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Musk’s first email to Twitter staff ends remote work

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Re: Musk’s first email to Twitter staff ends remote work

#831

Post by [deleted] »

rob74 wrote: post #664
ericmcer wrote: post #604

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone is looking at it too short term. Twitter isn’t going to disappear and he has shown a willingness to ride through rough economic times to reach his vision. Social Media is how people interact with the world now, most info we receive is filtered through it in some form. In the last 10 or so years the idea that these platforms need tight moderation to control what and who is speaking on them has become ubiquito…

> Twitter isn’t going to disappear Isn't it? Ok, maybe Musk has a magic wand that he can use to make it profitable (which it has been for only two out of the last 12 years), or is willing to subsidize it indefinitely out of his deep pockets... but I wouldn't bet on it.

[deleted]

Re: Musk’s first email to Twitter staff ends remote work

#832

Post by encryptluks2 »

philliphaydon wrote: post #829
georgyo wrote: post #523

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked at a place that did this in 2009. The problem with this method is that many people DID relocate to keep their jobs. And then were layed off two months later. Imagine uplifting your life for your job, and then being told you need to find a new job anyway.

In 2020 the company I worked for did ~25% temp salary reduction so they could feel safe that they could keep everyone employed and such. 3 months after everyone did it they said "thank you thank you we are so happy we don't need to let anyone go". 2 months later they laid off ~50% of the development team and people throughout the company... At the end of the year they said no bonuses, followed by an email saying desp…

Employees need to get everything in writing as part of a contract/agreement. If a company won't put it in writing, then you should assume they are lying.

Re: Musk’s first email to Twitter staff ends remote work

#833

Post by karaterobot »

yrgulation wrote: post #156
kypro wrote: post #23

I am split on the remote work thing from a productivity / creativity perspective. I do think there are times when I'm less productivity working from home compared to the office. I also think as a team we're less creative. Some of the best stuff I've done in my career has come out of casual conversations with my team about the stuff we're building. I've noticed I don't think about what I'm building as much when workin…

> Were I working at Twitter I'd probably be looking for a new job after this announcement. Highest impact is mid project. You know, to make it hurt.

Right, really punish the rest of the team who has to make up for your absence. That'll teach Elon.

Re: Musk’s first email to Twitter staff ends remote work

#834

Post by viraptor »

fundad wrote: post #240
esalman wrote: post #133

Twitter is going down. The question is whether it will take Musk down with it.

He's been embarrassing himself for a minute already but the answer isn't definitely no. What I realized is he saw contraction in demand at Tesla and wanted a public pretense to sell some without triggering a panic. He had all the Tesla projections long before his tweet about feeling "super bad" about the economy. This deal turned funny money into feeling like a club promoter.

What do you mean about selling some? He didn't get anything out for himself by effectively putting them up for Twitter collateral. He's effectively setting them on fire and causing panic.

He'd cause less panic by saying "I need to sell some because I wanted to buy a small country".

Re: Musk’s first email to Twitter staff ends remote work

#835

Post by formerkrogemp »

philliphaydon wrote: post #829
georgyo wrote: post #523

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked at a place that did this in 2009. The problem with this method is that many people DID relocate to keep their jobs. And then were layed off two months later. Imagine uplifting your life for your job, and then being told you need to find a new job anyway.

In 2020 the company I worked for did ~25% temp salary reduction so they could feel safe that they could keep everyone employed and such. 3 months after everyone did it they said "thank you thank you we are so happy we don't need to let anyone go". 2 months later they laid off ~50% of the development team and people throughout the company... At the end of the year they said no bonuses, followed by an email saying desp…

> Companies lie to employees all the time.

My friends and I have no loyalty to our employers at this point. Big or small, we've all been burned. Some places are just less unpleasant than others. My bar is so low that as long as no one is screaming at me or threatening my coworkers I usually call that a good day. Getting out of retail helped.

