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SpaceX to lay off 10% of Workforce

latimes.com

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Re: SpaceX to lay off 10% of Workforce

#141

Post by api »

m0zg wrote: post #102
viraptor wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whatever the reasons for the workforce reduction, this way of doing it is just unnecessarily cruel.

I disagree. What would be more cruel is to keep people guessing for weeks, or to do several smaller layoffs. That's how it's usually done, and it utterly decimates the morale, and causes the best people to leave. The best way to do a layoff is to cut once, cut deep, and do it quickly. And of course to not be an asshole and offer severance compensation to folks who were laid off.

Agreed. There is no way to do layoffs that doesn't suck and doesn't harm morale. This avoids some of the worst of it and also keeps it somewhat private.

Re: SpaceX to lay off 10% of Workforce

#142

Post by swampthinker »

This isn't the first time SpaceX has done a 10% layoff round [1]. It seems like they do this at key inflection points where they're relatively sure they can make the next tech leap, and need to retool their workforce.

[1] https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=35254.0

Re: SpaceX to lay off 10% of Workforce

#143

Post by madengr »

Cyclone_ wrote: post #115
mulmen wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's less cruel? Face to face meetings? Layoffs suck, how is this particularly egregious?

Firing by email is just not a professional way to do things. Imagine if someone resigned by email.

I worked with someone who did. He came in at 6 AM, sent off an email, and left at 6:15.

I don’t blame him, as our employer has walked out 25 year employees with no notice.

Re: SpaceX to lay off 10% of Workforce

#145

Post by taneq »

jcroll wrote: post #41
viraptor wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whatever the reasons for the workforce reduction, this way of doing it is just unnecessarily cruel.

what is the less cruel way to lay off 10% of your workforce

Do it progressively rather than telling everyone "go home and start guessing whether you'll come back." Hack and slash will always have casualties, and you'll lose good people. If you go down the chain asking people confidentially whether there's anyone they feel the team would be better off without, then you can work on removing the weakest links without making the entire company feel like they can't trust you.

Re: SpaceX to lay off 10% of Workforce

#146

Post by derekp7 »

raz32dust wrote: post #95
cyberferret wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously, if you cannot see that "fire by email" is far more impersonal and disconnecting than compassionately meeting with the employee 1 on 1 and giving them a definitive exit path along with the financial support to do so, then please do not ever work in HR or be responsible for employing people in the future. To subject ALL your employees to the 50/50 prospect that they will have a job come next working day is t…

"SpaceX is offering a minimum of eight weeks’ pay and other benefits to laid-off workers, according to Shotwell’s email. The company will also provide assistance with career coaching, resume help and job searches." - They are supporting them through it. I think this is as bad as any other way of lay off. Those 1:1s are farcical anyway. Only thing that could be better is to just send the mail only to the laid off empl…

Again, having gone through this a decade ago, that assistance gets outsourced to a company that specializes in it. Effectively it feels like you are attending a community college class on "how to find a job". It's not like they are going to call up a bunch of employers and try to match you to another position somewhere, you are still going to have to do a lot of legg work (home work) yourself. In my case it was somewhat beneficial, although the advice they had for me on my resume got totally shredded by the recruiters I worked with. At least it got me out of the house for 2 hours a day for the next 5 days.

The big lesson I try to pass on to everyone. Don't ever assume you will have a job next week. Be polite to any headhunters, assuming they are the professional kind, keep your resume up to date, network like crazy, have a few side project plans, don't be afraid of small jobs on the side, and most importantly keep a 3 - 6 month emergency fund. That fund doesn't have to be what you make in 6 months, but at least what your bare bones expenses are (mortgage, utility bills, minimum credit card payments), and try to keep your have-to recurring monthly expenses lower (mortgage / car payments, etc). That doesn't mean you can't spend on extra stuff, just make sure you can cancel them at any time.

Re: SpaceX to lay off 10% of Workforce

#147

Post by fzeroracer »

wonderwonder wrote: post #140
fzeroracer wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except keeping people around for two weeks longer allows people to say goodbye to their coworkers and people they might've worked with for years. It allows them to impart their knowledge to anyone else that might need it, document things that need documenting and more importantly: It means the company treats you like an actual human being. Acting like people are just gonna sit around and mope is not only highly disin…

They launch giant multi million dollar missiles into space. Allowing an employee that knows they are terminated and is most likely distracted to continue working on a project like that is not worth the risk. If someone was genuinely upset and wanted revenge, a good portion of them are literally rocket scientists, they could probably figure out a way to do it if given a couple weeks. Better just to cut ties as quickly…

I used to work for a government contractor and during lay-offs they rarely did the whole plug-pulling nonsense on their employees when they needed to restructure or lay people off.

So I suppose you can consider me highly skeptical when a commercial company makes the excuse that they're doing it for security reasons. Because to me, that sounds like pure bullshit designed to cover for shitty practices.

Re: SpaceX to lay off 10% of Workforce

#148

Post by puppymaster »

cyberferret wrote: post #124
bredren wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? People are hired by email all of the time. Full time positions are more transactional now than ever before. There is no real loyalty either way.

You skipped right over the hiring facts of: the face to face interviews, consideration, and most importantly, the option for the (potential) employee to exercise their choice of whether to take the job or not. None of which is available to the employee in a 'fire by email' scenario.

you are assuming you know the content of the email. As others have said, severance and support programs could be outlined in the email.

I prefer email over HR walking past all the cubicles praying they won't stop at mine.

Re: SpaceX to lay off 10% of Workforce

#149

Post by dylz »

mulmen wrote: post #93
rifung wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Layoff by email is like breakup via text message. The end result is the same and either way it sucks but certainly doing it in face to face seems to generally be considered more personal and perhaps less cowardly.

Romantic, business and employment relationships aren't the same thing. At all. Do you collect resumes from your dates?

Anecdote from friends' parents, this is done in China for some romantic relationships.

Re: SpaceX to lay off 10% of Workforce

#150

Post by mc32 »

SampleBourgeois wrote: post #103
zamadatix wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Fire by email" isn't a bad option for layoffs in the double digit percentage as long as the delay between notification and sending the emails is low. Meeting 1 on 1 only works in non targeted low scale layoffs, anywhere else and it just creates hysteria. Also fire by email doesn't mean there isn't a definitive exit path or no financial support. The article itself states the email claimed a minimum of 8 weeks of pay…

Elon Musk is sticking to the Roman definition of decimation

In percentage yes, but not in the manner of choosing the affected. Or at least one would hope it’s not every tenth person regardless of role, contribution, etc.
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