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Spotify reducing employee base by about 6%

newsroom.spotify.com

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Re: Spotify reducing employee base by about 6%

#231

Post by myth_drannon »

nsxwolf wrote: post #182
disruptiveink wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty sure layoffs decrease productivity of the remaining employees, unless you're a H-1B visa worker, no one "works harder" after layoffs. Morale is low, resentment over "now I have to do X as well" grows and productivity gets hit.

I don't stay after a big round of layoffs for the same reason I'd rather buy stocks when they look like they're going up, not down. The company is signaling that it is not doing well - why shouldn't I leave for a company that is doing well? The only way I'll stay is if you want me to be part of a real plan to turn things around. And my involvement in that has to be rewarded - not just at the successful end of that pr…

The thing is there is no important signal about a specific company here, everyone is doing layoffs, the same as in previous years that everyone was in a hiring spree ignoring the actual company fundamentals. You can't just leave a company which is laying off people because everyone around you is also doing layoffs!

Re: Spotify reducing employee base by about 6%

#232

Post by woeirua »

mjr00 wrote: post #184
woeirua wrote: post #164

This is an unpopular opinion, but history from the DotCom crash tells us that the layoffs are just getting started. Turns out you can’t run at a loss forever, and when the going gets rough the fastest way to increase profitability is to cut costs. Say what you will about Elon and Twitter, but he definitely proved that the majority of the engineers at Twitter were adding no value to the company. That is probably true…

I don't think "the majority of the engineers at Twitter were adding no value to the company" is a fair statement: one because it's not clear that it was the majority, two because it wasn't necessarily "no value" as much as "not as much value as other product areas", and three because it wasn't just engineering, it's product managers, sales, marketing, community managers, everyone. That being said I do think Elon's bo…

I think Elon was stupid in cutting the account managers and salespeople, but clearly there has been no noticeable difference in the service now that all those engineers are gone. Hence the comment about not adding value.

And if you read the whistleblower report you might seriously question what they were doing before Elon reset everything.

I wouldn’t be surprised if 2023 marks the start of another tech recession. The era of outrageous tech salaries is over.

Re: Spotify reducing employee base by about 6%

#233

Post by jobs_throwaway »

shmatt wrote: post #156
phamilton4 wrote: post #127

I get needing to keep a company lean and that businesses operate to make money... But most of these recent layoffs really make me feel uneasy. Spotify is a little different because AFAIK they are still operating at a negative net income, but still let's take a look at this. They're going to let go 600 people.. that's maybe an annual 90 million in savings (150k salary). The company's revenue is about 9 billion with -3…

It's very naive to think these huge orgs don't have dead weight which is much bigger than 6%. If you start figuring some of your moonshot ideas aren't hitting their OKR's, you have a few options: * Just let them keep doing whatever without delivering what they claim they can * Create new moonshots for them just because * Move them to other products, but that doesn't mean they'll create more value as an org with (now)…

> If you're used to 5% of people leaving on their own per year, assume its closer to 0% for 2023 and 2024

Strongly doubt this claim. Especially for employees of a sought-after firm like Spotify, there will always be people jumping ship either to other big co's or to join startups/start their own thing

Re: Spotify reducing employee base by about 6%

#234

Post by default_png »

ben7799 wrote: post #206
default_png wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thing is though, I have probably thrown 3K into Spotify, If I cant get a "Flat rate subscription for All / Most of the music out there" - > I will 100% just go back to downloading discographies of the artists I like. People saying "Support the artists" - I don't care about the artists, I just want to listen to whatever takes my fancy, and if they can't do that at my price point, they will end up getting nothing from…

$3k is a lot of money to rent music. It's kind of odd to realize people have spent that kind of money to rent music and have nothing to show for it without continuing to spend money. $3k would still buy a very large physical collection. Most people didn't have that kind of money into a physical collection back in the day. Vinyl prices are a joke, but CDs are often cheaper than a digital download if bought new and the…

Honestly, I paid for the convenience.

I paid to bark orders at my Amazon Echo's / Google in the car, and vend literally any song I wanted.

