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Dropbox to cut 11% of its global workforce

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Re: Dropbox to cut 11% of its global workforce

#201

Post by busterarm »

brundolf wrote: post #178
busterarm wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I disagree, mega-corps aren't the problem. As Steve Jobs famously said: they're a feature, not a product. I almost kneejerk downvoted out of disagreement. Mega-corps are _a_ problem, but not the problem here, which you astutely pointed out. Dropbox didn't/couldn't innovate beyond their core product is clearly the issue here. Additionally, most of what I find that companies use Dropbox for equates to Shadow IT. Some…

The thing is that I (and many people) still want exactly the core product that Dropbox offers (and does better than anyone else), even if that's a smaller market than it was ten years ago. It makes sense that businesses would want to get all of their IT solutions from a single integrated company for simplicity's sake, and it makes sense that consumers don't mess with actual files as much as they used to. But for my o…

Perhaps your storage needs are low, but I feel like at this point once you're past 4-5TB, a Synology or QNAP NAS is a no-brainer for anyone even remotely technical.

I need quite a lot of storage for my projects and am up to a 42TB Enterprise NAS at home w/ Fujitsu helium-filled drives. Probably more than Dropbox customers would ever want to spend, but well worth it for me. Even if I didn't need as much storage, I'm pretty sure I would use the same product.

Access from all of my devices is easy as they're all on one VPN, including my phones.

Re: Dropbox to cut 11% of its global workforce

#202

Post by staunch »

Even smart good people have to fire people. Dropbox clearly overextended itself, which was a mistake and is entirely the CEO's fault. But the severance package is the best way to judge their ethics in these cases. It looks like they're behaving compassionately.

We should all refuse to work for well funded companies that do layoffs without ethical severance packages.

Re: Dropbox to cut 11% of its global workforce

#203

Post by drawkbox »

xvedejas wrote: post #167
drawkbox wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Healthcare needs to be disconnected from the employer. Public option and private and all healthcare benefits need to go to salary. It would make workers able to change jobs easier, businesses able to start and compete with others/countries easier, and would reduce ageism as well as going direct to consumer it would help the fixed pricing market of healthcare/medical services and supplies. We don't get our auto/home/l…

My health insurance isn't taxed, or at least effectively not anywhere near what my top salary bracket is. Our tax law means there would be no short-term advantage for either me or my employer to shift that compensation into cash. If my employer offered additional desirable insurance to replace an equal amount of pre-tax salary, I would gladly except that extra compensation too.

Self employed and businesses get a tax break/expense for that. It could be the same with personal insurance. Doing things only for the tax break leads you to all sorts of finagling twisted fixed markets.

I'd always take real wages over total/real compensation which is supposedly about 30-35% of your pay.

Binding healthcare to employers also makes for less competitive consumer markets as the target customers of medical services are insurers and employers, not the actual users of the service, individuals.

A good first step to break this legacy grip and fixed market would be allowing individuals to expense out their healthcare cost, it would also benefit people that have health issues and not make it so detrimental to their quality of life.

Right now healthcare is a cartel borg bureaucracy because of being tied to employers and not a direct consumer service.

Re: Dropbox to cut 11% of its global workforce

#204

Post by jedberg »

webwielder2 wrote: post #179
jedberg wrote: post #168

This is interesting because having layoffs at a company that should be going off like a rocket during a pandemic is odd. What is going on at Dropbox that prevented them from taking advantage of the huge shift to remote work?

Why should they be going off like a rocket?

Because they are core piece of remote work culture, like Zoom and Box.

Re: Dropbox to cut 11% of its global workforce

#205

Post by mc32 »

jedberg wrote: post #168

This is interesting because having layoffs at a company that should be going off like a rocket during a pandemic is odd. What is going on at Dropbox that prevented them from taking advantage of the huge shift to remote work?

They are consumer oriented. Companies scaled up their Box instances, so they are likely doing well. But Dropbox never really had the Corp customer.

And with people having access to Box, why would they bother with Dropbox?

Re: Dropbox to cut 11% of its global workforce

#206

Post by weeboid »

jedberg wrote: post #168

This is interesting because having layoffs at a company that should be going off like a rocket during a pandemic is odd. What is going on at Dropbox that prevented them from taking advantage of the huge shift to remote work?

Storage-as-a-service is a commodity and race to the bottom. Check $BOX and $DBX 5 year charts.

Good luck competing with GAFA on this, best hope is a buyout. Firesale on depreciating assets.

On the consumer side, storage will become an appliance, like a (stick of butter sized) fridge. Or just included in your centralized home + family control center.

Re: Dropbox to cut 11% of its global workforce

#207

Post by dsr_ »

sharps_xp wrote: post #158

you know what doesn’t get talked about: severence. why do we need it? why do employers give it? should one negotiate it? what is fair/unfair?

Employers give it for one of three reasons:

1. It was negotiated as part of your job offer. (It is too late to try to negotiate it at any other time.)

2. It provides a lever for future behavior. "By accepting this severance payment, you agree not to sue THE COMPANY for any reason, and not to disparage THE COMPANY, and ..."

3. It makes the employer look reasonable to current and future employees. "Laid off 11% of the workplace due to economic conditions; 3 months of severance and various benefits" is much more conducive to hiring than "Laid off 11% of the workforce with no notice, no severance, no nothing".

Re: Dropbox to cut 11% of its global workforce

#209

Post by fakedang »

passthejoe wrote: post #122
liminal wrote: post #43

I recall someone who worked there describing people being paid to do nothing, just so they wouldn't be hired by anyone else. Sounded like they had fat to cut. Regarding their product and viability, I've always relied on their product and have found it to generally perform better than OneDrive or Google drive. But I can get 1TB of OneDrive for $70/year with all the Office apps and I need Google drive for my phone's ph…

How well does OneDrive work for files that aren't MS Office files?

One Drive works perfectly. I've used it to store game saves, photos, videos. Anything works. The only advantage MS Office compatible files have is that they can be edited online in an online session of word, excel or PowerPoint.

Re: Dropbox to cut 11% of its global workforce

#210

Post by mdoms »

These egotistical CEOs need to work on how to deliver difficult news without making so much of it about how hard it is on themselves.

> This is a hard message for me to send

> This is one of the toughest decisions I’ve had to make in my 14 years as CEO

No one asked how you feel, Drew. You'll be fine.

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