Facebook's IPO and your career may be linked in a social network kind of way. Consider these points: First, Groupon’s stock price stumbled, followed by Zynga's hitting the skids, and if Facebook’s share price doesn’t recover soon, the entire social media industry could feel the effects. For example, the timing of future IPOs could be slowed, resulting in cash-strapped startups having less capital to hire IT professionals -- like you. Facebook’s lackluster IPO could also drag down the price of other tech stocks, and so discourage venture capitalists from investing in late-stage social media startups. These companies are usually more mature and tend to be closer to launching an IPO, or setting itself up for sale. The sheer size of Facebook’s IPO may siphon off investment funds from other technology, or social media firms, said David Garrity, a principal at GVA Research, during a Yahoo Finance interview:
Institutional money is going to be holding back tech investments in established names, anything social network-related will suffer once investors can buy the company that made social networking mainstream.
While your career may not be fazed by short-term fluctuations in your company’s stock price, if left unabated, the situation could impact your job security, earnings and morale, especially if customers, co-workers and executives decide to jump ship. If you work for Facebook and made a fortune last week — congratulations! If not, and you work for another social media firm or Internet startup, you should assess the impact of this week's events on your company and personal situation. That way, you can update your resume and hit the market if Facebook’s IPO proves to be a game changer for your career.
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