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Gitlab to lay off 7% of staff

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Re: Gitlab to lay off 7% of staff

#401

Post by beepbooptheory »

neilv wrote: post #315

I would've guessed GitLab would be unlikely to join the layoffs party right now, just on culture and internal/hiring image reasons. Then again, I also thought Google might've been a holdout among the FAANG companies. Before, I figured someone working at Google could assume that, if they focus on the company and do great work (or focus on the perf/promo metrics/criteria that Google seems to want), that Google will tak…

Is there a single company anywhere that doesn't intermittently layoff employees? Like, I think its good, of course, to analyze and criticize, but why particularize it so case by case in all these threads? It just feels like a lot of missing the forest for the trees.

If you were studying an animal that has been shown in all prior research to intermittently eat its offspring, you wouldn't then stop at each animal and ask "why is this animal doing this?" You would start to generalize as a good scientist and understand that this is just how these animals sustain themselves. You wouldn't moralize the animals, you would understand they are apart of a deterministic system which requires this.

If you have a problem with layoffs and workers being chronically undermined for the sake of the bosses, then you have problem with our current economic order, not this or that company.

Re: Gitlab to lay off 7% of staff

#402

Post by Apocryphon »

FollowingTheDao wrote: post #189
waboremo wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not purely about the recession. If it was, they would halt hiring, keep talent, trim executive bonuses, and be precise about where dead weight exists. Not 5%+ layoffs of major teams and roles. You see other industries, they're laying people off sure, but we're not talking 5%+. They're doing the above, being more precise about their spending. Like Blackrock, huge losses, and still "only" let go of 500/16000, ~3%.…

Well, I am glad top see so many people deluded and thinking we are not in a recession. The only reason it doe snot look like a recession yet is because inflation is still higher then the Fed Rate. This is why the Industrials are not layoff as many people yet. > You will not see tech companies balloon to the same number of employees ever again I remember people sating this in 1999. > both of those reasons are amplifie…

What do you feel about the figures brought up in the above posts?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34725407

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34727185

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34726977

Re: Gitlab to lay off 7% of staff

#403

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

RA_Fisher wrote: post #61
kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

C-levels are driven by fads.

I think it’d be wise for more companies to employ an executive data scientist.

They would never be listened to. Their purpose is to confirm whatever the execs want to believe in. Facts that don't agree must obviously be wrong.

Re: Gitlab to lay off 7% of staff

#404

Post by Apocryphon »

beepbooptheory wrote: post #401
neilv wrote: post #315

I would've guessed GitLab would be unlikely to join the layoffs party right now, just on culture and internal/hiring image reasons. Then again, I also thought Google might've been a holdout among the FAANG companies. Before, I figured someone working at Google could assume that, if they focus on the company and do great work (or focus on the perf/promo metrics/criteria that Google seems to want), that Google will tak…

Is there a single company anywhere that doesn't intermittently layoff employees? Like, I think its good, of course, to analyze and criticize, but why particularize it so case by case in all these threads? It just feels like a lot of missing the forest for the trees. If you were studying an animal that has been shown in all prior research to intermittently eat its offspring, you wouldn't then stop at each animal and a…

> this is just how these animals sustain themselves.

Because in economics not everyone is a Keynesian who just ascribes behavior to animal spirits.

Re: Gitlab to lay off 7% of staff

#405

Post by yowlingcat »

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 world has just moved from a decade plus zero interest rate environment, combined with massive multitrillion dollar pandemic QE and accompanying hyperinflation, into a rising interest rate environment.

The macroeconomic environment is more volatile now than any year in recent memory. It is objectively tough, and cherry picking random indicators which aren't core drivers of the economy doesn't prove terribly much.

I think you would have to go back to the 70s and 80s to find similar precedent. If you look into the origin of the Volcker rule, you'll see exactly the kind of messiness the world might be in for.

Re: Gitlab to lay off 7% of staff

#406

Post by radiator »

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…

Wow, things really are so rosy on planet jlmorton. But meanwhile on planet earth, and especially the Western hemisphere, real inflation has been going through the roof -- to name only one of the myriad economic problems.

Re: Gitlab to lay off 7% of staff

#407

Post by davidw »

unethical_ban wrote: post #386
sokoloff wrote: post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or maybe Apple is a great example because they've resisted over-hiring in the fat times, so don't have to trim in the lean times.

Or maybe all these layoffs wouldn't be a problem if we in the US had a government that supported people more reliably with wages and affordable health insurance for a decent duration after a layoff. Over hiring then laying some off shouldn't be a catastrophe in tech. I also think people would have less issue with these layoffs if CEOs didn't make it sound like a short term critical business decision while being worth…

I agree with you, but all else being equal, layoffs are stressful and... while I would prefer that companies have the flexibility to do so paired with a social safety net to lessen the impact, there's also an argument for employers who don't just plug in and then discard people like "resources".

Re: Gitlab to lay off 7% of staff

#408

Post by [deleted] »

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…

[deleted]

Re: Gitlab to lay off 7% of staff

#409

Post by ff317 »

mberning wrote: post #198
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.

Right, this is the problem. The stock-market / macro-growth figures look good, but /personal/ finances and true cost-of-living look to be in trouble.

If the "solution" is a bunch of layoffs, it's just going to compound the problem. The solution is all these companies that aren't actually dying need to raise wages to match all the recent inflation.

Re: Gitlab to lay off 7% of staff

#410

Post by Apocryphon »

moomoo11 wrote: post #397
isodev wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Do you feel bad for the minimum wage and non w2 people whose jobs you automate away being in tech? I’m a highly paid tech employee and idk it’s different feeling bad for someone who lost their $10/hr job vs someone making 400k tc

Non-engineers are being let go as well.
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