new job, as startups begin to furlough or cut jobs to grow leaner amid a coronavirus-driven economic downturn.

Earlier this week, the Andreessen Horowitz-backed childcare startup Wonderschool laid off 75% of its staff on a Zoom call, telling employees that the coronavirus could dry up any more funding for 2 years. Corporate travel startup TripActions also laid off 350 employees as the travel industry suffers.

Tech workers are turning their eye toward the bigger companies in the industry, which are under less pressure to conduct mass job cuts. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has called for a temporary "no layoffs" pledge from company leaders, and major tech companies like Google and Facebook have all committed to continuing to pay hourly employees who worked in their offices, despite the closures.

But measures like recruiting pauses are making this a little more complicated for tech workers. Ride-hailing giant Uber has already announced a hiring freeze earlier this month, and the rest of the tech industry could follow if the coronavirus continues to upend the economic landscape.