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Plaid Layoffs

plaid.com

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Re: Plaid Layoffs

#231

Post by playoff_burner »

Shindi wrote: post #215
boringg wrote: post #70

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…

16 weeks pay on a $200k/yr salary (ie excluding equity acceleration) is $64k. That's a decent first check into a startup. I know people have families, visa issues, but if you're young and scrappy and already into startups, this is an amazing opportunity to build something new.

Could you elaborate? I'm considering this path.

Re: Plaid Layoffs

#232

Post by vkou »

A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote: post #142
jdnffjvnv wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you advocating for mob violence against CEOs for laying people off?

Parent may not be advocating it, but one would have to be willfully blind not to see a tremendous spike in related chatter online ('eat the rich' comes to mind ). If it is not addressed, it will only fester. Open discussion is a way to release some of that pressure.

There's 'Eat the rich' in the sense of 'They are taking way too much of the pie for themselves', which is a perfectly reasonable conversation to have.

And there's this sense of 'Eat the rich', which is trying to find a scapegoat for a... Company whose operations depended on access to cheap credit is laying people off... In an environment where the Fed is actively trying to create unemployment, by raising the cost of credit.

Re: Plaid Layoffs

#233

Post by kaitrain87 »

Calvin02 wrote: post #79

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…

I don't know if others do. There seems to be a news article, an internal hint, and then with a letter or message from the CEO that accompanies the layoff.

The script that these companies all follow is pretty much the same. I wrote down some observations on what CEOs put out on the weekend, and it's been a good bingo sheet of what Plaid did as well.

[1]Satire: https://digitalmonologue.com/2022/12/04/How-to-write-a-layof...

Re: Plaid Layoffs

#234

Post by nunez »

Wait, if they're paying the cash equivalent of six-months of healthcare (in the US), on average, how many months of healthcare does that translate to on the open market with the same deductibles/coverage/oop max?

Re: Plaid Layoffs

#235

Post by nunez »

RC_ITR wrote: post #101
game_the0ry wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the chimpanzee world, this would be handled differently. In chimp world, when alpha chimp causes chaos that brings down the community, a group of beta chimps will tear apart alpha chimp limb-by-limb, then they elect a new alpha from the group of beta subversives. This also how the organized crime works - leaders get a lot of benefits, but they also get the downside accountability when they fuck up ("skin in the ga…

If you think this is a sign that plaid is anywhere near their last valuation of $13bn, then I have news for you. The real problem is inequality. Zach is facing consequences, but the drop from $1bn to $100mn (a 10x decline in wealth) is so much less impactful than $250k to $25k (illustrative of what an employee is more likely facing).

maybe for you, but if this person was living on a >$100mn lifestyle, then that 10x decline will actually hurt them!

Re: Plaid Layoffs

#236

Post by makestuff »

playoff_burner wrote: post #231
Shindi wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

16 weeks pay on a $200k/yr salary (ie excluding equity acceleration) is $64k. That's a decent first check into a startup. I know people have families, visa issues, but if you're young and scrappy and already into startups, this is an amazing opportunity to build something new.

Could you elaborate? I'm considering this path.

It is likely enough money to get an MVP working to pitch to investors. Obviously not if you have a family to take of as well.

Re: Plaid Layoffs

#237

Post by nunez »

mkipper wrote: post #229
Calvin02 wrote: post #79

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…

I used to work for a defense contractor where layoffs were pretty regular. If the company wasn't winning new contracts, they couldn't afford to keep paying all the staff. It's a pretty simple arrangement, and when layoffs happened, you didn't expect any heartfelt message from leadership about how unexpected it was and how hard they tried to avoid it. It's just the reality of that business and everyone knew that. In a…

airlines are like this as well.

they hire during the boom times and furlough during bust times. hundreds of thousands of people were furloughed during COVID, for example.

it's even worse for pilots since their seniority resets, which can set them back compensation-wise for their entire careers if they are unlucky

it's the unwritten rule. trade a stable paycheck and a predictable lifestyle for fungability.

Re: Plaid Layoffs

#238

Post by Leherenn »

otikik wrote: post #179
xivzgrev wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Responsibility implies consequences. “I take responsibility, so I’m returning my dividends from the last two years and making my salary 0 until things improve ”

Plaid doesn't pay dividends and his salary is most likely peanuts compared to his shares in the company, whose valuation just tanked.

Re: Plaid Layoffs

#239

Post by nunez »

mynameisvlad wrote: post #105
jacobmarble wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Signed, guy who - is trying to build a useful product - thought he might be rich by now - turns out to be worth nothing until profit turns black - is facing the downside of a free market economy - is having one of the worst days of his/her life - will be forgotten by the internet (again) in about 2 days

> is having one of the worst days of his/her life Oh no, how sad. Pretty sure the people being laid off are having far worse days than the person who gasp had to write a letter.

i mean sure, yeah, they're maybe cash-rich, but firing people still sucks unless you're inhuman. knowingly upending hundreds of lives and families who are less financially secure during a not-recession-recession and a slow hiring market must be emotionally difficult to deal with.

Re: Plaid Layoffs

#240

Post by playoff_burner »

dehrmann wrote: post #213

The equity grant part is nice, but it's also tricky. For RSUs, it's a tax liability for an illiquid asset at a time when you have less/no income. For options, it gives you the option to hand money over to the company, making layoffs a fundraising round . And this is in a company that's struggling and you're not inclined to believe in right now.

The RSUs are double-trigger. The tax liability doesn't trigger until they become liquid.

(source: I got laid off at 4:02 am this morning.)

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