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The layoffs at Klarna

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Re: The layoffs at Klarna

#71

Post by nibbleshifter »

rconti wrote: post #47

> Garden leave is when an employer requests that an employee, upon submitting their notice, need not return to the office. This is a type of absence where an employee is asked not to work during their notice period, in anticipation of their departure, while still being kept on the payroll. https://www.personio.com/hr-lexicon/garden-leave-uk/

Usually they kill your VPN/email/AD access as soon as you hand in your notice.

You can also be put on gardening leave when you are fired, if there's a notice period there.

Re: The layoffs at Klarna

#72

Post by jarym »

> this approach was the fairest option for all

I have heard this line a few times for HR recently and it makes me cringe every time. Putting everyone in the same shitty boat is never fair. Takes me back to George Orwell’s Animal Farm every time!

Re: The layoffs at Klarna

#73

Post by BeFlatXIII »

allenu wrote: post #57
hotpotamus wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently left an 8,000 person company that's been on a 2 decade loop of private money to publicly traded and back a couple times now. It occurred to me that in 25ish years (about 10 of which I worked there) that it might never have made any money - I can't remember a profitable year ever; we were always seeking growth above all else. I now work at a small SaaS company of around 50 people and it's only ever made mon…

> I recently left an 8,000 person company that's been on a 2 decade loop of private money to publicly traded and back a couple times now. It occurred to me that in 25ish years (about 10 of which I worked there) that it might never have made any money That is crazy if true. My fear is that there are a ton of tech companies like that, just chasing future profits or an acquisition, but not actually creating anything of…

Software as the chips in the stock market casino.

Re: The layoffs at Klarna

#74

Post by hotpotamus »

allenu wrote: post #57
hotpotamus wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently left an 8,000 person company that's been on a 2 decade loop of private money to publicly traded and back a couple times now. It occurred to me that in 25ish years (about 10 of which I worked there) that it might never have made any money - I can't remember a profitable year ever; we were always seeking growth above all else. I now work at a small SaaS company of around 50 people and it's only ever made mon…

> I recently left an 8,000 person company that's been on a 2 decade loop of private money to publicly traded and back a couple times now. It occurred to me that in 25ish years (about 10 of which I worked there) that it might never have made any money That is crazy if true. My fear is that there are a ton of tech companies like that, just chasing future profits or an acquisition, but not actually creating anything of…

I actually worked providing infrastructure to tech companies; from large enterprises to startups. I think I realized starting in the early to mid 10's that all the startups I was working with were just about taking VC money to provide the founders with hip, well paying jobs - the stated goal of the company was mostly immaterial and the "change the world" talk was virtue signaling to the rank and file so they don't feel so bad about their place in it. I wasn't all that thrilled but I've got to eat too and I'm not built for retail or labor, so what was I going to do?

Might be worth noting that I tend towards the depressed side already so my point of view might be a bit skewed. But when I watch Office Space or other works by Mike Judge, I realize I'm not exactly alone at least.

And keep in mind that this article is about a Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) type business - what about that is all that revolutionary? I'm sure the leadership wrapped it up as "empowering people to purchase goods they need today" or something else, but everyone knows they're selling people baubles like TVs with predatory lending, right?

Re: The layoffs at Klarna

#75

Post by lumost »

runnerup wrote: post #54
mrweasel wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's kinda fascinating really. We had a client that had only ever lost money. Their idea was pretty good, they had what I'd call a working prototype and paying customers. Our CEO happened to know one of the investors, and chatted with him about the investment and the numbers we did on a whiteboard. Even if they grew their business with 10 times the number of customers, and each customer ramped up their usage 10 times…

Even if the already-invested money can’t be recouped, marginal additional investment could theoretically be with favorable (LIFO) terms offered typically offered to later investment. So sure, acknowledge a bad $300 million bet, but then throw your next $50 million at the same bet if it looks like the best place to put a marginal $50 million. I don’t always think investors are doing this rationally - sunk cost fallacy…

A company built to operate as a 100 billion dollar behemoth can rarely transition to a 1 billion dollar success without lots of pain.

