No company deserves loyalty, but 2+ months severance at a tech salary isn't a tragedy. I wouldn't mind getting laid off at some of the companies
Amazon to Lay Off over 17,000 Workers, More Than First Planned
211–220 of 498 posts
Re: Amazon to Lay Off over 17,000 Workers, More Than First Planned
#212Here’s a thought that has been percolating in my mind for a bit since these “market adjustments” began a month or two back. Somehow at some point, in what perhaps could be blamed on the ever-hated mass produced MBAs - companies got really comfortable with the “it’s not personal, it’s just good business” of letting go of their employees for a slightest reason, or sometimes for no reason at all - just to make it look t…
> “people are our most important resource”
Did you ever believe it?
It makes me throw up every time I see corporate messages speaking of family and employees being their most important resource.
I have been around for long enough and I have learned that a job is just a contract between parties and it exists for as long as both parties can benefit from it.
Don't get caught up in the whole companies family kind of bs or get too emotionally and culturally attached to your employer. Always be on the look up for opportunities and take them.
Never stop learning and investing in yourself. Knowledge and experience are your most important asset, keep nurturing them.
Also, I wanted to believe that a good chunk of these layoffs should have seen this coming. One must be aware at all time of how valuable (if at all) are for their employer.
Re: Amazon to Lay Off over 17,000 Workers, More Than First Planned
#213Here’s a thought that has been percolating in my mind for a bit since these “market adjustments” began a month or two back. Somehow at some point, in what perhaps could be blamed on the ever-hated mass produced MBAs - companies got really comfortable with the “it’s not personal, it’s just good business” of letting go of their employees for a slightest reason, or sometimes for no reason at all - just to make it look t…
I believe that there is a power swing about to happen where talented individuals may get a lot more powerful and influential in relation to institutions and corporations. I liken it to how MANPADS allow individual soldiers to overpower tanks for far cheaper, flipping the script on 100 years of war. It hasn’t fully come to pass yet but corporations hire way too many “credential dead weight.” In my career I have often…
MANPADS is for shooting down aircraft ("ADS" = air defense system). You're thinking of the Javelin and NLAW anti-tank weapons. Anti-tank rockets have been around for many decades; they're nothing new, but the latest ones are just more effective and have better range. IIRC, the Javelin itself was designed and first deployed back in the 1990s, so it's not exactly new either. What's new in the Ukraine conflict is that Russians apparently don't know how to (or just can't) properly operate tank battalions.
Back to MANPADS: man-portable anti-aircraft weapons aren't new either. The US was giving Stingers to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan back in the 1980s to shoot down Soviet aircraft.
Re: Amazon to Lay Off over 17,000 Workers, More Than First Planned
#214Software workers, we have to unionize. We have way more power together than isolated.
Re: Amazon to Lay Off over 17,000 Workers, More Than First Planned
#215"Amazon had about $35 billion in cash and cash equivalents and long-term debt of about $59 billion at the end of the third quarter ended Sept. 30." https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/amazon-secu...
It's fair that you edited out the confused commentary, but I'll leave this note that cash is an immediate/near-term asset and long-term debt is a long-term liability. Duration mismatch is important for a company that attempts to maximize free cash-flow.
Re: Amazon to Lay Off over 17,000 Workers, More Than First Planned
#216Here’s a thought that has been percolating in my mind for a bit since these “market adjustments” began a month or two back. Somehow at some point, in what perhaps could be blamed on the ever-hated mass produced MBAs - companies got really comfortable with the “it’s not personal, it’s just good business” of letting go of their employees for a slightest reason, or sometimes for no reason at all - just to make it look t…
> it’s not personal, it’s just good business
What message does that send to the employees who stick it out who are expected to "give a part of their lives" for the company? Sacrifice, go the extra mile, "what can you do for the company versus what can the company do for you"?
Re: Amazon to Lay Off over 17,000 Workers, More Than First Planned
#217Here’s a thought that has been percolating in my mind for a bit since these “market adjustments” began a month or two back. Somehow at some point, in what perhaps could be blamed on the ever-hated mass produced MBAs - companies got really comfortable with the “it’s not personal, it’s just good business” of letting go of their employees for a slightest reason, or sometimes for no reason at all - just to make it look t…
I have no opinion on the MBA bit, but I think you're spot on about people starting to treat companies the way the companies are treating them. ~10 years ago, when I got my first job, I was in the minority, pretty much the only person cynical about big companies' claims how "people are our most important resource", how important is the company "culture" and all of that corporate kumbaya. And, at that point, the vast m…
> ~10 years ago, when I got my first job, I was in the minority, pretty much the only person cynical about big companies' claims how "people are our most important resource"
Tell that to Johnny Paycheck.
Re: Amazon to Lay Off over 17,000 Workers, More Than First Planned
#218Earlier quoted context omitted.
Being able to easily lay off employees means that the companies are much happier hiring, too. Most of those fired will likely land another job soon, precisely because their new employer does not have to treat their hiring as a multi-year commitment. Europe, which makes it very hard to let an employee go, tends to have significantly higher unemployment than the US, which is much more cavalier about layoffs. My 2c.
Japan makes it very hard to lay off employees too, but unemployment is very low.
Also Australia. From the outside (and this could well be the wrong take), it seems as though “at will employment” leads to cultural problems. People are afraid to speak their mind, and hierarchy becomes dominant.
I like that Australia is a bit more egalitarian, and people can “speak truth to power”.
Re: Amazon to Lay Off over 17,000 Workers, More Than First Planned
#219This is worrisome - joined Amazon ~4 months ago because it seemed like the most sensible thing to do considering my immigration status. Have one last attempt left at the H-1B lottery; PERM is underway but no hopes of getting it finished before STEM OPT runs out. Was thinking of getting married to my girlfriend soon, but not too sure about that anymore (she's in the 3rd year of her PhD so she cannot really move with m…
How did you go from 9 to working age without getting residency in the US or another country?
Re: Amazon to Lay Off over 17,000 Workers, More Than First Planned
#220Earlier quoted context omitted.
A business is run to maximize shareholder value. Cutting costs is part of that equation.
It's not really maximizing shareholder value though. In this case its like cutting off your leg and claiming you lost weight.
if the employees that were cut were working on a product that was losing money, then its more akin to liposuction. Its not about the employee's skills either, it's the business unit. If you start cutting database or network engineers on the AWS team, now we're talking about cutting off limbs.
Put another way, lots of startups are failing or are going to fail in this environment. Layoffs are like killing "internal startups" that aren't moneymakers.