Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Coinbase Announces 18% Layoffs

blog.coinbase.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

581–590 of 616 posts

Re: Coinbase Announces 18% Layoffs

#581

Post by bogomipz »

jjulius wrote: post #503
bogomipz wrote: post #490

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had to look this up after seeing that eye popping number. Apparently 9 figure homes is a thing amongst the billionaire class: https://www.dirt.com/gallery/moguls/finance/brian-armstrong-...

While simultaneously, Coinbase says that "managing the burn rate" is a primary reason for layoffs. If my eyes rolled any harder they'd be popping out of their sockets.

Imagine what the burn rate is on maintaining a property with 25,0000 square feet of living space that sits on 4.5 acres of hilltop land in place that gets quite hot and is currently experiencing a mega drought.

Re: Coinbase Announces 18% Layoffs

#582

Post by mbg721 »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #495
mbg721 wrote: post #375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The PIP thing varies. Some companies just use them as a risk reducing tool to fire people, but a few really believe in them and will keep employees who've gone through them. I take a dim view of that, personally, just because it ends up feeling like management-by-fear.

It doesn't have to. At its best, PIP is a very open, transparent, communicative, supportive method - here is what we need; here's how we believe you can help us; let's work together to meet our mutual targets. As others have said, in a good company and team, PIP is one amongst many coaching tools, rarely the first one, and can be useful in various situations - somebody not taking a hint or being oblivious, indicator…

I mean, it comes down to how much you trust your HR department to treat you as a human. If you work someplace where that kind of rapport is normal, then great! But that's not been my experience.

Re: Coinbase Announces 18% Layoffs

#583

Post by naveen99 »

boeingUH60 wrote: post #571
bogomipz wrote: post #490

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had to look this up after seeing that eye popping number. Apparently 9 figure homes is a thing amongst the billionaire class: https://www.dirt.com/gallery/moguls/finance/brian-armstrong-...

I'm a regular reader of high-end real estate blogs, so frequently see these types of purchases. I don't begrudge anyone for being wealthy (so far they made money legally and "ethically"), but I like imagining what I could alternatively do with such sums. For example, look at this beautiful school campus in Russia - https://archive.ph/z5x01/26aa0da221582b152ab472fafafe811a483... . It was built at cost of $80 million […

There is no limit to the spend 10-30% on your home rule of thumb of portfolio allocations I guess. Your home has some features of self custody that bitcoin enthusiasts would appreciate. some people even buy islands in Hawaii as homes.

Re: Coinbase Announces 18% Layoffs

#584

Post by foobiekr »

adrr wrote: post #221
synu wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Europe you have to keep paying the person, but it's not uncommon for them to be told not to come in anymore.

Coinbase layoff is so large they are paying them because of the WARN act in California.

WARN is federal law not state law.

Re: Coinbase Announces 18% Layoffs

#585

Post by blocked_again »

hackitup7 wrote: post #504
blocked_again wrote: post #284

Is there a single YC company which is doing good in public market? It seems like all YC companies are net loss making investment for the retail investors have they bought the stocks in IPO.

If you're talking about literally the companies that bought as part of the initial IPO then yes, most are trading below their opening day prices. But all YC companies IPOed during the post-GFC bull market, and are now being valued in a different regime, so that's not unexpected especially with the YC hype. DBX and ABNB are doing well (they're down relative to the highs of the last year or two but so is everything in…

I am not taking about now. Look back a few months. It's still the same case.

Re: Coinbase Announces 18% Layoffs

#586

Post by NikolaNovak »

ohgodplsno wrote: post #531
jefftk wrote: post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Coming from an American perspective, that is super interesting. I don't think I understand why it is seen as harm to the employee? They are getting full pay, but aren't required to do anything for it.

The core reasons are: * as an employee, you sign a contract that exchanges your time for both a salary and a job. Refusing to provide either of those is a breach of contract. It's one thing to say "things are a bit slow right now, so do whatever". It is an entirely other one to not give your employee tools, access to things they'd need to do their job, or even leave them wondering if they even have a job still. Doubl…

That doesn't seem right. This discussion (as I understand it) is NOT about having a full time employee with no access.

It is when somebody is explicitly fired and laid off (as is the case in Coinbase, and all the examples I believe we've been discussing in this thread).