You could look back and be like >> Its amazing your ok with spending 100k on food over your lifetime, you could have eaten grass from the side of the road for free.

Piracy is easy, Spotify was easier.

Buying and ripping CD's is Effort

Re: Spotify reducing employee base by about 6%

#236

Post by pm90 »

nsxwolf wrote: post #182
disruptiveink wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty sure layoffs decrease productivity of the remaining employees, unless you're a H-1B visa worker, no one "works harder" after layoffs. Morale is low, resentment over "now I have to do X as well" grows and productivity gets hit.

I don't stay after a big round of layoffs for the same reason I'd rather buy stocks when they look like they're going up, not down. The company is signaling that it is not doing well - why shouldn't I leave for a company that is doing well? The only way I'll stay is if you want me to be part of a real plan to turn things around. And my involvement in that has to be rewarded - not just at the successful end of that pr…

I’m assuming that with the major tech companies all laying off it becomes difficult to find another gig.

Re: Spotify reducing employee base by about 6%

#237

Post by default_png »

maxwell wrote: post #165
default_png wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thing is though, I have probably thrown 3K into Spotify, If I cant get a "Flat rate subscription for All / Most of the music out there" - > I will 100% just go back to downloading discographies of the artists I like. People saying "Support the artists" - I don't care about the artists, I just want to listen to whatever takes my fancy, and if they can't do that at my price point, they will end up getting nothing from…

What is your price point? Why would artists give anything to you?

Well, I am currently on like £15 a month for 2x users on Spotify.

>Why would artists give anything to you?

Literally not my concern.

Re: Spotify reducing employee base by about 6%

#238

Post by nebula8804 »

guelo wrote: post #213
phamilton4 wrote: post #127

I get needing to keep a company lean and that businesses operate to make money... But most of these recent layoffs really make me feel uneasy. Spotify is a little different because AFAIK they are still operating at a negative net income, but still let's take a look at this. They're going to let go 600 people.. that's maybe an annual 90 million in savings (150k salary). The company's revenue is about 9 billion with -3…

Hey those 90 million will help pay for Joe Rogan's 200 million.

I thought the Joe Rogan deal was 100 million. Many people have been stating he was seriously underpaid but I think he was one of the first major deals so maybe there wasn't any strong metric to gauge what he is worth.

Furthermore, they play multiple ads during his podcast regardless of if you are a paying customer or not. This one really grinds my gears. If they haven't made back their money yet then I'd be shocked.

Re: Spotify reducing employee base by about 6%

#239

Post by ryandrake »

tootie wrote: post #201
polygotdomain wrote: post #101

I think we've gotten into this weird spot where tech companies are almost goading each other into layoffs. I don't doubt that there was some overexpansion during COVID, but it seems to have shifted. Tech companies have signaled to the market that staffing numbers were too high (regardless of profitability), and that investors want to see them brought back down. These layoffs don't really seem to be an indication of c…

I think everyone trying to attribute some kind of 4D chess maneuvers to these actions is massively overestimating tech CEOs.

A previous HN article called them "copycat layoffs"[1] which makes the most sense. This is reactive panic from "leaders" looking at each other for hints of what to do. A lot of companies determine their product and engineering strategies this way too. An exercise to the reader: Think about the major decisions your company has made since you've joined... How much of it was simply because competitors or bigger example companies were also doing it?

EDIT: 1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34480314

Re: Spotify reducing employee base by about 6%

#240

Post by pm90 »

tootie wrote: post #201
polygotdomain wrote: post #101

I think we've gotten into this weird spot where tech companies are almost goading each other into layoffs. I don't doubt that there was some overexpansion during COVID, but it seems to have shifted. Tech companies have signaled to the market that staffing numbers were too high (regardless of profitability), and that investors want to see them brought back down. These layoffs don't really seem to be an indication of c…

I think everyone trying to attribute some kind of 4D chess maneuvers to these actions is massively overestimating tech CEOs.

It’s not a deliberate plan but more like FOMO. It seems reasonable that execs hang out in similar social groups and have similar viewpoints and predictions. Once a specific idea has taken hold, company leadership has to either fight it or give in.
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