To make this transition, your going to need to crush a lot of dreams and projects. Why would the result not be a hollowed out hulk of a company?

Re: The layoffs at Klarna

#76

Post by rubyist5eva »

icegreentea2 wrote: post #59
rubyist5eva wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The self congratulatory back-patting (even if it's just "everything is fine, we're doing great") is treating success like an achievement. Success requires vigilance. Excellence is not an achievement, it's an activity. I used to wonder why friends of mine would get gifts for things like graduating elementary school or even high school. I asked my father for something because I was graduating highschool on the honour…

> If you aren't succeeding, you are failing - and I was expected and taught to succeed by default. Nitpicking, but you were expected to succeed by default, and also taught to strive for success by default (and presumably also taught the tools and approach to maximize likelihood of success). People cannot be taught to "succeed by default", anymore than someone could be taught to "win the world series by default". And…

I've had my fair share of failures that's for sure. I'm do not expecting to actually succeed every single time, but I am putting in the best effort to at least try to succeed instead of just trying to coast along or shrug it off being like "meh, just wasn't in the cards". I also don't expect massive celebrations when I actually do succeed - success is what is expected. If I'm supposed to make the big sale, I don't get a party after I just move on to the next big sale. It's what is expected, not exceptional.

Re: The layoffs at Klarna

#77

Post by rospaya »

jedberg wrote: post #34

Wow, that sounds so poorly handled. Not figuring out a way to tell everyone affected at (nearly) the same time is probably the worst sin. Best layoff I ever went through was when my boss came to our team and said, "look, don't tell anyone, but we have a layoff coming in a few days. I have to let one of the three of you go. Do you want me to decide or do you want to decide amongst yourselves?". She knew we were good f…

Wow, that sounds awful for me. Being a boss means making hard decision, he just dumped that on the three of you. Glad it worked out for you, but I can't imagine this working in most situations.

Re: The layoffs at Klarna

#78

Post by rubyist5eva »

msie wrote: post #56
rubyist5eva wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The self congratulatory back-patting (even if it's just "everything is fine, we're doing great") is treating success like an achievement. Success requires vigilance. Excellence is not an achievement, it's an activity. I used to wonder why friends of mine would get gifts for things like graduating elementary school or even high school. I asked my father for something because I was graduating highschool on the honour…

> If you aren't succeeding, you are failing - and I was expected and taught to succeed by default. That sounds messed up too. Maybe you need a break now and then from trying to succeed all the time.

I work 9-5 and have 6 weeks of vacations on top of government mandated holidays, I do pretty good :)

Re: The layoffs at Klarna

#79

Post by status200 »

It is unfortunate that people lost their jobs, but is anyone else not upset that a "buy now, pay later" company is struggling? They are exacerbating consumer's reliance on credit and causing some reckless spending, I personally believe they do more harm than good.

Re: The layoffs at Klarna

#80

Post by logifail »

cosmodisk wrote: post #36
logifail wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As Klarna has expanded its BNPL offering, its losses have increased. It reported a net loss of $730 million in 2021, a 337 percent increase on its 2020 loss Yet the tone from the acticle is that employees appeared to think the company was successful?

The company I used to work for got acquired by a listed company. At the same time, I was doing finance module at the university. One assignment was to analyse a company's financial reports and come up with a conclusion. So I analysed the company I worked for and the outcome was that I need to get out. At the same time the company was sending communication as it's about to discover time travel and unicorn milk.

> At the same time, I was doing finance module at the university. One assignment was to analyse a company's financial reports and come up with a conclusion. So I analysed the company I worked for and the outcome was that I need to get out.

That's interesting. My OH is almost half way through her MBA and for one recent module, she chose to analyse her current employer's financial reports and come up with a conclusion. Her conclusion is also that she needs to get out.

I wonder how many tech employees can actually read a financial report, though?

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