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Google cuts jobs at cloud-computing group

wsj.com

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Re: Google cuts jobs at cloud-computing group

#111

Post by namelosw »

vtail wrote: post #5
pcurve wrote: post #3

I don't get it. Company that is flush with that much cash couldn't find new roles for the 'small number' of people that were impacted? I'm thinking they used the good old "your position is being eliminated due to business reasons" excuse to get rid of people they didn't want to keep. It's a common HR tactic.

I hate to be that guy, but I want to point out that more people not always equate to more output. E.g. if you create a "controller" role, they would try to justify their existence and create more work/overhead for others. And you would be surprised how many roles in big bureaucracies are "controller" roles by nature.

It's good to point it out.

In the third world, if you hire 100 people for a 5-man project, people end up doing nothing but their own things. It's bad but it's obvious that something is going wrong.

In the first world, if you hire 100 people for a 5-man project, people end up to invent and justify 100-man's job. Everyone's role would become their identity, everyone is busy and hardworking. The output is high, they would also have fancy analytics and reports.

It's hard for a person to believe a 100-man busy project actually only needs 5 men.

Re: Google cuts jobs at cloud-computing group

#112

Post by manigandham »

tanilama wrote: post #105
manigandham wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a basic reorganization of a trivial amount of jobs for a trillion dollar company. No it's not a sign that they're going to stop competing in one of the most profitable sectors that they've had an offering in for over a decade.

What I am worrying now is that Cloud is supposedly a fast growing sector they should double down on investing. This doesn't look to me as a hyper growth focus trajectory TBH

They are increasing investment and are arguably the first "cloud" computing company to exist and offer a product to the public.

They might not catch up to the others but it'll still be a highly profitable product suite. I don't see what there is to worry about. GCP also includes Google Maps and GSuite by the way, which have lots of customers.

Re: Google cuts jobs at cloud-computing group

#113

Post by manigandham »

scarface74 wrote: post #106
manigandham wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google earnings report shows Google Cloud and Youtube revenue for the first time: https://techcrunch.com/2020/02/03/alphabet-earnings-show-goo...

And it is still estimated that Youtube is barely profitable between what it pays creators and bandwidth costs.

Barely profitable (assuming that's all it is for the number 1 video destination online) is still profitable.

Also Youtube != Google Cloud.

Re: Google cuts jobs at cloud-computing group

#114

Post by rvnx »

austhrow743 wrote: post #47
qeqeqeqe wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon lets people go regularly, I don't get what the issue is.

Google has recently had a leak about potentially cutting cloud. Afaik Amazon hasn't.

But isn't Cloud their biggest growth opportunity ?

Re: Google cuts jobs at cloud-computing group

#115

Post by blattimwind »

znpy wrote: post #53
basementcat wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you assemble a 9+ stage pipeline, you may reach a point where you produce approximately one baby each month.

That's throughput, not latency.

Yes, that's exactly the point of pipelining.

Re: Google cuts jobs at cloud-computing group

#116

Post by blibble »

manigandham wrote: post #97
blibble wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if it was extremely profitable it would be a separate line in their financial statements (rather than being aggregated with other things) it isn't, so draw from that what you will

Google earnings report shows Google Cloud and Youtube revenue for the first time: https://techcrunch.com/2020/02/03/alphabet-earnings-show-goo...

... which includes gsuite, which will be most of it

Re: Google cuts jobs at cloud-computing group

#117

Post by scarface74 »

manigandham wrote: post #113
scarface74 wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And it is still estimated that Youtube is barely profitable between what it pays creators and bandwidth costs.

Barely profitable (assuming that's all it is for the number 1 video destination online) is still profitable. Also Youtube != Google Cloud.

Yes I realize that but having revenue without profit is kind of meaningless.

Re: Google cuts jobs at cloud-computing group

#118

Post by paxys »

wyclif wrote: post #61
sdenton4 wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the couple people I know who have done this, I think it's pretty choose-your-own-adventure... Get paid to look for your new job, with very few actual responsibilities. It's worthwhile to compare this relative downtime to ramp-up time for new hires... who also generally spend a couple-few months being fairly useless (though working hard at it). And googlers being googlers, there's a decent chance that the 'down'…

So...it's kind of like being Big Head working at Hooli? Hanging out on the roof, or building potato guns and piezoelectric sensors?

Finding a job can itself be a full time job though

Re: Google cuts jobs at cloud-computing group

#119

Post by johnghanks »

scarface74 wrote: post #99
petilon wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was pointing to growth, not revenue. A business that doubled its revenue in two years is great to have, even if it is not currently profitable.

So if I sell $1 bills for $0.90, I guess I should be glad if my “revenues grow”?

There's a difference between selling something with a fixed cost (and a fixed value) for a fixed price and selling something which has unknown (and variable) value for a fixed price.

Re: Google cuts jobs at cloud-computing group

#120

Post by mikelward »

danans wrote: post #33
9nGQluzmnq3M wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In "defrags" like this, Google does not lay off people outright, it just tells them their job is going away and they have X months to find a new one within Google -- and they usually do.

I've personally been through this twice at Google. The company definitely provides a very attentive set of resources to help you find a new position within the company, but I've always been able to find a new project on my own. That said, the more flexibility you have the easier it is to find a new position. This naturally favors some people over others. In my most recent case, it ended up being a bit more challengin…

This is why I live and work in Sunnyvale, and rejected offers to move elsewhere.

I've worked away from the head office at other companies, and it's limiting.

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