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Twitter announces layoffs

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Re: Twitter announces layoffs

#151

Post by hammock »

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…

Dear Twitter,

They're going to let me be CEO again, but as part of the deal I had to fire a bunch of people. Mostly engineers since I'm told there are many of them who cost too much and don't seem to impact the top line. Please let's all be nice about the whole thing, so it doesn't turn into a PR disaster.

Jack

Re: Twitter announces layoffs

#152

Post by mcintyre1994 »

danso wrote: post #21

> The roadmap is focused on the experiences which will have the greatest impact. We launched the first of these experiences last week with Moments, a great beginning, and a bold peek into the future of how people will see what's going on in the world. That Moments is mentioned so high up in the email isn't particularly reassuring...since it means they haven't launched many other initiatives of note recently. Moments…

They don't even seem to have added Moments to the Android app, or at least I can't find it if it's there.

Re: Twitter announces layoffs

#156

Post by toyg »

uptown wrote: post #139

"we plan to part ways with up to 336 people from across the company. We are doing this with the utmost respect for each and every person." Bart might disagree: https://twitter.com/bartt/status/653946266938818561

Holy &#$^%, that's harsh. I mean, usually you announce the layoffs but leave it for a few days as you talk to people, look for voluntaries etc. Cutting a remote worker out as you send the announcement email is unwarranted and cold, and burns bridges unnecessarily.

Re: Twitter announces layoffs

#157

Post by curryst »

jusben1369 wrote: post #127
cdubzzz wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Saying it like that makes it sound too much like the brand is what is needed as opposed to the tool. To put your words another way: The world is better off with a strong tool to fight against censorship and public and private control. If Twitter starting taking massive cash payments from governments to filter content, it would be a strong Twitter with lots of cash, but not a strong tool to fight against anything.

But the brand can't be dismissed. The brand attracts users which amplify the reach of the message of an individual. Without the brand and network you're just standing on a street corner with a bullhorn.

It's really just that a strong social media network is needed. Twitter's format works well for this, but I wouldn't be under any delusions that no one would fill the gap that Twitter left. Social media isn't very entertaining unless it capture a significant portion of the market, I'm fairly confident that people would settle on a new service instead of being fractured across a bunch of different social networks. This is a big part of the reason why Facebook and Twitter have lasted so long. There are lots of other companies providing very similar services, I've tried a few, but without friends on there there isn't much of a point.

Re: Twitter announces layoffs

#158

Post by drzaiusapelord »

ghshephard wrote: post #98

The number, 336, is roughly 10% of their employees - which is pretty much exactly the number that Jack Welch recommended turning over each year to improve the work force. I often wonder whether these "layoffs" aren't actually layoffs, but simply performance based assessments. It's not like Twitter is shutting down an entire office, or abandoning some technology, and letting everyone associated with that office/techno…

This. I never understood this mentality that all cuts are bad or evil or whatever. Funny, we never question when these companies go on a hiring spree. No one asks, "Do they need this many engineers? Will these people have jobs in two years?"

Restructures happen all the time, especially at dotcoms. If you work in this industry, then you can expect some level of volatility.

Re: Twitter announces layoffs

#159

Post by masklinn »

bshimmin wrote: post #146
yuvadam wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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".

Hey,

Stock in the dumps, 336 chumps are fired.

Jack

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