Big tech companies have a "Get out of jail free (in the press)" layoff card right now, and they're taking full advantage of that, despite not needing to at all.
Google to reduce workforce by 12k
61–70 of 1001 posts
Re: Google to reduce workforce by 12k
#62Question for those who got laid-off from tech recently (say since Aug last year): how hard did you find it to get another tech job? Would be interesting to get some anecdotal evidence to shed light on the following WSJ article which claims laid-off tech workers are finding it easy to get re-recruited: https://www.wsj.com/articles/laid-off-tech-workers-quickly-f... If the phenomena described in the WSJ article is true…
Not been laid off myself, but I'm still being absolutely hounded by recruiters. There are still a ton of tech jobs out there, at least in the UK.
It's still quite a defective system because Recruiters are so ruthless since so much money is made in commission. What this causes is the creation of fiefdoms and Recruiters trying to convince organisations or individuals to be exclusive with them, like it gives us any benefit.
The truth is that the noise that Recruiters generate means that most of the time, we only deal with a handful at a time, which means it can be pot luck whether your recruiter places you in our role.
Highly recommend that people do their own searching and apply direct, where possible, to the roles they want to do. I place a lot of kudos in a direct application compared to the Recruiter pitch about their latest "high quality candidate".
Re: Google to reduce workforce by 12k
#63Amazon and Meta I can understand why. But why Microsoft and now Google? What positions were affected in Google? Just developers?
Cost of employees has gone up as stocks drop due to such high RSU compensation. Stock is 40% off its highs which means they have to make up that difference in either cash or more stock, and neither look good to investors at the moment so smooth the financials 10% layoffs is the go to for large tech here.
I don't follow. RSUs being worth less than they used to be means employees are cheaper. You gave out $X a couple of years ago and when it finally vests it's worth 0.6*$X or similar, that's a direct drop in employee compensation.
Are you reasoning that employees paid in RSU are not amused by this and are likely to leave if not "made whole" somehow? Seems like waiting for people to quit would get headcount down fairly quickly if so.
Re: Google to reduce workforce by 12k
#64Milquetoast Google CEO Sundar Pichai finally does something after 7 years at the helm
Re: Google to reduce workforce by 12k
#65I guess someone has to write this comment: > I take full responsibility for the decisions that led us here As usual, he says nothing more what the consequences for him are. It seems like all of the FAANGs have made severe strategic cockups when it comes to hiring lately. I wonder if it will affect their longterm attraction as employers.
I always find these comments a bit silly. Saying something is "my fault" is not the same as saying they intend to die on their own sword.
Re: Google to reduce workforce by 12k
#66> As part of that, if you are just starting your work day, please feel free to work from home today. What a generous offer.
“Please don’t show up on campus and make trouble for security”
Re: Google to reduce workforce by 12k
#67> Pivoting the company to be AI-first years ago That seems like a weird thing to throw in there. Does anyone else read it as a hasty "we were doing AI before ChatGPT was cool"?
In Google I/O 2017 they announced a "pivot to AI".
https://www.engadget.com/2017-05-20-at-i-o-2017-google-doubl...
Google Assistant, Tensorflow, Google Lens, Cloud TPU, Google Goggles, auto mail responses etc.
A lot of interesting stuff but nothing that has made the popular press like chatGPT, dall-e etc.
Re: Google to reduce workforce by 12k
#68> Pivoting the company to be AI-first years ago That seems like a weird thing to throw in there. Does anyone else read it as a hasty "we were doing AI before ChatGPT was cool"?
Hopefully someone can inform us as to whether they did announce such a pivot (I have no memory of that) but it wouldn't surprise me. ChatGPT feels a lot like search-without-citations to me, and the closest existing thing in production to it is the blurb at the top of Google results, which I suppose will soon be replaced by this kind of thing (if they can ever get it to stop lying.)
Since 2015, Google have rolled out RankBrain, BERT and MUM which are machine learning enhancements of their search algorithm and allow Google to understand the meaning of the terms you search for and provide matches based on that.
Re: Google to reduce workforce by 12k
#69Does anyone know what "Outside the US, we’ll support employees in line with local practices." exactly means? In Germany I could imagine it to be "You're fired. Go to the Arbeitsagentur and find a new job". Of course within the legal forewarning period.
it means we will do what law requires. Which is quite a low bar to clear :)
Re: Google to reduce workforce by 12k
#70I blame companies for blaming with people's lives like this: not market dynamics. companies are the ones that decided to overhire, overpay - based on covid demand, cheap money that was floating around. companies not the market, resulted in a war over talent. now it's a war on talent. and of course everyone and their grandma will want to work at these tech companies where life is laid back and you get all the benefits…
What's "VC salary"? First time heard this and didn't find meaninging result from Google, nor does ChatGPT.