Macroeconomic changes have made it impossible for me to want to pay you

Post by lxgr » Wed, Jan 25, 2023, 1:11 PM UTC

mshake2 wrote: post #45

arrrg wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it necessary to fire them? That's the relevant question we should ask ourselves. A hiring freeze and marking obsolete positions as obsolete (meaning if someone switches teams or quits that specific position will not be replaced) should be a workable model for all profitable companies with some cash reserves. Sure, it takes a bit longer and probably costs a bit more (though probably not tons and lay offs also have…

>Is it necessary to fire them? That's the relevant question we should ask ourselves. That's not the relevant question. The relevant questions are: were the layoffs illegal, and if they weren't, then why is it any of your business? If you don't want to live in that world, start your own startup, hire people, and never fire them. Nobody is stopping you.

Post by lumost » Wed, Jan 25, 2023, 1:18 PM UTC

RhodesianHunter wrote: post #116

Yoric wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I may very well be misunderstanding some of this. However, until now, it has been my understanding that the way any large company works is by using their stock value as collateral against short term investments from banks, which then serve as operational funds. Am I wrong?

In the case of all of the companies in question here, yes you are wrong. They have significant amounts of free cash flow and cash on hand.

Post by throwaway6734 » Wed, Jan 25, 2023, 1:22 PM UTC

Post by grey-area » Wed, Jan 25, 2023, 1:23 PM UTC

notahacker wrote: post #47

grey-area wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not trend following, it is genuine existential fear, particularly someone like waymo - With 0% rates money is free and you can take forever to make a profit, nobody cares, just borrow more money if you run out. With 5% rates money is expensive and you have say 2 years to make a profit or everyone loses their job and investors lose their funds. This doesn’t really apply to massive companies like google or MS of c…

I picked Waymo because unlike some startups losing staff obviously isn't the route to profitability for it, and it started off as a Google-branded project backed by the near unlimited cash reserves of Google. If they're in a position where they're not confident of getting further support from that source, I don't think IRR calculations over a 2 year time horizon are the main factor there.

Post by arcturus17 » Wed, Jan 25, 2023, 1:25 PM UTC

Tade0 wrote: post #63

> Even as we speak, they’re streamlining, optimizing, and booking the best contractors in the Bay Area for the next eighteen months. I suppose the author didn't want to sound racist or the equivalent that concerns people of the same skin tone but, somehow, different economic situations and options in life, but over here in Eastern Europe Google and Amazon have been hiring all this time.