Nest, the connected device company that was acquired by Google for $3.2 billion, apparently needs all the hardware engineers it can get. As the core hardware group within Google, Nest will be spearheading the development of new hardware products.
That could mean phones, or tablets, or… wearables?
So it’s probably not a surprise that members of the Nest team paid a visit to Beaverton, Ore. yesterday to have an informal meet-and-greet with folks who might have been part of the Nike Fuel Band team.
Last week, reports surfaced Nike had laid off a good portion of the hardware team that had worked on its wearable step tracker, the Nike Fuel Band. Later, Nike refuted the claim that a “majority” of the team was let go — and hey look! The Fuel Band will soon come in new colors!
Anyway, regardless of the size of the layoffs or Nike’s commitment to hardware going forward, it’s likely that morale is low and that even those who weren’t let go are probably considering their options.
Which is why now is a great time for other hardware companies to give them some options, by trying to recruit them.
And that’s exactly what Nest did, according to one of our tipsters. Yesterday members of the Nest team went up to Nike’s hometown and set up “an impromptu interview session” at a local hotel conference room. We’ve been told the flyer below, urging potential attendees to “learn more about Nest,” was handed out to folks who had worked on the Fuel Band.
We haven’t been able to verify who from Nest was in attendance, as a representative from the company declined to comment. However, the hotel confirmed to TechCrunch that a group from Nest had booked one of its conference rooms yesterday from 12:30 to 7:00.
While Nest is looking to hire hardware engineers, it’ll require anyone who joins to work out of the company’s Palo Alto office, apparently. Our tipster writes:
“Nest were very cool and nice. They have big plans for future products and need as much talent as they can get — in Palo Alto only. No Portland office.”