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Layoffs hit Quora

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Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#121

Post by dehrmann »

kinkora wrote: post #59

Not sure if a bit of confirmation bias on my side but seems like there is a recent big uptick of layoffs at Silicon Valley companies? Popular ones like Quora, TripAvisor, Ebay, Mozilla, Uber, 23andMe, etc we hear about but among my own network, i am even hearing it from smaller startups & businesses. Just wondering if it is just me but I am surmising that it seems to indicate a wider systematic.. issue? Maybe issue i…

I keep waiting for someone to realize Bay Area rents have gone up 100%-200% since 2008, but the max unemployment in CA is still $450 per week. I was laid off in 2009, and between that and severance, I could manage. It's going to be a lot harder in the next recession.

Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#122

Post by dehrmann »

kinkora wrote: post #59

Not sure if a bit of confirmation bias on my side but seems like there is a recent big uptick of layoffs at Silicon Valley companies? Popular ones like Quora, TripAvisor, Ebay, Mozilla, Uber, 23andMe, etc we hear about but among my own network, i am even hearing it from smaller startups & businesses. Just wondering if it is just me but I am surmising that it seems to indicate a wider systematic.. issue? Maybe issue i…

This might just be a post-holiday rush. It's a dick move to lay people off between ~Nov 15 and Jan 1, and if you can afford to avoid it, it's best to avoid burning people affected and making the remaining employees a little more bitter and anxious.

Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#123

Post by htfu »

solveit wrote: post #100
city41 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get where you're coming from. But I have to admit, I read my Quora digest email really often. I'm impressed how often I not only click through to read an answer, but enjoy the answer and find it valuable. Quora definitely does some questionable things nowadays, but I'd also argue they are still getting some key things right too.

The difference I'm seeing in the comments seems to be between actual Quora users and people who just keep stumbling on Quora via search. My impression is that Quora does well at tailoring content for its users while being obnoxiously aggressive about getting non-users to sign up.

Yup. Just when I finally gave in and made a user with a backup email it turns out they're also demanding I download their app? I definitely would've created an account long ago, with my regular Gmail, if they didn't demand it from me. And probably have their app too. But now I'm just determined to not give in further.

And yes, I get they're doing it because it presumably works better on aggregate than not being assholes. That just makes me hate it even more.

Quora just makes me irrationally pissed off. I realize my dislike is over the top, some of the content isn't terrible, I'd love for the basic format to somehow work out, but the package is somehow worse than Trump tweeting and I sincerely hope it fails as soon as possible.

Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#124

Post by dehrmann »

svbolo wrote: post #53

Companies like Quora should provide at least three or six months of severance in cases of layoffs. There's no reason they can't. They surely knew three or six months in advance that they would likely be making this move. As startup workers, we should shame loudly and publicly companies that don't provide sufficient severance packages. It's the difference between causing a slight disturbance in worker's lives and pote…

You should should loudly at the state of California for still paying a max of $450 per week for unemployment.

If you're playing the startup game, you're trading job security and pay for potential upside. I know people who've been burnt just as bad as a layoff because the company got sold for scraps. Don't expect big company benefits out of a startup; that's not how the game works.

Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#125

Post by echelon »

dehrmann wrote: post #121
kinkora wrote: post #59

Not sure if a bit of confirmation bias on my side but seems like there is a recent big uptick of layoffs at Silicon Valley companies? Popular ones like Quora, TripAvisor, Ebay, Mozilla, Uber, 23andMe, etc we hear about but among my own network, i am even hearing it from smaller startups & businesses. Just wondering if it is just me but I am surmising that it seems to indicate a wider systematic.. issue? Maybe issue i…

I keep waiting for someone to realize Bay Area rents have gone up 100%-200% since 2008, but the max unemployment in CA is still $450 per week. I was laid off in 2009, and between that and severance, I could manage. It's going to be a lot harder in the next recession.

You realize jobs are abundant and rents are affordable outside the Bay Area?

My mortgage on a huge historic cotton mill loft with brick walls, 23'' ceilings, and city views in Atlanta is less than your rent.

You could consider getting out.

Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#126

Post by davidtranjs »

Quora used to be my favorite place to find interesting answers. Now the site is filled with marketers. It's mystery for me how the site still show up on Google every time I need to search something.

Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#127

Post by [deleted] »

dehrmann wrote: post #121
kinkora wrote: post #59

Not sure if a bit of confirmation bias on my side but seems like there is a recent big uptick of layoffs at Silicon Valley companies? Popular ones like Quora, TripAvisor, Ebay, Mozilla, Uber, 23andMe, etc we hear about but among my own network, i am even hearing it from smaller startups & businesses. Just wondering if it is just me but I am surmising that it seems to indicate a wider systematic.. issue? Maybe issue i…

I keep waiting for someone to realize Bay Area rents have gone up 100%-200% since 2008, but the max unemployment in CA is still $450 per week. I was laid off in 2009, and between that and severance, I could manage. It's going to be a lot harder in the next recession.

[deleted]

Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#128

Post by ngold »

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #70
to1y wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That plus it seems >90% of answers are guerilla advertising

I'm pretty sure every time I've Googled something and got a Quora link and clicked it, it's just been an ad. I just don't click Quora links anymore.

I've never understood the point of quora, it is a worse version of yahoo answers. And that is about the lowest bar.

Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#129

Post by scarmig »

echelon wrote: post #125
dehrmann wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I keep waiting for someone to realize Bay Area rents have gone up 100%-200% since 2008, but the max unemployment in CA is still $450 per week. I was laid off in 2009, and between that and severance, I could manage. It's going to be a lot harder in the next recession.

You realize jobs are abundant and rents are affordable outside the Bay Area? My mortgage on a huge historic cotton mill loft with brick walls, 23'' ceilings, and city views in Atlanta is less than your rent. You could consider getting out.

Suppose you rent a one bedroom for 4k in SF. You can do better than this, but let's go with it. And suppose your mortgage is 2k, and you make a solid salary of 200k in Atlanta.

It seems like a no brainer to move. But you're ignoring the fact that someone of equivalent experience could get a paycheck of 500k here.

That pay differential swamps trying to optimize by tightening the budget.

Re: Layoffs hit Quora

#130

Post by NeverFade »

Mathnerd314 wrote: post #89
kinkora wrote: post #59

Not sure if a bit of confirmation bias on my side but seems like there is a recent big uptick of layoffs at Silicon Valley companies? Popular ones like Quora, TripAvisor, Ebay, Mozilla, Uber, 23andMe, etc we hear about but among my own network, i am even hearing it from smaller startups & businesses. Just wondering if it is just me but I am surmising that it seems to indicate a wider systematic.. issue? Maybe issue i…

The Fed is pumping money, the yield curve inverted, job openings are flat/declining, people have been predicting recession for 2 years... the precise date of an actual recession is not declared until long after the fact, but I certainly wouldn't bet on the recession not having started already. And there are strong political reasons to avoid any mention of recession, so we might see economic indicators getting distort…

> the yield curve inverted

The yield curve is no longer inverted.

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