They DO know what their status is, it's not ambiguous. Essentially it is: "Hi; You've been laid off; your services are no longer required; we will continue paying you for the remainder of your contractual notice period / two weeks; you'll get whatever package is due to you; please go home and ensure you take all of your materials with you."

This is completely unrelated to any notion of effectively dis-empowering an active employee or keeping them in the dark.

Re: Coinbase Announces 18% Layoffs

#587

Post by NikolaNovak »

ohgodplsno wrote: post #578
Symbiote wrote: post #560

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You started by quoting >> You can definitely be paid laid off employee for a period of time, while having your access revoked. and replying > In France, this is a breach of contract And now you write > you may however send the employee home with his full salary and no obligation to work Which was exactly the original claim! I'm not sure if you misread or misunderstood, but you have been arguing incorrectly in most of…

The core part of the problem is "you revoke his access". It's simple. You revoke someone's access, it is akin to firing, and it is illegal. Send people home with their severence after the necessary period to inform the employee that they're getting fired, sure. But telling them out of the blue "Fuck off, don't come to work today, your access is revoked" is a breach of contract and is illegal. So, no, you cannot be a…

It is not "Akin to firing", it IS an action following firing or laying off.

>>You're either employee, paid a salary and with access, or not an employee with your severance package and no access.

The latter. It's the latter. We've all been discussing the latter (or at least that's my impression, as that's what the original article is about, and certainly what my post was about :).

Re: Coinbase Announces 18% Layoffs

#588

Post by NikolaNovak »

mbg721 wrote: post #582
NikolaNovak wrote: post #495

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't have to. At its best, PIP is a very open, transparent, communicative, supportive method - here is what we need; here's how we believe you can help us; let's work together to meet our mutual targets. As others have said, in a good company and team, PIP is one amongst many coaching tools, rarely the first one, and can be useful in various situations - somebody not taking a hint or being oblivious, indicator…

I mean, it comes down to how much you trust your HR department to treat you as a human. If you work someplace where that kind of rapport is normal, then great! But that's not been my experience.

Right; in my current company, PIP is created and held by your Coach / Manager. It's orthogonal on whether HR treats you as human :D

Re: Coinbase Announces 18% Layoffs

#589

Post by danuker »

thaway2839 wrote: post #414
danuker wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't use it for payments due to regulatory headaches. But the supply-side economics is not to ignore. It is advantageous to Bitcoin. US M2 money supply grew 8.04% in the past year [0], while Bitcoin's grew ~1.75% [1]. Yes, demand has its 80% ups and downs, but each crash was to a level higher than the previous. [0] - https://ycharts.com/indicators/us_m2_money_supply_yoy [1] - https://charts.woobull.com/bitcoin-inf…

And that makes it a horrible currency. It makes it highly deflationary which absolutely stunts the working of an economy because no one wants to spend anymore. Good currencies are not stores of value. They are means of exchange. And crypto is a horrible means of exchange. It may have some use as a store of value (i.e. digital gold), but it's not clear to me why I would store my value in digital gold, which will requi…

> because no one wants to spend anymore

Computing prices have been going down in the past half-century. Yet it's full of computers around us now. And the biggest companies are computing-related. I wonder why.

Re: Coinbase Announces 18% Layoffs

#590

Post by tartoran »

refracture wrote: post #373
nemo44x wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty standard to not let terminated employees hang around. It feels cold but it’s just the way it has to be. Sone places will even do this when an employee submits a resignation on good terms. Just a way for the company to cover themselves.

I used to work as a contractor at a help desk, the company was based on the east coast while the office we were at was back west. We hired a guy that while nice enough was not a good fit; he couldn't do the work. HQ decided that we would terminate him on Friday. I have no idea why, but the on site supervisor had gotten the perception that we had the go ahead to inform this guy he was terminated, and right before he w…

> I don't believe it was just because of this but do I do firmly believe this awful experience may have been a contributing factor to him taking his life later that year.

That’s extremly sad to hear. Not saying that the company or anyone owed him anything but we do live in a really mean world. In an alternate universe or maybe eveb a different country nobody would be pushed into taking such decisions as taking their own life.

Post reply on HN