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Meta and Google are cutting staff

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Re: Meta and Google are cutting staff

#251

Post by aaaaaaaaaaab »

battery_glasses wrote: post #218
wallscratch wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you give an example of a system that’s in place to ensure workers are near max capacity most of the time?

Diff count/LoC count is recorded and made publicly available for all engineers in a graph that lets you easily compare metrics between developers and teams. This means if you are constantly comparing your output to the rest of the team. The multi-axis performance review criteria that requires you to show deliverables on things like your impact on team-building or culture. This means that when you might normally get a…

I've never experienced this at Meta. In fact I've worked considerably less intensely there than at my previous place, and I was considered a high performer in my team.

Re: Meta and Google are cutting staff

#252

Post by mgraczyk »

sequoia wrote: post #165

Facebook and google have "required some employees to apply for new jobs if they wish to remain at the company." I have to say this is a sort of hilarious newspeak framing of layoffs. "We're not laying you off, you just need to apply and get accepted for a job or else you're terminated." OK, so I was a job-haver, now I'm a job-seeker... but at least I haven't been laid off!

Not really newspeak. The difference is that you're still getting paid in between and still have a job, pretty different from getting laid off where you often don't get paid and don't have a job.

Re: Meta and Google are cutting staff

#253

Post by battery_glasses »

rockinghigh wrote: post #232
wallscratch wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you give an example of a system that’s in place to ensure workers are near max capacity most of the time?

It comes down to the extreme focus on performance review. It creates an environment where every engineer is pressured to move some metrics like time spent on app, number of videos watched, or ad revenue. Because you're compared with your peers, you have to work a little more than them to maintain a good rating and stay in the race.

yeah well put

Re: Meta and Google are cutting staff

#254

Post by pm90 »

rosywoozlechan wrote: post #95
karmasimida wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Empathy is anti-capitalist. I think the executive getting rid of their usual fake friendly corporate talk, reflecting the degree how bad their bottom line is hurt.

Right, I wasn't suggesting fake friendliness, just like something better than making generalizations that bring up the spector of hidden bad people working at the company and nobody knows whose head is going to roll. It creates uncertainty, fear and just general demoralization in the ranks if you ask me.

Its sort of lazy thinking, so of course a lot of people will come to the same conclusion.

I mean, sure there might be people not giving their best. But most people want to do work, want their work to be meaningful, and will generally do the right thing if guided correctly. The number of "slackers" who try to get by with no/0 effort is small, no way it could be large enough to meaningfully affect the bottomline.

Re: Meta and Google are cutting staff

#255

Post by dzikimarian »

thebradbain wrote: post #229
dzikimarian wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They don't. Some of them try to raise arguments, that they completed given tasks, but forget to mention that they compromised quality along the way. Couple years ago, we had a lot of talks saying that engineers should have slack time to polish things. That's kinda counter-productive if slack time goes into working for other companies.

If they’re contracts, they’re not employees and they’re fully in their rights to work for others too. They owe that company no loyalty, and if they’re doing what’s laid out in the contract, there is no expectation for them to do more, either. Nevertheless, I don’t see how this is slacking either way.

If they have agreed to task-based work and that's clear for both parties, then sure. Zero issues there.

If they entered agreement (no matter legal form), that led company to believe that they will dedicate full time equivalent to given company and then did the same with another company, and charge both for full time, then it's obvious scam. It's simply beyond mental capacity of regular human being to carry out such contract.

People tend to rationalize latter one, but they will end on bad side of the layoffs, because it's simply unsustainable to pay full compensation for half-time work.

Re: Meta and Google are cutting staff

#256

Post by retinaros »

compiler-guy wrote: post #88
confidantlake wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are they? I did an interview with one of them a few months ago, passed hiring committee, and have been told everything is frozen. The other one just cancelled my interview.

Google had things completely on hold for six weeks or so, but has restarted.

gcp is still mostly frozen. google rescinded even verbal offers. some people trash aws for the culture but really it is all of them faang

Re: Meta and Google are cutting staff

#257

Post by water-your-self »

time_to_smile wrote: post #181
battery_glasses wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At Meta managers can't really get away with hiding low performers. Your performance review isn't finalized by your manager, but rather the manager submits your review to a calibrating board that tries to ensure fairness and maintain quality standards. They will refute at all cost that this is stack ranking but you are absolutely graded on the curve of the other engineers in your department and level.

> ensure fairness and maintain quality standards Got a good chuckle out of this. My experience with calibration at multiple companies is it's where you realize not only does your review depend on how happy you make your manager, but how politically savvy your manager is coupled with how much you were able to impress the people on the calibration committee. It also gives your manager a nice out if you work hard, but t…

And why should you work hard for a manager that doesn't like you in the first place? Clear signal to find another place to be, imo.

Re: Meta and Google are cutting staff

#258

Post by battery_glasses »

aaaaaaaaaaab wrote: post #251
battery_glasses wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Diff count/LoC count is recorded and made publicly available for all engineers in a graph that lets you easily compare metrics between developers and teams. This means if you are constantly comparing your output to the rest of the team. The multi-axis performance review criteria that requires you to show deliverables on things like your impact on team-building or culture. This means that when you might normally get a…

I've never experienced this at Meta. In fact I've worked considerably less intensely there than at my previous place, and I was considered a high performer in my team.

Were you on a product or a platform team?

Re: Meta and Google are cutting staff

#259

Post by alliao »

astrange wrote: post #188
sequoia wrote: post #165

Facebook and google have "required some employees to apply for new jobs if they wish to remain at the company." I have to say this is a sort of hilarious newspeak framing of layoffs. "We're not laying you off, you just need to apply and get accepted for a job or else you're terminated." OK, so I was a job-haver, now I'm a job-seeker... but at least I haven't been laid off!

This can be very valuable because it means you don't lose your unvested RSUs. Plus internal teams are more likely to already know you, or at least it's easier to show them your work, so the interview isn't necessarily that hard.

false hope, chances are when such mechanisms are in place all teams already have the clamp on budget/resourcing to achieve the overall x% reduction in headcount. so it ends up a big game of musical chairs, some just gotta go.

Re: Meta and Google are cutting staff

#260

Post by mc32 »

mgraczyk wrote: post #252
sequoia wrote: post #165

Facebook and google have "required some employees to apply for new jobs if they wish to remain at the company." I have to say this is a sort of hilarious newspeak framing of layoffs. "We're not laying you off, you just need to apply and get accepted for a job or else you're terminated." OK, so I was a job-haver, now I'm a job-seeker... but at least I haven't been laid off!

Not really newspeak. The difference is that you're still getting paid in between and still have a job, pretty different from getting laid off where you often don't get paid and don't have a job.

But it's still "prove you're still worth it". Instead of, we have the following teams with openings, please pick one you want to go to. No, it's, we have openings in the following teams, prove that one of them want you enough.
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