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Twitter Layoff Started Today

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Re: Twitter Layoff Started Today

#131

Post by [deleted] »

Dig1t wrote: post #120
falcolas wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's pretend some of these SF twitter employees have families. $4k in rent monthly, 4k in general living expenses (these are based off median figures available publicly) A bit over $96k in living costs. Assuming that $200k in total comp includes about 25% in stock (based off publicly reported comp packages for twitter employees), and a combined state/federal 35% tax rate... They have no spare money to save without a…

I think you're right with your numbers and I do have some sympathy for these people, but not too much. Living in an insane COL area like the Bay with crazy high taxes is a choice, nobody forced these people to do that. There are tons of job options in other places with a much lower COL and lower taxes. I got the hell out of the Bay as soon as I could and would definitely never choose to live there with a family.

[deleted]

Re: Twitter Layoff Started Today

#132

Post by penneyd »

jpollock wrote: post #127
stocknoob wrote: post #2

“ many of these folks won’t be able to sell the shares they earned. The money they need pay bills and keep them afloat if and until they get new employment. When severance ends, that’s it.” It’s Twitter’s responsibility to not only offer severance, but make sure employees keep an emergency fund?

Many people are extended enough that their stock is considered part of their compensation for buying a house. I know many people that sell all of their stock every month to make sure they have enough to live in the Bay Area. What's the mortgage on a USD$2m 1300sqft house? Looks to be $11k/mo? So, total comp should be at least US$400k to be considered affordable. Using South Bay, I don't know where a Twitter engineer…

Plenty of spots in the East Bay that are way below your quoted hypotheticals.

Re: Twitter Layoff Started Today

#133

Post by rufus_foreman »

rad88 wrote: post #114
throwaway5959 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously. I wouldn’t be surprised if the lowest total comp was in excess of $200k/year. If you can’t have 6 months in cash sitting in a high yield savings account on that, there’s no amount of severance that will help you.

I'm financially illiterate. Where can I find a good high yield savings account?

If you have money that you won't need to access for a year, I bonds currently pay close to 10%. 10K a year limit on what you can put in.

Re: Twitter Layoff Started Today

#134

Post by Willish42 »

throwaway5959 wrote: post #5
stocknoob wrote: post #2

“ many of these folks won’t be able to sell the shares they earned. The money they need pay bills and keep them afloat if and until they get new employment. When severance ends, that’s it.” It’s Twitter’s responsibility to not only offer severance, but make sure employees keep an emergency fund?

Seriously. I wouldn’t be surprised if the lowest total comp was in excess of $200k/year. If you can’t have 6 months in cash sitting in a high yield savings account on that, there’s no amount of severance that will help you.

This is an asinine assumption. I doubt even 10% of recruiting employees at Twitter have a HYSA, let alone make in excess of $200k/year. As stated below [1], those affected seem to be recruitment (which lines up with the LinkedIn post's user profile saying they are in recruiting).

Even ignoring this, there are thousands of situations where layoff + stock blackout can be financially devastating even for people with "well off" jobs. The entire reason it's recommended to keep a 3-6 month emergency fund is for emergencies - surprise medical costs + reduced pay on disability if you get cancer/car accident/etc. or struggling with a dip in household income from a spouse losing their job during a second-in-two-years recession. If one of those happens to you and _then_ you're laid off, you'd probably be more sympathetic.

Over half the U.S. lives paycheck to paycheck. It doesn't require a ton of imagination to envision why even people living in the bay area working at Twitter might be in dire economic circumstances after a layoff and stock blackout.

[1] https://www.wsj.com/articles/twitter-lays-off-third-of-talen...

Re: Twitter Layoff Started Today

#135

Post by SilasX »

mlboss wrote: post #122
rad88 wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm financially illiterate. Where can I find a good high yield savings account?

There is no high yield savings account in US.

Definitely not for most of the past three years. Rates only started creeping up in the last few months and even then, “high yield” is a hilarious way to label the news rates.

Re: Twitter Layoff Started Today

#136

Post by brd529 »

throwaway5959 wrote: post #5
stocknoob wrote: post #2

“ many of these folks won’t be able to sell the shares they earned. The money they need pay bills and keep them afloat if and until they get new employment. When severance ends, that’s it.” It’s Twitter’s responsibility to not only offer severance, but make sure employees keep an emergency fund?

Seriously. I wouldn’t be surprised if the lowest total comp was in excess of $200k/year. If you can’t have 6 months in cash sitting in a high yield savings account on that, there’s no amount of severance that will help you.

It was 30% of the recruiting team that was laid off today which almost certainly includes recruiting coordinators, sourcers and other entry level non technical roles. It is a challenging time to be looking for a job if you are a recruiter, so I hope these severance packages are generous.

Re: Twitter Layoff Started Today

#137

Post by [deleted] »

throwaway9870 wrote: post #50
throwaway5959 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously. I wouldn’t be surprised if the lowest total comp was in excess of $200k/year. If you can’t have 6 months in cash sitting in a high yield savings account on that, there’s no amount of severance that will help you.

While saving 6 months might be possible, I would love for you to point me to a high-yield savings account.

[deleted]

Re: Twitter Layoff Started Today

#138

Post by penneyd »

clpm4j wrote: post #79
falcolas wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's pretend some of these SF twitter employees have families. $4k in rent monthly, 4k in general living expenses (these are based off median figures available publicly) A bit over $96k in living costs. Assuming that $200k in total comp includes about 25% in stock (based off publicly reported comp packages for twitter employees), and a combined state/federal 35% tax rate... They have no spare money to save without a…

$4k is the going rate for a nice-ish 1 bedroom apartment in a good SF neighborhood. The people I know who have a partner and one child are typically spending $5-6k/mo if they're renting.

That's a choice, the East Bay exists and isn't anywhere close to those numbers.

Re: Twitter Layoff Started Today

#139

Post by nawgz »

throwaway9870 wrote: post #50
throwaway5959 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously. I wouldn’t be surprised if the lowest total comp was in excess of $200k/year. If you can’t have 6 months in cash sitting in a high yield savings account on that, there’s no amount of severance that will help you.

While saving 6 months might be possible, I would love for you to point me to a high-yield savings account.

Literal titular HYSAs go for 1% right now, which is up quite a bit! Maybe T-bonds are better, but I'm clueless.

Nonetheless, the point is more that: you need risk-free cash to live sometimes, keeping 6 months of your current costs in a low-risk account is pretty base levels of financial literacy

Re: Twitter Layoff Started Today

#140

Post by twunde »

I feel sympathetic but anyone that hasn't started prepping for layoffs is simply not reading the writing on the wall, _especially_ at Twitter. Elon Musk has basically said that he wants people working 40+ hours/week in the office or you can quit to Tesla and SpaceX. There have been stories for weeks about large startups having layoffs. Finally, most acquisitions tend to end in layoffs

Minimum, you should be updating your resume/LinkedIn, and you should also look at ways to cut back on costs where possible.

I'm sorry, Twitter assured the company that there would be no layoffs? Isn't that _exactly_ what Elon Musk has been telegraphing with what he's said to the press and at the town hall? Also at this point

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