181–190 of 345 posts
> approximately 260 talented Plaids "Plaids" This joins the list of Googlers, Xooglers, Nooglers, Amazonians, Tweeps, Krakenites, what else?
I worked at a place called Blend and they used “Blendkind.” My first question in onboarding was if anyone had thought of “Blender”
Earlier quoted context omitted.
And BTW, I take full responsibility for everything, which means nothing.
To me it means something. To write to the world that you made a mistake and you were responsible takes courage. It may lead to change. It may not. But it’s important part of normal apologies. I suspect what you are missing is specific action - what is this person specifically going to do differently?
I went through that release and did a quick search for mistake and/or responsibility. No hits. Do you know why that is the case? Well, apart from legalistic part that would suggest he is guilty of something, there is a psychological part that is unfortunately best explained by actions of a fictional psychopath Dennis Reynolds[1]: 'only "take responsibility" in a very non-specific manner'. It works, because while Plaid CEO did apologize ( no 'apologies' in article, but there is a 'I am truly sorry.'), but nothing specific.
However, the way our brains function, we infer the admission of mistake and taking responsibility from that one phrase.
It is very annoying that it works, but it does work.
[1]https://itsalwayssunny.fandom.com/wiki/Wolf_Cola:_A_Public_R...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are you advocating for mob violence against CEOs for laying people off?
The equivalent of our behavior in chimp world would be layoffs turning to execution, not removal from a job. I'm sure someone educated enough to use the internet can argue in good faith and relativate what the human world equivalent of chimp behavior would be.
I know this feels trite but do other industries do a better job of messaging layoffs? I was laid off from a non-tech company in 2006-2007. There was no message from the CEO, no public admission of fault, etc. We knew the layoffs were coming. On the Friday of the layoff, my manager came around and took me to the HR office. I stood in line with others to sign some paperwork. I was then escorted back to my desk to colle…
Probably because the tech community has demonstrated that they'll speak freely on social media, with reporters, etc and the risk of being dragged and hurting future customer & hiring prospects is high.
I get that layoffs seriously are terrible but a lot of these tech companies are providing some pretty seriously nice exit packages. I fail to understand the amount of acid in the comment thread? Layoffs suck, corporate speak is always cringey. What would people want as alternatives outside perfectly executed business plans that don't have layoffs? Handheld individual exit goodbye packages? Im seriously asking for leg…
I think the vitriol is more tied to the founder model of get as big as you can, as fast as you can, by hiring as many as you can, so that the valuations keep getting bigger and bigger so you can cash out. Then you cut loose all the people you know you didn’t actually need.
Dear Floofernistas, This is the hardest thing I have ever done. The market changed - I thought we would make more money, now I think we will make less money. Therefore we have discovered that we don't need all of you. If you aren't needed, here is some money. I hope this is enough money that the internet isn't too mad at me. Remaining Floofernistas, please be kind to the ex-Floofernistas, and help them. Again, I am s…
The money isn't for the internet to be satisfied. It's to signal to the remaining employees that the company will take care of you.
Now I tell people that it’s better off to be in the first round. First, no survivor’s guilt for you. Also the company still has money to match the guilt they feel for you. I’ve only ever felt “taken care of” in first round layoffs, and most of the people I talk to during those times feel the same. In fact my stance on this is borrowed from several peers who had a much more philosophical perspective on their being laid off than I did about them being laid off. How can you be so calm when I’m freaking out? A decent severance definitely helps, and the prospect of not being stuck fire fighting while short staffed certainly doesn’t hurt.
16 weeks of base pay - perhaps this is becoming industry standard for big company layoffs? (influenced by CA WARN act?) Interesting they are paying the cash equivalent of 6 months of healthcare, rather than just extending healthcare for 6 months.
In the US, (most) employers are required to offer former employees continued coverage via the COBRA ( https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/health-plans/cobra ) program. COBRA compliance is built in to corporate insurance policies. Extending healthcare coverage via another method would require extra costs on the employer's part. Giving former employees the cash equivalent allows them to use COBRA if desired or to find al…
COBRA, as far as I understand, is not offered by the employer. It is a federal safety net. The employer has no monetary obligation whatsoever, besides those ruled by contract and conscience, to give the departed employee anything. Zero, zip, zilch. They are only obligated to pay out for work performed and anything required by contract, such as unused PTO. Again, that's it.
At least in my state, the only other obligation is the employer must submit to another agency to handle COBRA (should you elect) within 30 days and that agency has 14 days to contact you.
Reading between the lines, this has at least one serious flaw. Suppose you're let go on the 15th of the month and your former employer chooses to not continue your coverage. You then only have coverage until the end of the month. That's approximately 15 days. However, because the employer isn't obligated to submit to the third party for 30 days and they're not obligated to submit paperwork to you for another 14 days, it's potentially 34 days before someone contacts you about setting up continued coverage, or 19 days after your coverage ended. If the former employer doesn't provide you the name or contact info for the third part, you have to cold-call potential agencies in hopes that 1) they're the agency handling you and 2) the employer has submitted to them so that they know point 1. Good luck, hope nothing bad happens to you while you figure this out!
I mention this because your post suggested that employers were required to do more. As far as I know, they're not. It's my contention (and experience) that, because companies tend to be tight fisted and short sighted, it has high probably for them to do only the minimum and to force former employees into the nightmare scenario.
COBRA is also hella expensive. For one individual, expect to pay $450-500. For a couple, at least $1000. PER MONTH. Otherwise, check the marketplace. Already paid your deductible and let go in the first quarter? Too bad if you can't afford COBRA. You have to restart your contributions to the deductible if you opt for a new plan on the marketplace.
So, make sure you're setting aside appropriately in when money's coming in.
Apologies for the rantyness. This has happened twice, once during 2020 and again during the current rounds of layoffs. It hits home, hard. I think it's important for people's safety to make sure these facts are known.
Dear Floofernistas, This is the hardest thing I have ever done. The market changed - I thought we would make more money, now I think we will make less money. Therefore we have discovered that we don't need all of you. If you aren't needed, here is some money. I hope this is enough money that the internet isn't too mad at me. Remaining Floofernistas, please be kind to the ex-Floofernistas, and help them. Again, I am s…
What's the better response here? (Other than not over-hiring in the first place).
What delusional playbook does every tech leader get the idea to refer to their employees by cringey names like "Plaids" or "Metamates" in serious memos like this? Imagine if your physician did this... "Hey there KaiserPermanientoid! You have cancer!"
As an important audience for these messages is the remaining employees, and this is a time of particular risk of the façade cracking, it is one of the more important times to deploy every tool to reinforce it.