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Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

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Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#431

Post by ghaff »

danpalmer wrote: post #16
MichaelZuo wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

High performers on redundant teams would almost certainly be transferred, assuming there isn't some odd middle management infighting going on.

I'd hope so, but it's a lot harder to identify the high performers, figure out where to transfer them to, cut low performers from the teams they're moving to, etc. Unfortunately much easier to just cut teams as the company cuts scope.

Yep. You have someone who the mythical company “they” think is awesome but their team was disbanded, there’s no ideal and obvious role for them, transfers are mostly on hold anyway, etc. At some point a bunch of people are sorry they couldn’t find a way to keep the person but they can’t really do anything. And parking them somewhere they aren’t really a good fit isn’t ideal anyway.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#432

Post by jeffbee »

anonym29 wrote: post #311

I would like to offer some tips for those faced with the potential of layoffs that I have compiled. I understand much of these come too late for those already affected, but for those worried about the prospect, these can help to ease the pain if it does happen: • Check if your company pays out unused PTO, sick days, etc as cash. If they do, do not use any of the applicable type(s) unless you are going to lose it. • H…

Most important bullet point whenever you are leaving a company:

* Never sign anything!

Unless there is a substantial check attached, you have no reason to sign any agreement with the employer you are leaving. Politely refuse, and if they insist, ask for compensation.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#434

Post by jesuscript »

willio58 wrote: post #372
throwawaysleep wrote: post #329

It is far better to be a massive underperformer at three jobs than be a good employee at one. Layoffs that are large usually have nothing to do with performance as if they did, word would leak. This is why I feel no guilt over letting my teams down repeatedly. It doesn't matter unless you are bad enough to fire.

No amount of money would make the stress of 3 jobs worth it to me. To constantly be letting down people around me would be depressing, don't care if I'm making 500k/yr.

You may not believe it, but people are fickle. It’s that old Eddie Murphy bit about “What have you done for me lately”. Believe it or not, you have pleased and disappointed your company over and over, back and forth, based on things you did, and they only look at the last thing you did.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#435

Post by tikhonj »

eganist wrote: post #47

Hey pc, if you're around: > John and I are fully responsible for the decisions leading up to it. What are the two of you doing to show accountability? Are you slashing your own future stock grants, cutting your own salaries, diluting your positions with stock grants to everyone else? What's the consequence for this decision on your end that shows you're accountable for what happened, not just responsible for it? Sinc…

Personally, what I want out of "accountability"—in general, not just here—is not consequences for their own sake (or for punishment) but rather taking actions to address the problem and bearing the natural costs of those actions. This should include immediate as well as long-term actions:

1. Some way to help with the immediate layoff. Reasonable severance/etc is about what I'd expect.

2. Concrete action to prevent the problem in the future. The post identifies specific errors in judgement and at least pays lip service to avoiding layoffs in the future.

I'm not sure how serious they are about 2—given the structure and incentives of large corporations, how serious they even could be about it—but at least they're talking about it. I would not be surprised to see growth pressure overwhelming any strategic or cultural changes they make today if business conditions pick up again, with the whole cycle repeating over the next 5–10 years.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#437

Post by fredophile »

sanjayio wrote: post #138
eganist wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's how they're supporting their employees, but this would've already been accounted for anyway (the vesting, potential bonuses, pay through Feb 2023, etc), so this isn't accountability so much as it's "we'll, we won't see the immediate benefit until March" Would've been a different story for instance if pc/jc were diluted with new grants to departing and existing employees.

This seems extremely generous to me. We don’t have to torture the founders because of economic conditions. It’s risky enough being a founder and this’ll have a downwind impact on them as well. For example, paying all these benefits means fewer hires, means less output, means their stock options might be worth less.

If you're getting rid of 14% of your staff I expect you to be making a lot fewer hires and having less output, as a result of having less employees, is also not surprising. Those are completely unrelated to the severance they pay their employees.

The general argument for high CEO pay is that it is a reward for their skill in the job. By that argument, if there is evidence that they're making mistakes that negatively impact the company shouldn't that directly impact them in terms of their compensation?

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#438

Post by fredophile »

ISL wrote: post #249
memish wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's in the email: Severance pay. We will pay 14 weeks of severance for all departing employees, and more for those with longer tenure. That is, those departing will be paid until at least February 21st 2023. Bonus. We will pay our 2022 annual bonus for all departing employees, regardless of their departure date. (It will be prorated for people hired in 2022.) PTO. We’ll pay for all unused PTO time (including in re…

The 14 weeks of severance alone is probably worth ~$60 M [1] Scrounging on the web suggests that Stripe may be EBITDA-profitable but not GAAP-profitable. $60M (perhaps double that with all the other benefits laid out here) is easily enough to delay GAAP profitability by a quarter or two. That may not seem like much, but it has a huge impact on investor sentiment. [1] 0.14 8000 200000*14/52

How does this delay GAAP profitability? They paid out 3.5 months severance and their full 2022 bonuses. If they hadn't laid these people off then in the next 3 months (1 quarter) they would have paid them 3 months salary and their full 2022 bonuses.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#440

Post by UncleOxidant »

baxtr wrote: post #334
bigstripedrama wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry you're going through this and hope you don't have too much stress. I also echo the sentiment about needing a break, I wish I got laid off today. I'm not sure I can handle the Stripe culture that emerges from this.

How will it change you fear?

I don't work at stripe, but in general after a big layoff there's still the same amount of work to be done but now you have less people to do it. It's not just the people that were laid off that are gone, but others will leave after the layoff occurs fearing more layoffs to come. Leading to even less people to do the work. It can become a downward spiral for those who are left.
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