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Twitter Now Asks Some Fired Workers to Please Come Back

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Re: Twitter Now Asks Some Fired Workers to Please Come Back

#121
post #23

If I were asked back I'd take it (hopefully with an increase in salary) then I'd actively search for another job. Once I landed it I'd give zero day notice. Fuck them. I understand I could be potentially hurting coworkers by adding additional work to their plate but Twitter didn't give 2 shits about the people left behind and the work that they would have to take on. Why is it corporations can "layoff" without notice…

That is certainly a hot take. When a company is losing $4 million a day drastic measures are in order to save the company so the remaining employees still have a job. Having worked in tech for over 20 years and being on both sides of layoffs I can tell you how hard it is for the people making the decision of who to layoff is exceedingly difficult and heart breaking. It definitely looks like Twitter was a hot mess and…

> I can tell you how hard it is for the people making the decision of who to layoff is exceedingly difficult and heart breaking.

We want C-Suite execs to think of employees as people. But in reality the C-suite execs just think of them as another expense, albeit a necessary one.

At the C-Suite, everything is a number: number of employees, income, expenses, etc. The most important ones are cash on hand, and profit after expenses.

Here's a thought experiment: If Elon offered you $100 million to fire half the company would you do it? Personally I'd have a hard time saying no to that.

Re: Twitter Now Asks Some Fired Workers to Please Come Back

#122
post #97

Apparently, I seem to be grossly out of touch with all this twitter-related drama. Can someone please explain why the events surrounding twitter acquisition are such a newsmaker? What does it matter who owns the company and who the company fires? You can still (re)post the messages, you can still read the messages. All the favorite 'content-generators' are still there. Not much has changed from the users' perspective…

> And what about this 'looking for twitter alternatives' crap?

Well every opportunity is good to try to promote your network, isn't it?

Re: Twitter Now Asks Some Fired Workers to Please Come Back

#123
post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is certainly a hot take. When a company is losing $4 million a day drastic measures are in order to save the company so the remaining employees still have a job. Having worked in tech for over 20 years and being on both sides of layoffs I can tell you how hard it is for the people making the decision of who to layoff is exceedingly difficult and heart breaking. It definitely looks like Twitter was a hot mess and…

> I can tell you how hard it is for the people making the decision of who to layoff is exceedingly difficult and heart breaking. We want C-Suite execs to think of employees as people. But in reality the C-suite execs just think of them as another expense, albeit a necessary one. At the C-Suite, everything is a number: number of employees, income, expenses, etc. The most important ones are cash on hand, and profit aft…

> Personally I'd have a hard time saying no to that.

Particularly when you tell yourself that they’ll find another job easily.

Re: Twitter Now Asks Some Fired Workers to Please Come Back

#124
post #123
post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I can tell you how hard it is for the people making the decision of who to layoff is exceedingly difficult and heart breaking. We want C-Suite execs to think of employees as people. But in reality the C-suite execs just think of them as another expense, albeit a necessary one. At the C-Suite, everything is a number: number of employees, income, expenses, etc. The most important ones are cash on hand, and profit aft…

> Personally I'd have a hard time saying no to that. Particularly when you tell yourself that they’ll find another job easily.

That's what I would tell others as a cold-hearted condolence whether I believed it or not. I'd just be looking at the cold hard cash.

Re: Twitter Now Asks Some Fired Workers to Please Come Back

#125
post #23

If I were asked back I'd take it (hopefully with an increase in salary) then I'd actively search for another job. Once I landed it I'd give zero day notice. Fuck them. I understand I could be potentially hurting coworkers by adding additional work to their plate but Twitter didn't give 2 shits about the people left behind and the work that they would have to take on. Why is it corporations can "layoff" without notice…

> Why is it corporations can "layoff" without notice but as an employee you are expected to give 2 weeks notice?

