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Twitter announces layoffs

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Re: Twitter announces layoffs

#141

Post by mosburger »

[deleted] wrote: post #132
Sidnicious wrote: post #97

> Emails like this are usually riddled with corporate speak so I'm going to give it to you straight. I tried rewriting his email to live up to this promise: - - - Team, We're cutting our workforce to strengthen Twitter as a company. The team has been deciding how to best streamline Twitter, Vine, and Periscope to put their focus on the projects which will have the greatest impact. Moments, which we launched last week…

[deleted]

Some of the weasley language you'd propose cutting is likely there for the people staying at Twitter, not those whom are getting laid off. E.g.,

> "Engineering will be smaller but remain the biggest percentage of the organization"

As an Engineer, you don't want to hear that corporate is slashing just your team, and that it's affects the entire company. You're right, it doesn't matter to those who were laid off, but it does to the people who aren't.

> "Thank you all for your trust and understanding here"

Same thing. You're right that someone who is being laid off doesn't care or want to understand. They're probably really asking those who are staying on, and losing their colleagues, to understand why those people are leaving and that it isn't a statement about a perceived lack of value in the engineering team in general.

Re: Twitter announces layoffs

#142

Post by jon-wood »

Twirrim wrote: post #43
MattBearman wrote: post #10

"Emails like this are usually riddled with corporate speak so I'm going to give it to you straight." Three paragraphs later... "So we have made an extremely tough decision: we plan to part ways with up to 336 people from across the company." Edit: My bad, I should have been clearer in what I meant. There isn't really any corporate speak, but I wouldn't call 3 paragraphs of fluff 'giving it to you straight'

Specific numbers like that makes for a nice change. So far touch wood I've never been in a company where layoffs have happened, but people I know who have been often just get notice that "some" layoffs will happen and it rarely seems like most of management has a clue how many they're intending to cut, with there being some target $$ value in salary reduction or similar in mind. Often the process then more broadly re…

Even getting notice that layoffs are happening is doing well. At one company (somewhat awkwardly in my first week there) everyone was rounded up into a meeting area, and it was announced that layoffs were happening, and by the end of the day we'd know if we still had a job.

Later on in that job they handled it even worse, with a gradual attrician over several weeks of people suddenly finding out they no longer has a job, and would be paid their notice period. No idea how things went from there, since that was when I jumped ship.

(And hello! I still find it a bit odd when I see people I know commenting on Hacker News.)

Re: Twitter announces layoffs

#143

Post by smonff »

IT world need a better class consciousness. The class struggle isn't something from the past. Twitter is one of the biggest company of the net economy, and it actually can fire 336 employees because "the world needs a strong Twitter". How a big company like this one can be authorized to fire people this way? Who employee are gonna react? Are they gonna fight?

Ok, we are not working at the mine, we are working on servers and data, and concept and communication tools, comfortably sitten in white offices, but these company makes a huge amount of money with our work and then will throw employees like garbage? Noooo, this is not acceptable. Jack, do you think that people will take your generous exit package and feel fine: no, some will experiment some difficulties to find a new job, some will divorce, some will be obliged to sell what they build to survive, some will get depression because of unemployment, some might even commit suicide. The price to pay for this can't be equal to your exit packages.

There is a serious problem here. And we are not organized at all to fight this. But workers could unite again. After all organizing a servers strike is not that hard. I wonder why it don't happen.

Workers of the world, unite!

Re: Twitter announces layoffs

#144

Post by curiousjorge »

Have a feeling that Twitter is one of the uniocorns to go next year.

He's approaching this as a simple restructure & pray with engineering teams when in fact the problem is a much more serious problem, there's a loss of confidence in Twitter from investors.

I guess cutting when investors feel like it's due is a good way to appear like you are making changes when in fact the problem with Twitter is much more deep rooted and a fundamental flaw.

1) Investors realize twitter is horrible for monetization

2) Investors are out of patience or trust

3) Twitter scrambles to find a sustainable revenue source.

4) Twitter cuts off Hootsuite and launches competing business

5) Twitter's massive botnets disappear revealing only a small number of it's userbase is active sparking SEC involvement.

Re: Twitter announces layoffs

#145

Post by [deleted] »

yuvadam wrote: post #140
Mahn wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Team, We're cutting 336 people from our workforce. Sorry for that. We'll offer each person a generous exit package and help finding a new job. Jack

Team, 336 people will be fired. We hope it brings our stock price back up. Jack

[deleted]

Re: Twitter announces layoffs

#146

Post by bshimmin »

yuvadam wrote: post #140
Mahn wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Team, We're cutting 336 people from our workforce. Sorry for that. We'll offer each person a generous exit package and help finding a new job. Jack

Team, 336 people will be fired. We hope it brings our stock price back up. Jack

This is like corporate email golfing, I love it. I propose "Hey" instead of "Team".

Re: Twitter announces layoffs

#147

Post by [deleted] »

yuvadam wrote: post #140
Mahn wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Team, We're cutting 336 people from our workforce. Sorry for that. We'll offer each person a generous exit package and help finding a new job. Jack

Team, 336 people will be fired. We hope it brings our stock price back up. Jack

[deleted]

Re: Twitter announces layoffs

#148

Post by Taek »

fauigerzigerk wrote: post #135
Sidnicious wrote: post #97

> Emails like this are usually riddled with corporate speak so I'm going to give it to you straight. I tried rewriting his email to live up to this promise: - - - Team, We're cutting our workforce to strengthen Twitter as a company. The team has been deciding how to best streamline Twitter, Vine, and Periscope to put their focus on the projects which will have the greatest impact. Moments, which we launched last week…

Team, we thought we would grow very fast and we hired accordingly. Turns out we didn't grow that fast so now we're firing accordingly. Please don't be mad at us! If things work out as we hope they will with Moments and all the rest, we may want to hire you back in the future because you folks are not so shoddy after all. Cheers

That is part of the startup world. Companies stall, and companies fail. If stability is required, it should be worked into the employee agreement.

I don't know what is meant by "generous exit package", but it may be enough to tide the employees over to their next job.

Re: Twitter announces layoffs

#149

Post by petercooper »

"[..] Engineering will move [..] faster with a smaller [..] team [..] we [will] part ways with [..] 336 people. [..] with the utmost respect [..] the world needs a strong Twitter, and this is another step to get there."

Or basically, Twitter is weaker with you in it.

Re: Twitter announces layoffs

#150

Post by debacle »

acaloiar wrote: post #54

> Emails like this are usually riddled with corporate speak so I'm going to give it to you straight. Well, since you said it that way, I should assume that what comes next will not sound like a steamy pile of meandering corporate speak, right? > The team has been working around the clock to produce streamlined roadmap for Twitter, Vine, and Periscope and they are shaping up to be strong. The roadmap is focused on the…

He has to write this email in a way that doesn't make investors recoil, and he did his best.
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