Re: Musk’s first email to Twitter staff ends remote work

#836

Post by memish »

dragonwriter wrote: post #745
danans wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Wouldn't it make the most sense to announce those decisions before making layoffs? Let people self select whether they want to stay and work for you and then make your layoffs after to ensure all teams are properly staffed. He's got huge debt and declining revenue - both of his own making - so he doesn't have time for employees to self-select based on minor incentives. He has to strip down the car fast while someho…

> He also wants to recreate the place per his own vision, so it makes sense to get rid of as many people carrying the previous culture as you can and then start hiring as necessary with the kind of people you want So, he's destroying all of the institutional knowledge, the brand image, and the existing business relationships, while pivoting to a radically different market. He wanted a fresh startup to sink $44 billio…

It's weird how many people are experiencing sudden onset amnesia. Prior to Elon getting control, everyone understood Twitter was a mess, was losing tons of money and not able to get anything done for the past decade.

Obviously it needs a major shakeup.

Re: Musk’s first email to Twitter staff ends remote work

#837

Post by version_five »

slg wrote: post #208

Let's say you run a company and you want to reduce staff. Let's also say you want to make an unpopular decision (or multiple unpopular decisions) that you know will drive a certain percentage of your staff to leave the company. Wouldn't it make the most sense to announce those decisions before making layoffs? Let people self select whether they want to stay and work for you and then make your layoffs after to ensure…

From a Machiavellian (? I think) perspective, better to do the layoffs first and flood the job market with people before making other unpopular decisions that may drive people away. No idea if that was the plan but it makes sense.

(Even if the number cut doesn't amount to anything market moving, they probably share a lot of the same network, and it will definitely looks like a flood of job seekers in most twitter employees bubbles, and those of their immediate networks)

Re: Musk’s first email to Twitter staff ends remote work

#838

Post by nomagicbullet »

adamredwoods wrote: post #398

Marissa Mayers and Yahoo in 2013: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/feb/25/yahoo-chi... https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/marissa-mayer-defends-her-...

I hope our leaders are measuring the right things. It's discouraging to read how Mayers came to her decision to ban remote work.

> She said the decision stemmed from her first few months at Yahoo, when she was spending a couple of hours every day in the cafeteria talking to any employee who wanted to chat.

Selection bias.

> Mayer decided on the ban after spending months frustrated at how empty Yahoo parking lots were and consulting Yahoo’s VPN logs to see if remote employees were checking in enough.

Confirmation bias.

Both clear examples of cognitive bias: reading into easily accessible data as a proxy for relevant valid data and using it to justify decisions.

Re: Musk’s first email to Twitter staff ends remote work

#839

Post by matthewdgreen »

nonrandomstring wrote: post #528
slg wrote: post #208

Let's say you run a company and you want to reduce staff. Let's also say you want to make an unpopular decision (or multiple unpopular decisions) that you know will drive a certain percentage of your staff to leave the company. Wouldn't it make the most sense to announce those decisions before making layoffs? Let people self select whether they want to stay and work for you and then make your layoffs after to ensure…

I made a half-joke here on HN a few months ago that Musk was buying Twitter just to destroy it for the lols. Maybe everyone's wasting their time with rational economic analysis, trying to figure out a pretty simple guy with an obscene pile of fuck-you money and an axe to grind.

Musk loves Twitter. You don’t have to point to the billions he spent on it, you can just see that he loves using it. He might want to change it, might destroy it accidentally in the process (like a kid who hugged their beloved pet too hard), but he didn’t set out to destroy it.

Re: Musk’s first email to Twitter staff ends remote work

#840

Post by bogota »

literalAardvark wrote: post #698
bogota wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really feel bad for anyone who went out and bought a house in another place or made life decisions based on this policy which is likely a lot of people. This is really showing that you don’t respect or care about your employees which is par for the course for musk. However i think what he is forgetting is that Twitter isn’t some amazing challenge to solve like self driving or rockets. I think you will see a very unde…

Debatable. "The town square for the world" is a lofty enough goal.

Every company has a cool tagline for how they are changing the world. Very few are.
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