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Meta plans thousands more layoffs as soon as this week

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Re: Meta plans thousands more layoffs as soon as this week

#61

Post by jackblemming »

hnav wrote: post #56
BoorishBears wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except Meta also filtered with the same filters they used to form an engineering org around serving ads. I have pretty extensive experience in the embedded Android space and have worked on products everyone here knows, Meta reached out to me very excitedly, and when I let the recruiter know I don't do Leetcode they assured me the coding phone screen was a merely a formality and I'd do great. It took all my willpower…

merging sorted lists is not a leetcode nightmare interview question though, if you can't manage it in an interview, chances are you can't program very well IMO

OP didn't go into detail about the problem, so we have no idea what the actual problem or solution was. Empirical research has found many people don't do well in high stakes problem solving situations while being watched (shocking).

Re: Meta plans thousands more layoffs as soon as this week

#62

Post by CPLX »

jillesvangurp wrote: post #58
Panini_Jones wrote: post #25

I wonder what effects this uncertainty will have on an organizational system. With multiple rounds of layoffs, talks of 'flattening', projects being cancelled, internal transfers being frozen, hiring being frozen, when does an organization finally become 'healthy' again? When are the right people in the right places making the right decisions again? Does an organization that has so much capital need to even care abou…

Yes they do. The trick is not throwing out the baby with the bath water. Elon Musk got a lot of criticism for how he handled layoffs at Twitter. But he did provide clarity and then ripped off the band aid. Notice how things have gone quiet around Twitter lately. IMHO, it wasn't nice but what remains is probably a healthier organization and a fairly stable team. A lot of people left in the process and that was always…

By all accounts Twitter has lost something like half its revenue and yesterday had regressed technically to the point where they couldn’t serve a hyperlink.

So there’s that.

Re: Meta plans thousands more layoffs as soon as this week

#63

Post by guiambros »

potatolicious wrote: post #24
spaceman_2020 wrote: post #20

I tried the new PS5 VR2. It’s definitely better than Oculus Quest. Makes you wonder what Facebook has been doing with all those billions spent on VR when Sony is able to produce a better product with a fraction of the investment.

A lot more computing horsepower by being tethered, really. A standalone unit naturally can't have the same kind of graphical fidelity than something tethered to a full-powered current-gen console. I think there are two strategic errors worth considering here: - wireless vs. tethered. Was it really worth it going wireless or was there viability in being tethered? - the hype around PSVR2 is around the Horizon game, whi…

I think Meta really doesn't get the whole gaming console business. They got too excited with the technology for technology sake, and drank too much of the Snowcrash-esque kool-aid to realize that the most obvious target audience to drive meaningful usage is harcore gamers. And the novelty of Beat Saber will only go so far; you really need AAA titles and publishers.

But this would mean investing heavily in tools and SDKs, 1P titles, and publishing deals, neither of which is a world that Meta is very familiar with, and - given the track record - doesn't seem very excited about.

The launch of Meta Quest Pro was abysmal (my comments here at the time [1]), but unfortunately things haven't improved much since then, other than the price reduction. I ended getting the Pro at the launch day, but returned after a few weeks, given the underwhelming experience. It was disappointing, because I wanted to love the device, but it just doesn't deliver.

I received the PSVR2 last week, but didn't have time to unbox yet. Really hoping it gives Meta a run for their money, and sets the bar high (despite being tethered).

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33166291&p=3#33170171

Re: Meta plans thousands more layoffs as soon as this week

#64

Post by disgruntledphd2 »

discordance wrote: post #40
Panini_Jones wrote: post #25

I wonder what effects this uncertainty will have on an organizational system. With multiple rounds of layoffs, talks of 'flattening', projects being cancelled, internal transfers being frozen, hiring being frozen, when does an organization finally become 'healthy' again? When are the right people in the right places making the right decisions again? Does an organization that has so much capital need to even care abou…

I've noticed more uncertainty, less comradery, a general malaise, lack of motivation and a lot less trust in the organization. A very very different feeling to a year ago.

My old boss who's still a director there said that it's been horrible since the Apple ATT changes, but then she's in ads.

I always used to say that it's easy to be nice in a growth company, and that appears to have been proven out by recent events.

Re: Meta plans thousands more layoffs as soon as this week

#65

Post by engmgrmgr »

jackblemming wrote: post #61
hnav wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

merging sorted lists is not a leetcode nightmare interview question though, if you can't manage it in an interview, chances are you can't program very well IMO

OP didn't go into detail about the problem, so we have no idea what the actual problem or solution was. Empirical research has found many people don't do well in high stakes problem solving situations while being watched (shocking).

Many people also don’t do well in high stakes problem solving situations even when not being watched.

I’m not suggesting OP is dumb, but if someone is setting hiring criteria and thinks they need X skillset judged by Y, I think there’s a good chance they’re directionally correct.

I get it, I’ve bombed interviews I was excited about and rationalized it anywhere and everywhere. Once I started hiring folks, my opinions evolved significantly.

How else do you hire someone out of a pool of people that are all knowledgeable and likable? A bad hire, even if they’re super smart and just the wrong fit, is worse than not hiring anyone at all.

