“You don't need more time, you need more focus.”
TL;DR
SF Tech Week runs October 5 to 11 with hundreds of events, most free to apply for, in a region where tech companies have already disclosed 13,900 layoffs this year, 36.6% more than all of 2025.
OpenAI shipped 20+ launches at DevDay and Meta stood up an enterprise AI division on September 29, the same day Workday filed to cut 2.5% of its staff.
Move of the week: apply to 3 Tech Week events on Luma today, or, if you're outside the Bay, pick 3 host companies and find one human at each.
📊 Poll of the Week
Did you get an interview this week?
🚨 The Big Story
Every keynote this week was a job posting
What happened
San Francisco spent the week as one long product demo. OpenAI's DevDay on September 29 shipped 20+ announcements, led by "dots," always-on agents with their own cloud computer and browser, plus an Agents API and a cheaper model, GPT-6.1 Sol. OpenAI
Same day, Meta launched Meta Enterprise Platform, a new division selling its AI to companies, run by former MongoDB CEO CJ Desai and reporting straight to Zuckerberg. Business Today And Monday, a16z's SF Tech Week starts: hundreds of independently hosted events, October 5 to 11.
Why it matters
It lands on a region that's bleeding. Bay Area tech companies disclosed about 13,900 layoffs through September 18, 36.6% more than all of 2025. In August the region added 7,800 jobs overall while tech shed a net 2,900. GovTech The industry is cutting and building at the same time, and this week it tells you, on stage, where the building goes.
Our take
Keynotes are job descriptions written in public. Every agent that ships needs someone to deploy it inside a real company, secure it, and sell it. Meta can't sell AI to enterprises without enterprise sellers, solutions engineers, and support. Those teams get staffed before the reqs look tidy, and Tech Week is where the people staffing them stand around holding drinks. Yes, it's mostly a party for founders and investors. Go anyway. One conversation with a hiring manager who hasn't posted the job yet beats a month of cold applications.
Signals to watch this week:
New org charts. A division with a named leader, like Meta's, hires ahead of revenue.
The agent layer. Deployment, evaluation, and security work around dots and the Agents API. Our read: that's where adjacent skills transfer fastest.
Who's hosting. A company paying for a room in SoMa has budget. Write the host names down and check their careers pages the Monday after.
What gets cut the same week. Workday trimmed product and tech on September 29, six days after Ema raised $77 million for agents that do HR, IT, and finance work. Notice which side of that trade your skills sit on.
Your move:
Pick 3 companies from the launches or the host list whose problem you've already solved somewhere. Build your week around meeting one person from each.
📉 The Layoff Report
Workday cuts product, Disney cuts HR
Workday: September 29. About 2.5% of staff, "primarily within" its Product and Technology team, per its SEC filing; coverage puts it near 500. It set aside $40 to $55 million for severance and benefits, and says it "plans to continue to hire in key strategic areas." Its second round this year, after about 400 in February. 8-K
Disney: September 29. Several hundred people, concentrated in HR and IT across corporate and the business units. Its third round of 2026, after about 1,000 in April and several hundred in July. Yes, the people who run layoffs get laid off too. The Desk
Cold Iron Studios: Announced September 28. At least 19 people at the studio behind Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2, a little over a month after the game launched. Parent Enad Global 7 called it part of "the original plan." Insider Gaming
Bottom line: TrueUp puts 2026 at 190,602 people across 624 events, up 924 people and 6 events from last week. A quieter week by count, and Workday alone is more than half of it. TrueUp
☀ The Bright Spot
A Sunnyvale job center has 2,000 open seats
A $950,000 federal grant, run through California's EDD, lets NovaWorks in Sunnyvale serve up to 2,000 laid-off Silicon Valley tech workers with coaching, resume and interview prep, and training. One of them, Phil from Palo Alto, landed at a tech company in Milpitas: "Using what I learned at NovaWorks helped me get this job." You already paid for it. Use it. EDD
🧑✈ Career CoPilot
Work Tech Week from SoMa or your couch
Most Tech Week events are "apply to attend": the host reads your profile and decides. That favors people who show up prepared, whatever their job status.
If you're in the Bay:
Apply today on the Luma calendar. Popular events close days before Monday.
Fill in your Luma name, role, and company before you apply. Hosts screen on it. No current employer? "Senior PM, ex-Stripe" is honest and it gets read.
Plan by neighborhood. The Financial District and SoMa hold the most events, and crossing town between two evening events usually means missing both.
Pick 3 events and stay long enough to talk. Bring one sentence: what you do, one result, the team you want next. Follow up within 48 hours with something specific you talked about.
If you're somewhere else:
Use the calendar as a target list. Every host is a company with money to spend this month. Find one person there on LinkedIn and reference the event.
Watch the DevDay session recordings OpenAI is posting on openai.com, then message a builder about one specific thing they said.
Travel-able? LA Tech Week runs October 12 to 18, and OpenAI is taking DevDay Exchanges to 8 cities, including London, Bengaluru, and Tokyo, later this year.
👀 Companies to Watch
OpenAI, Ema, and Reco are buying people
OpenAI: In March it planned to grow from about 4,500 people to about 8,000 by year end, across product, engineering, research, and sales. It just shipped 20+ products that need all four. Fortune
Ema: Raised $77 million on September 23. The Mountain View company has about 200 people building AI agents for HR, IT, and finance work, and the money goes mostly to sales and marketing. TechCrunch
Reco: Raised a $55 million Series C on September 29 to secure the AI agents companies are now deploying, and expects revenue to triple this year. Security people, this is your adjacent move. TechCrunch
Meta Enterprise Platform: A brand-new division with a leader and no public headcount yet. Watch Meta's careers page for enterprise sales and solutions roles.
✅ Your Moves this Week
Apply to 3 rooms, meet 3 people
Apply to 3 Tech Week events on Luma today. Outside the Bay? Pick 3 host companies and find one human at each. This is the move of the week.
Fill in your Luma profile: name, target role, last company.
Watch one DevDay session recording and write down 3 jobs someone has to do to ship what they announced.
Look at open roles at OpenAI, Ema, and Reco, even if you think you're a stretch.
In the South Bay and between jobs? Call NovaWorks. It's already paid for.
Still talk to anyone in HR at your old company? Forward them the From Offboard block.
Answer the poll at the top.
Skip at least one afterparty. The follow-up email matters more than the fourth drink.
The industry is telling you where it's spending next. You get to show up there.
Hit reply and tell us: are you going to Tech Week, or following from somewhere else? Name one company you're watching. We read every one.
Stay sharp. Stay ready.
The Offboard Team