Buffer Layoffs
open.buffer.com
Buffer Layoffs
1–10 of 429 posts
Re: Buffer Layoffs
#2While Buffer's transparency is incredible, the financial calculations in the article fail to account for the possibility of an employee exodus domino effect, especially after both knowing the financial state of the company, and relevant perks being cut.
Re: Buffer Layoffs
#3I was really shocked to see how little Buffer paid when they started their "open" thing, so I'm surprised that they're not a lot more profitable.
Re: Buffer Layoffs
#4While Buffer's transparency is incredible, the financial calculations in the article fail to account for the possibility of an employee exodus domino effect, especially after both knowing the financial state of the company, and relevant perks being cut.
Is it possible to stem an employee exodus when fully transparent? I don't think so. It only works when there's a level of information asymmetry.
Re: Buffer Layoffs
#5While Buffer's transparency is incredible, the financial calculations in the article fail to account for the possibility of an employee exodus domino effect, especially after both knowing the financial state of the company, and relevant perks being cut.
I would actually think the opposite: if you're a buffer employee right now, you know a) the company will continue to exist b) that you're a valuable asset to the company and c) that your founders walk the walk when it comes to transparency and information sharing.
I'd assume a few people will leave for better offers in the next few weeks, but this seems to prove that the founders are dedicated to the company and can learn from mistakes - hardly the prompt for a mass exodus.
Re: Buffer Layoffs
#6While Buffer's transparency is incredible, the financial calculations in the article fail to account for the possibility of an employee exodus domino effect, especially after both knowing the financial state of the company, and relevant perks being cut.
Is it possible to stem an employee exodus when fully transparent? I don't think so. It only works when there's a level of information asymmetry.
I don't follow your thinking at all. You're assuming that the truth is always so horrible that management can never fully reveal it, and your not accounting for the whiff of secrecy and gossip that can be much worse than the actual withheld information.
Re: Buffer Layoffs
#7FWIW, here's their public spreadsheet of salaries and calculations. Not sure if it's been recently updated (on closer look, seems to reflect the founders' stated pay cuts, and new hires as recent as last month):
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1l3bXAv8JE5RB9siMq36-...
edit: Adding links to their blog posts:
https://open.buffer.com/transparent-salaries/
https://open.buffer.com/introducing-open-salaries-at-buffer-...
Re: Buffer Layoffs
#8While Buffer's transparency is incredible, the financial calculations in the article fail to account for the possibility of an employee exodus domino effect, especially after both knowing the financial state of the company, and relevant perks being cut.
From the outside looking in, I think I'd stay (if I was not laid off :D) because Buffer is transparent, because they refuse to be unprofitable, and because they aren't beholden to VC's.
In my book, Buffer's doing it "more correctly" than many start ups.
Re: Buffer Layoffs
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is it possible to stem an employee exodus when fully transparent? I don't think so. It only works when there's a level of information asymmetry.
I don't follow your thinking at all. You're assuming that the truth is always so horrible that management can never fully reveal it, and your not accounting for the whiff of secrecy and gossip that can be much worse than the actual withheld information.
Perhaps its because I've been at more failed companies than most? Regardless of transparency vs secrecy, you reach a tipping point where the situation "feels" dire enough that employees leaving accelerates. I'm sure it depends on the demographics of the org, employees with families, mortgages, etc are willing to stick out volatility far less (in my experience) than employees with no obligations.
Anecdotal of course! I'd love to have more data on this to find out what that tipping point is.
Re: Buffer Layoffs
#10I certainly appreciate their openness, and like to follow their progress, but...
...could anyone explain to this naive commenter how it takes 90 (80 for that matter) people to run essentially a 'cronjob as a service' business?