Earlier quoted context omitted.
[flagged]
Sounds like Blind
the big echo chamber of negativity.
Ask HN: Where are laid off employees gathering?
321–330 of 342 posts
Re: Ask HN: Where are laid off employees gathering?
#322It just occurred to me that so many people were laid off, we could start the world's largest software co-op (and arguably one of the largest tech orgs, period). We could build software products that every industry needs, that every worker owns a part of and can vote on org-wide decisions. Literally everyone you need was laid off... Tech people, business people, marketing, sales, etc. We just need a forum and some vol…
That's exactly how it worked for Brotherhood without Banners in A Song of Ice and Fire series. Except it doesn't work
Re: Ask HN: Where are laid off employees gathering?
#323Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, you're right. I think that's the problem here. Worker-owners can't value their equity for the same reasons investors would. Those reasons aren't available in this hypothetical context. I think you need a different explanation for why worker-owners would value equity if they can't expect to be able to sell it for a profit. Might I suggest avoiding the question of equity and financial value entirely? Successful wo…
>I think you need a different explanation for why worker-owners would value equity if they can't expect to be able to sell it for a profit Because you believe what you are doing is more important than maximizing how much money you can make
You can take that approach, but if your argument is that workers can expect to be financially compensated just as well in a cooperative structure as outside one then you may experience some difficulties. The person I was interacting with had made precisely this argument.
Re: Ask HN: Where are laid off employees gathering?
#324Related question: are any actual software engineers getting laid off or is it just support/admin/management who work in the tech sector? (I have been dealing with consulting contracts for software engineers lately, and was surprised to see that hourly rates are significantly higher than they were 5 years ago)
Yes. Software engineers. Senior engineers. TLs. Folks with 10 years at the company. No one seems safe. Except executives probably.
Just a personal anecdote, but at my place of employment we had a wave of layoffs late last year. As part of the process 4 top-level execs "left", although I think saying they were "dismissed" is more accurate.
I am not certain, but it might have been nearly half the people at this level let go. And then there was a trail of layoffs all the way down the leadership chain. Of course the most people let go in absolute numbers are the individual contributors.
Re: Ask HN: Where are laid off employees gathering?
#325Blind[1] is a decent community to get a glimpse into what employees truly feel about employers, get referrals and overall tech career advice. It can get rather toxic and troll-ey at times, but you can filter that out to focus on the useful stuff. [1] - https://www.teamblind.com/
At times? It's a cesspool of negativity and lies. Good content is the exception on Blind. Deleting that app is one of the best things someone can do for their mental health.
They are discussing this thread here: https://www.teamblind.com/post/The-Hacker-News-community-vie...
Partial archive: https://archive.ph/npoh6
As you would expect, it's horrible. The moderation is quite bad too. They'll ban you for just saying you disagree with someone depending on the topic.
Re: Ask HN: Where are laid off employees gathering?
#326Earlier quoted context omitted.
Everyone on Blind is a Principal Engineer making $750k TC while only working 8 hours a month
I get a similar impression. The community is deeply negative, and deeply cynical about everything. Everyone seems to only care about compensation. It seems full of the sort of people who put zero effort in but who know how to play the corporate game enough to negotiate big salaries, only to then moan about poor performance reviews or getting laid off.
This is a typical Blind response: https://imgur.com/a/X7tSrGf
Bragging about their workplace.
Re: Ask HN: Where are laid off employees gathering?
#327Earlier quoted context omitted.
SAG doesn't require a degree in screen acting. It's a little convoluted but they basically operate mainly on proof of work. That sort of system would probably give self taught engineers who spent their years from 18-22 doing actual work a huge leg up compared to those who were in school during that time doing no work on any projects for any company.
You don't think school has any value? There's a reason we have higher education - Work-based learning is somewhat prone to leaving significant gaps in a person's knowledge. Not to say working has no value, but neither does schooling have no value.
School is a good tool to gain a comprehensive education. It is not the only tool to gain a comprehensive education, and it is not effective for everybody.
Re: Ask HN: Where are laid off employees gathering?
#328Related question: are any actual software engineers getting laid off or is it just support/admin/management who work in the tech sector? (I have been dealing with consulting contracts for software engineers lately, and was surprised to see that hourly rates are significantly higher than they were 5 years ago)
Yes, DigitalOcean, who laid me off last week along with the entire writing/editing team for DO Community tutorials, also laid off some engineers, including most of the infra engineers, from what I heard. Not sure how they can get along without infra. Sheesh.
I think ChatGPT and the like is going to increase the efficiency of software engineers at all level, possibly obviating the need for entry-level coders.
Re: Ask HN: Where are laid off employees gathering?
#329Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've always been curious about claims that such an approach inevitably doesn't work. I feel like my intuition tells me it could with the right people and variation on the concept. But it's probably difficult. Even the best managers I've seen usually have blind spots on how the team is running.
It works for attorneys and accountants. It’s an approach with ups and downs. The biggest down being it’s harder to scale.
Attorneys: associates, junior partners, senior partners, managing partners, named partners. Does not look like flat structure to me.
Re: Ask HN: Where are laid off employees gathering?
#330Earlier quoted context omitted.
It works for attorneys and accountants. It’s an approach with ups and downs. The biggest down being it’s harder to scale.
Attorneys: associates, junior partners, senior partners, managing partners, named partners. Does not look like flat structure to me.
Like I said, growth is hard.
My brother is an attorney in a small practice of 6 attorneys. They are all partners, share ownership, and rotate who the managing partner annually.