IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

US Job Openings Decline to Lowest Level in More Than a Year

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

1. Recession Already Underway, AI as Scapegoat

Users argue the US is in recession, with companies using AI to justify cost-cutting.
"We’re already in a recession. We just use AI to justify doing all the same recession behaviors while making it sound like innovation" - charliebwrites.
"Half of the US is formally in recession already" - DetectDefect.

2. AI Hype Exceeds Current Impact

AI blamed for job declines but adoption remains low; true effects loom later.
"AI penetration is so low right now that it probably has zero role in the job market" - hombre_fatal.
"it's being used by HR... to sort through applications, so it already has had a large (negative) impact on hiring" - esseph.

3. Policy Uncertainty Stifling Hiring

Trump-era tariffs, executive actions, and unpredictability freeze business decisions.
"not hiring in such an uncertain environment. We have a President using emergency powers to affect sweeping, unpredictable... changes" - mbgerring.
"Due to the unpredictable... US administration, the rest of the west is 'America-proofing' itself" - saubeidl.

4. Offshoring and H1B Suppressing US Jobs

Companies offshore or hire via H1B amid layoffs, bypassing Americans.
"coordinated, sweeping layoffs, followed by H-1B hiring sprees" - ibejoeb.
"The US needs an offshoring tax. If you want to sell to Americans you also need to hire Americans" - OGEnthusiast.

🚀 Project Ideas

Ghost Job Detector

Summary

  • A web tool that scans job boards (LinkedIn, Indeed, company careers pages) to identify "ghost jobs" by analyzing posting age, response rates, duplicate listings, and company hiring signals like recent layoffs or H1B filings.
  • Core value: Saves job seekers time by filtering out fake/stale postings, improving search efficiency amid complaints of unresponsive applications.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Job seekers, especially tech workers frustrated by ghost jobs
Core Feature AI-powered scoring of job postings (0-100 viability) with alerts for real openings
Tech Stack Python/Scrapy for scraping, LLM (Claude/GPT) for analysis, React frontend, Supabase backend
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Revenue-ready: Freemium ($5/mo premium scans)

Notes

  • Addresses "ghost postings" and "job listing i've apply to and never hear back" (xboxnolifes, 29athrowaway); HN would love practical utility in a tough market.
  • High discussion potential as users share detections, building community data.

Policy Risk Simulator

Summary

  • SaaS tool for businesses to simulate economic impacts of policy changes (tariffs, deportations, H1B rules) on costs, supply chains, and hiring using real-time data from BLS, FRED, and news APIs.
  • Core value: Helps with RFP bidding and planning in uncertain environments like "tariffs, collapse of USMCA" by providing scenario forecasts.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience SMBs in logistics, manufacturing, tech (e.g., adriand's logistics client)
Core Feature Drag-and-drop scenario builder with Monte Carlo simulations and exportable reports
Tech Stack Next.js, Node.js, Pandas/Prophet for modeling, FRED/BLS APIs
Difficulty High
Monetization Revenue-ready: Subscription ($49/mo per user)

Notes

  • Solves "unpredictable changes... tank a previously viable business" (mbgerring) and logistics forecasting woes; HN commenters cite FRED charts obsessively.
  • Sparks debates on tariffs/offshoring with shareable sim results.

AI Hiring Impact Poller

Summary

  • Anonymous polling platform for HR/recruiters to report AI use in screening, penetration rates, and job impacts, aggregated into dashboards with sector breakdowns.
  • Core value: Provides real data on "AI penetration is so low" vs. "AI is used by HR" debate, enabling better job market predictions.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience HR pros, devs, economists tracking AI's job effects
Core Feature Weekly polls + public dashboards, BLS cross-correlation
Tech Stack Vercel/Next.js, Firebase for anon polls, Chart.js/Recharts
Difficulty Low
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • Directly from "Maybe we should do an 'Ask HN' for those in HR" (esseph); HN thrives on polls/data like JOLTS discussions.
  • Utility for "find out" empiricism (A4ET8a8uTh0_v2), fosters ongoing HN-style discourse.

Offshoring Hiring Tracker

Summary

  • Dashboard tracking company offshoring signals: H1B approvals, layoff-H1B ratios, remote job locations, using public data from USCIS, LinkedIn, SEC filings.
  • Core value: Helps US workers avoid/flag companies "hiring heavily abroad" while downsizing domestically, countering wage suppression fears.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience US tech workers wary of H1B/layoff cycles
Core Feature Company search with risk score, alerts for suspect patterns
Tech Stack Python/Django, USCIS/EDGAR APIs, PostgreSQL, D3.js viz
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Revenue-ready: Freemium ($10/mo pro alerts)

Notes

  • Tackles "coordinated... layoffs, followed by H-1B hiring sprees" (ibejoeb) and "hiring heavily abroad" (hshdhdhj4444); HN data nerds would cite/share endlessly.
  • Practical for job hunts, potential for viral HN threads on big tech data.

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