Live data from Hacker News

Stack Overflow reduces global workforce by approximately 15%

stackoverflow.blog

161–170 of 193 posts

Re: Stack Overflow reduces global workforce by approximately 15%

#161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> new CEO is an incompetent person who decided to use the vehicle of the covid virus to announce job cuts that he has planned a long time ago. Why would that indicate the CEO is incompetent ? Doesn’t it stand to reason that management would and should take advantage of the whatever is happening in the wider scheme of things to advance their narrative, and that doing so is indicative of competence within their frame o…

Take a look around this comment section. This move isn't being received well by anyone and nobody is buying his bullshit. That, and mass layoffs are typically an excellent indicator of incompetence.

Layoffs are generally received quite favorably by the investor class.

Re: Stack Overflow reduces global workforce by approximately 15%

#162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was at eBay, I wondered what 35.000 were doing.

35 whole people with no fractional people isn't that large o a number. If you use a period for the thousands mark, what do you use for the decimal part a semi-colon?

Commas have been mentioned, also ' is used in some places.

Re: Stack Overflow reduces global workforce by approximately 15%

#163

I understand they had to do it (I'm sure we—their users—understand), but I can't understand the need for bullshit business-speak. Just say, "Due to circumstances you all familiar with, business is slow, so I have to let go of some people from X department." Putting up bullshit like this is like adding insult to injury. Especially, since their user demographics are mostly people who don't like bullshit.

When Spolesky brought on this guy, I was shocked. He had no profile or activity on Stackoverflow. He wasn’t even a developer and his resume indicated he was just generic management talking head. Given how much Spolesky emphasis “product person” to be in charge as opposed to white label MBAs, none of that made any sense. I’d to only imagine he was cashing out and part of the deal from investors was to place this guy w…

It's quite clear that Spolsky simply cashed out and went home.

The best way forward is for someone with a good reputation to take the content and launch a new server, as Spolsky himself always said should happen when SO one day jumps the shark.

Re: Stack Overflow reduces global workforce by approximately 15%

#165

I understand they had to do it (I'm sure we—their users—understand), but I can't understand the need for bullshit business-speak. Just say, "Due to circumstances you all familiar with, business is slow, so I have to let go of some people from X department." Putting up bullshit like this is like adding insult to injury. Especially, since their user demographics are mostly people who don't like bullshit.

Fully agree. I've been using SO since it's inception, several years ago. But with the whole moderator thing, the switch to a ridiculous buzzword homepage, and all the damn bullshit corporate speak, my trust in SO is at an all time low. How did it get here from the straight-talking, community-orientated feel it used to have under Spoelsy and friends?

Spolsky cashed out and left.

Re: Stack Overflow reduces global workforce by approximately 15%

#167

Is it time for SO 2? Lets be real, many articles are out of date with answers being for older versions, the culture is getting worse and the company is looking to cash in on the thing. Could we use a blank slate?

For people working on maintenance of old systems, a lot of those out of date articles are quite useful.

Re: Stack Overflow reduces global workforce by approximately 15%

#168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From a business perspective it would be a bad idea. If you have three revenue streams (Advertising, Enterprise communication product, hiring product/marketplace), of which two are doing very well and one is not doing well (hiring) you need to continue investing in what is working and stop burning money on what is not working. Otherwise you will lose your competitive edge in the areas that are working well. In the end…

This is a one off shock, they don’t need to do this

One of, if not the, largest shocks in history. Already bigger than 2008. This time in history isn't a minor outlier.

Re: Stack Overflow reduces global workforce by approximately 15%

#169
post #89

Furloughed, mostly

please, don't drink their kool-aid. it's fired, not furloughed. it's to be able to not lose ability to generate profit, not "to be able to serve our customers" it's to save 85% who we think are more worth, not "we are all in this together"

I'm confused. You think they're lying when they say the employees were furloughed? They might be lying but I don't see any reason to belive that. Having been furloughed during government shutdowns myself I understand the situation a bit.

Re: Stack Overflow reduces global workforce by approximately 15%

#170

I understand they had to do it (I'm sure we—their users—understand), but I can't understand the need for bullshit business-speak. Just say, "Due to circumstances you all familiar with, business is slow, so I have to let go of some people from X department." Putting up bullshit like this is like adding insult to injury. Especially, since their user demographics are mostly people who don't like bullshit.

When Spolesky brought on this guy, I was shocked. He had no profile or activity on Stackoverflow. He wasn’t even a developer and his resume indicated he was just generic management talking head. Given how much Spolesky emphasis “product person” to be in charge as opposed to white label MBAs, none of that made any sense. I’d to only imagine he was cashing out and part of the deal from investors was to place this guy w…

Maybe people (Spolsky, others) want to work on other things? Or retire? Or focus on family? Or angel invest?

So they find a buyer for the business, transition things, cash out and go find something else to do.

Post reply on HN