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Yahoo employees: Get out now before the vultures descend

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Re: Yahoo employees: Get out now before the vultures descend

#51

Post by teej »

sriramk wrote: post #46

Honestly, I find this article ridiculous and borderline offensive. I would love if the author would come talk to a few of us and maybe take a tour of the place and see what makes this place work. I work at Yahoo, joined a few months ago, run engineering management for a couple of teams working on high-performance cloud stuff very core to the way Yahoo works. I find the engineers sharp and smart, the technology proble…

No one has ever seriously questioned Yahoo's engineering chops. Their technology contributions have always been notable. That's not the point of the article at all.

No offense, but Yahoo's management is just -bad- and it shows. There's a lack of vision, direction, and execution from the top; the fish is rotting from the head. I've heard this directly from Yahoo VPs, managers, and engineers.

Yahoo is like an aircraft carrier in Lake Superior. Sure, it's capable of so much, but it can't turn that into useful action.

Re: Yahoo employees: Get out now before the vultures descend

#52

Post by elq »

teej wrote: post #51
sriramk wrote: post #46

Honestly, I find this article ridiculous and borderline offensive. I would love if the author would come talk to a few of us and maybe take a tour of the place and see what makes this place work. I work at Yahoo, joined a few months ago, run engineering management for a couple of teams working on high-performance cloud stuff very core to the way Yahoo works. I find the engineers sharp and smart, the technology proble…

No one has ever seriously questioned Yahoo's engineering chops. Their technology contributions have always been notable. That's not the point of the article at all. No offense, but Yahoo's management is just -bad- and it shows. There's a lack of vision, direction, and execution from the top; the fish is rotting from the head. I've heard this directly from Yahoo VPs, managers, and engineers. Yahoo is like an aircraft…

I question yahoo's engineering chops 4 out of 5 times after interviewing hotshots from search, ads, or research.

After interviewing dozens of folks from yahoo, I've pained the following picture about the engineering there - the vast majority of it is stuck in 1995, some bits of it have evolved isolated from the rest of the tech world - it's steam punk, then there are a few parts that are shiny and new but skin deep. It seems like a sad place.

Re: Yahoo employees: Get out now before the vultures descend

#53

Post by shoham »

czhiddy wrote: post #36
shoham wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure that this is true. Yahoo's earnings are around 1.2 B, and Market Cap is around 20 Billion, whereas Apple's Earnings are around 20 Billion, and their market cap is around 400 Billion. Very similar, unless my numbers are outdated.

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=aapl+yhoo+ebay+goog+pe+...

I guess so. Overhead is much lower for the SOs though, so I can see why they are in such good standing. eBay, on the other hand...?

Re: Yahoo employees: Get out now before the vultures descend

#54

Post by wh-uws »

uncertain wrote: post #32
wh-uws wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you interviewing anywhere else? You could probably use the off as leverage. Yahoo's engineering core is still well respected in the industry. Everybody just knows that none of the people in charge have a clue as to what to do with all of that talent.

I am planning to interview with several other companies. But by then I will need to decide whether I want to stick with Yahoo or not. I've heard great things about working at Yahoo (and the downsides) and the offer is fantastic, but my gut instinct is telling me to reconsider..

If you are in love with the group or project that much maybe it will be worth the risk.

But also keep in mind that alot of software shops around the country but especially in hot scenes like the Bay Area, NYC, and Austin,TX are searching far and wide for as many qualified applicants as they can get.

If you can/ are willing to avoid the risk of getting caught up in the Yahoo drama I think it will be wise.

Re: Yahoo employees: Get out now before the vultures descend

#55

Post by cbs »

sriramk wrote: post #46

Honestly, I find this article ridiculous and borderline offensive. I would love if the author would come talk to a few of us and maybe take a tour of the place and see what makes this place work. I work at Yahoo, joined a few months ago, run engineering management for a couple of teams working on high-performance cloud stuff very core to the way Yahoo works. I find the engineers sharp and smart, the technology proble…

>Honestly, I find this article ridiculous and borderline offensive.

Don't take it seriously, the *-world writers are habitually underinformed about the topics they write on. I don't read them much, but every time I see them posted to HN, on topics I have even a casual understanding of, I can spot the factual errors. I wouldn't give any stock to their analysis of the current situation over at Yahoo.

Re: Yahoo employees: Get out now before the vultures descend

#56

Post by tomkarlo »

chollida1 wrote: post #47
yangtheman wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why buy-outs? If I were looking for cutting costs, I would just lay them off.

I'm not the parent you responded to, but I'm assuming when they said buy-outs, they were including severance for layoffs. In North America 1 month is pretty common if you've been with a company for more than a year with 2 months not being uncommon. I've heard of people being given 1 month of notice of a layoff and then being asked to work that month only once:)

1 month is common because companies care about their public image when it comes to hiring new people, and they know that the remaining employees will watch how those being cut are treated. If you've got new folks in charge who don't care about it, or need to cut cash outlay _very_ fast because they levered up the company to buy it, you may not get that severance. There's certainly no legal obligation to give a month of severance when it comes to an "at will" employee.

I've been around at a few companies before where cuts happened. The first round of layoffs always got good severance, because the company wanted to make sure that the remaining employees didn't bail... but after 2 or 3 rounds, the jig was up, so the severance shrank from 2-3 months to 2-3 weeks.

Re: Yahoo employees: Get out now before the vultures descend

#57

Post by jpdoctor »

sriramk wrote: post #46

Honestly, I find this article ridiculous and borderline offensive. I would love if the author would come talk to a few of us and maybe take a tour of the place and see what makes this place work. I work at Yahoo, joined a few months ago, run engineering management for a couple of teams working on high-performance cloud stuff very core to the way Yahoo works. I find the engineers sharp and smart, the technology proble…

> None of that is going to change unless something really dramatic happens.

LBO's and their ilk are dramatic.

One restructuring guy I know would have a goal of eliminating all but 3 managers from an acquired group of 300 within 6 months.

Re: Yahoo employees: Get out now before the vultures descend

#59

Post by 0x12 »

brador wrote: post #22
parfe wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would Yahoo have to do for you for it to get your business? http://everything.yahoo.com/ Take a look at all the services yahoo offers. Has anyone ever sent you a "Yahoo Video" link? I didn't even know it existed until just now. And the prominent video on the main page is "Jazz for Cows" which I can't get a direct link for to paste here . Yahoo only offers me the option to embed it. It's fun enough I want to send…

I love the colors on Yahoo video! I too had never heard of their video offering. I think they have some good products, they have eyeballs, it's just a very poorly run company lacking direction. I'd take that CEO position in a flash and I think I could turn it round.

What makes you think you are qualified?

Re: Yahoo employees: Get out now before the vultures descend

#60

Post by jrockway »

uncertain wrote: post #30
Lewisham wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not take the job, and then continue interviewing? I know it looks bad to leave a job early, but I think most people in the valley are aware of Yahoo's situation, so I wouldn't be too worried about how that'll be perceived.

I really would rather avoid this option. I'm not worried that it'll make me look bad to other employers, but how it will reflect on the team that I was signed up for.

If they can't afford you, it's economics, nothing personal. Nobody works for free.
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