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Gitlab to lay off 7% of staff

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Re: Gitlab to lay off 7% of staff

#191

Post by dathinab »

napolux wrote: post #29
naikrovek wrote: post #9

Are layoffs like a fashion statement, now? "Look, we're cool, too!" why is everyone doing this at the same time?

And same percentages! https://www.marketwatch.com/story/pagerduty-to-lay-off-7-of-... https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/hjyj6811as https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-hootsuite-r... https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/vox-media-layoffs-130-... etc....

7% is the amount of layoff larger companies can "in general" layoff without hurting operation too much. Hence why some huge companies lay of the bottom 7% of performers every year (and normally hire that amount too).

So if the layoffs come not because of hard "we have x to much cost" reasons but of "we need to be more robust for potential dives in profit and increased cost" reasons and an arbitrary number must be chosen which isn't affecting operation too much but also makes a difference 7% is a common choice "because that worked well for some other large companies". Especially when the push comes from shareholders without much company insight 7% is likely.

If your company is smaller you make decisions on a one by one basis (after having some target for rough performance where you cut). But the moment your company has 100+ or even 1000+ people that gets impractical so a % line is set for how many people need to be cut.

Re: Gitlab to lay off 7% of staff

#192

Post by Gustomaximus »

From an investor POV are layoffs an indicator that companies management feel they dont have growth prospects? Companies, especially tech companies would rarely admit this openly, e.g. how they typically hold ever growing cash rather than pay dividends.

Logically you would think now would be a great time to hire if you genuinely saw significant grow/product rollouts coming. Especially if a company is making profit and not trying to extend runway, reduce debt, in world where money costs more.

Re: Gitlab to lay off 7% of staff

#193

Post by trentnix »

isodev wrote: post #183
trentnix wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's quite simple: If you don't follow the herd, you risk being blamed if you fail. But if you follow the herd and do what everyone else is doing, even if the herd runs off of a cliff, nobody points any fingers. You'd think somewhere, in at least one of these larger tech companies, there would be a leader boldly proclaiming "this is our time to increase our investments and beat our competitors!" But it turns out ther…

It makes me sad. These are actual human beings losing their jobs. I guess they don't include “human cost” or “how much pain we inflicted” as a column in financial reports.

In many cases, these were people they shouldn’t have hired in the first place. When the herd said “hire 10% more employees!” the same lemmings did as the herd commanded.

It certainly isn’t the fault of those being hired, but it might have given them a chance to find employment somewhere that truly needed their skills and didn’t see them as “headcount”.

Re: Gitlab to lay off 7% of staff

#194

Post by oofta-boofta »

perrygeo wrote: post #147

General question about this wave of tech layoffs: Has anyone done a breakdown of what roles have been cut? Is it management or product or engineering? Senior or junior? My general sense is that every company is rushing to trim some fat while it's socially acceptable to do so. But where are they making cuts?

It's mostly sales, hr, and lower level managers.

Here's the number that I keep tossing around: in June of 2019, Microsoft had about 144k employees. In 2022, they had about 221k employees. They're laying off 10k, which still makes a net gain of almost 70k. It's pure optics for wall street.

I'm not particularly worried but this is why you should always be applying and looking for another gig to have in your back pocket. Or, even better, be overemployed and work multiple gigs at once.

These companies will toss you out like an old shoe, so f*ck 'em.

Re: Gitlab to lay off 7% of staff

#195

Post by codazoda »

softwaredoug wrote: post #63

Listened to a great podcast about layoffs yesterday ( https://hbr.org/podcast/2023/02/why-many-companies-get-layof... ) The takeaway is that layoffs are extremely trust destroying for employees NOT laid off, and in the end not clear they're a financial net positive. Both with direct and indirect costs (lack of engagement from employees, etc).

There was a pretty good article about why layoffs don’t work here a few days ago too. Backed by studies and such.

https://matduggan.com/us-layoffs-are-unspeakably-cruel/

Re: Gitlab to lay off 7% of staff

#196

Post by Merad »

naikrovek wrote: post #9

Are layoffs like a fashion statement, now? "Look, we're cool, too!" why is everyone doing this at the same time?

It's cargo cult corporate leadership. My company has less than 200 employees, so our layoffs weren't newsworthy, but the c-suite decide to cut 5% last week citing "trends in the industry." I can't speak for other departments but our engineering team definitely _is not_ bloated yet they still axed two positions from teams working on the highest priority projects in the company. Absurd.

Re: Gitlab to lay off 7% of staff

#197

Post by onlyrealcuzzo »

jlmorton wrote: post #190

> The current macroeconomic environment is tough No, it isn't, and it's embarrassing at this point to continue insisting this. The macroeconomic environment is good, particularly in the United States. Business investment is growing at 3% a quarter (annualized), which is better than the average over the past decade. Employment is growing rapidly. Inflation has been tame over the past six months. And wages are growing…

The current macroeconomic environment is tough if you have deeply negative cash-flow (most of tech).

Re: Gitlab to lay off 7% of staff

#198

Post by mberning »

jlmorton wrote: post #190

> The current macroeconomic environment is tough No, it isn't, and it's embarrassing at this point to continue insisting this. The macroeconomic environment is good, particularly in the United States. Business investment is growing at 3% a quarter (annualized), which is better than the average over the past decade. Employment is growing rapidly. Inflation has been tame over the past six months. And wages are growing…

Record high credit card balances, record low personal savings, 40 year high inflation, rising interest rates and no sign of the fed stopping. Housing affordability at its lowest point since the real estate bubble and crash of 07/08. You are on some very good copium if you believe the economy is in good shape.

Re: Gitlab to lay off 7% of staff

#199

Post by lelanthran »

anon20230209 wrote: post #176
xyzelement wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. I worked at a Citadel like fund and that's the vibe. The calculus was like this - I'd rather risk being fired than work in a place where low performers are cozy. The reality is that working at a place like that or a FAANG for just a few years sets you up for a great career no matter what happens. So even if you get fired after a few years you are still better off. It's good to have coworkers who can think ra…

I bet people like that drift into voluntary unpaid overtime.

> I bet people like that drift into voluntary unpaid overtime.

Drift? I think you mean Sprint.

Re: Gitlab to lay off 7% of staff

#200

Post by satysin »

GitHub is also going fully remote (zero offices, current offices will close at end of lease) and reducing headcount by 10% :(

Statement will be coming out shortly I guess. I wonder if they knew Gitlab were going to be doing layoffs too and so waited them out.

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