Both sides can equally give as much notice as they want. 2 weeks is only customary, but also seems to be rarely honored on both sides. If an employee gives 2 weeks, they’re often just walked out the door and stay on the payroll for 2 weeks (for any job more complex than menial tasks, no meaningful transition can be completed in 2 weeks, so it’s better to reduce any risks immediately). Companies often give severance packages longer than 2 weeks to avoid being sued, on condition of signing some paperwork to that effect.

Re: Twitter Now Asks Some Fired Workers to Please Come Back

#126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t mean to be snarky, but the solution is exercising self restraint. The world will continue on just fine if you stop engaging with the topic.

Agreed. It's extremely easy to ignore all news regarding this topic - leaving a comment stating that it's difficult says more about the commenter itself.

Not everybody gets their news or hackernews links the same way you do.

Re: Twitter Now Asks Some Fired Workers to Please Come Back

#127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The pro-Elon redpill here is that he's already had at least 4 unambiguously successful companies (zip2, Paypal, Tesla, SpaceX). So maybe we are just observing what it takes to be extremely successful: Move fast and break stuff. If you want to be a multibillionaire you're going to have to make a lot of big mistakes, faster than anyone thinks possible. Additionally I think "verified users get priority in replies" has t…

Did you see how hard Elon tried to get out of the Twitter deal? Remember how he made up fake excuses about bots to try and torpedo the merger? Even Elon doesn't think Elon can make the Twitter deal work.

We don't know for sure that's why he tried to get out of the deal. Maybe he decided he actually wanted to focus on Tesla/SpaceX, or was trying to gain leverage for a lower acquisition price.

If he didn't think he could improve on the status quo for Twitter, the thing to do would be to trim as much staff as possible to cut costs and then continue with the current ad revenue based model, without making any changes or introducing new features. Twitter was making on the order of $5B/year in ad revenue. Pushing costs below $5B/year should not be difficult given the nature of the service provided.

Alternatively, if what you say is true and he doesn't think he can make it work, he could try to "back out" by flipping Twitter to another buyer, or just take it public again. Revealed preferences suggest he thinks he can outperform those alternatives.

Re: Twitter Now Asks Some Fired Workers to Please Come Back

#128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The U.S. healthcare system traps people in companies, for fear of losing access to reliable healthcare. A system that was completely independent from employers would be much more beneficial to employees. Plus, it would save huge administrative costs for private companies. This would especially benefit small companies, but, really, it would make the job of running any company much easier.

Healthcare.gov. We've had that system for 12 years. I've never had employer healthcare, it was way more expensive than private insurance in Hawaii, which anyone can get and you auto-qualify for enrollment if you change jobs or move. https://www.navapbc.com/insights/twelve-years-of-healthcare-...

Are you saying you’ve declined your employer sponsored healthcare and just signed up at healthcare.gov and it ended up being cheaper?

Re: Twitter Now Asks Some Fired Workers to Please Come Back

#129
post #61

How it looked in his head: Swoop in to the sounds of Jan Hammer’s Crocketts Theme with his Tesla staff entourage, you’re fired you’re fired, sit down, hack the planet, job done, planet bows before him, free speech restored. How it turned out: “Um, boss, we’ve spent the last three days trying to get a build running in Jenkins. Might want to get the dudes you fired back.”. While all the advertisers distance themselves…

The world's full of them though. I don't really get the passion behind the anti-Elon camp. It sounds personal. Isn't it just some billionaire doing what they do?

Re: Twitter Now Asks Some Fired Workers to Please Come Back

#130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you see how hard Elon tried to get out of the Twitter deal? Remember how he made up fake excuses about bots to try and torpedo the merger? Even Elon doesn't think Elon can make the Twitter deal work.

We don't know for sure that's why he tried to get out of the deal. Maybe he decided he actually wanted to focus on Tesla/SpaceX, or was trying to gain leverage for a lower acquisition price. If he didn't think he could improve on the status quo for Twitter, the thing to do would be to trim as much staff as possible to cut costs and then continue with the current ad revenue based model, without making any changes or i…

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