If you climb the management ladder, you’ll likely be graded on your org’s hiring outcomes. If 10 people all seemed qualified, I’m going to burn down the risk as much as possible. If I’m wrong 1 time for this, but it not obviously wrong 9 others, I’ll call it a win.

For context: this is coming from tiny startups to billion dollar companies and different things in between.

Re: Meta plans thousands more layoffs as soon as this week

#66

Post by maayank »

disgruntledphd2 wrote: post #64
discordance wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've noticed more uncertainty, less comradery, a general malaise, lack of motivation and a lot less trust in the organization. A very very different feeling to a year ago.

My old boss who's still a director there said that it's been horrible since the Apple ATT changes, but then she's in ads. I always used to say that it's easy to be nice in a growth company, and that appears to have been proven out by recent events.

“It’s easy to be an angel in paradise”

Re: Meta plans thousands more layoffs as soon as this week

#67

Post by shjake »

jillesvangurp wrote: post #58
Panini_Jones wrote: post #25

I wonder what effects this uncertainty will have on an organizational system. With multiple rounds of layoffs, talks of 'flattening', projects being cancelled, internal transfers being frozen, hiring being frozen, when does an organization finally become 'healthy' again? When are the right people in the right places making the right decisions again? Does an organization that has so much capital need to even care abou…

Yes they do. The trick is not throwing out the baby with the bath water. Elon Musk got a lot of criticism for how he handled layoffs at Twitter. But he did provide clarity and then ripped off the band aid. Notice how things have gone quiet around Twitter lately. IMHO, it wasn't nice but what remains is probably a healthier organization and a fairly stable team. A lot of people left in the process and that was always…

Twitter already had a much lower workforce than FB or Google, etc. After a the cuts it’s even smaller so I guess there is just way lessons people who can or are interested in talking about it.

Re: Meta plans thousands more layoffs as soon as this week

#68

Post by suresk »

jillesvangurp wrote: post #58
Panini_Jones wrote: post #25

I wonder what effects this uncertainty will have on an organizational system. With multiple rounds of layoffs, talks of 'flattening', projects being cancelled, internal transfers being frozen, hiring being frozen, when does an organization finally become 'healthy' again? When are the right people in the right places making the right decisions again? Does an organization that has so much capital need to even care abou…

Yes they do. The trick is not throwing out the baby with the bath water. Elon Musk got a lot of criticism for how he handled layoffs at Twitter. But he did provide clarity and then ripped off the band aid. Notice how things have gone quiet around Twitter lately. IMHO, it wasn't nice but what remains is probably a healthier organization and a fairly stable team. A lot of people left in the process and that was always…

Huh? Twitter has had almost monthly rounds of layoffs, including one a few weeks ago that took out some fairly high profile employees. They also have arbitrary firings and people being let go without being told [1].

I'm certainly not going to argue that Meta is going about this in a good way at all, but it is hard to think of a worse example of doing it "well" than Twitter under Elon.

1. https://twitter.com/iamharaldur/status/1632843191773716481

Re: Meta plans thousands more layoffs as soon as this week

#69

Post by rjh29 »

potatolicious wrote: post #24
spaceman_2020 wrote: post #20

I tried the new PS5 VR2. It’s definitely better than Oculus Quest. Makes you wonder what Facebook has been doing with all those billions spent on VR when Sony is able to produce a better product with a fraction of the investment.

A lot more computing horsepower by being tethered, really. A standalone unit naturally can't have the same kind of graphical fidelity than something tethered to a full-powered current-gen console. I think there are two strategic errors worth considering here: - wireless vs. tethered. Was it really worth it going wireless or was there viability in being tethered? - the hype around PSVR2 is around the Horizon game, whi…

> What if Meta had spent their $$$ on funding and shipping titles like it?

They did, e.g. Resident Evil 4. However the highest-selling games on the store are Beat Saber (by a large margin), sports games and social games. That's what people want to play with the Quest. Going wireless/low-spec was absolutely the right decision and that has been proven by the sales figures.

Best thing is you don't have to compromise. Want high specs? Use Air Link with your PC, it works really well. Sensitive to latency? Plug in an extra long USB-C cable. Granted it's not quite as frictionless as the PSVR, but tethering is a deal breaker for me personally.

> The step away from Quest Pro feels incoherent.

Agreed. As far as I know the intention was always to make money in the MR/productivity space, with the Quest 1/2 being a sort of trial run (evidenced by all the 'experiments' and new functionality they added over time). Perhaps the Quest 1/2 are doing better than they expected and now they don't have a strong direction.

Re: Meta plans thousands more layoffs as soon as this week

#70

Post by hef19898 »

latency-guy2 wrote: post #42
enra wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not surprising really. Cultural problem. Sony = decades of experience on gaming hardware and games (and everything else) Meta = decades of experience running a/b tests on a website and copying features to sell ads (and acquiring few mobile apps to run more a/b tests)

Meta hired people that specifically had experience in hardware, wearables, and games for this big bet. Sure, you can say that maybe Meta's infrastructure is in it's infancy in this field, but so is everyone else's because, quite literally, Meta was the only (big) player in this field in the first place.

In which case Meat got, best case, competent people. Since those people started from scratch in an organization that never did what those new folks planned to do, as an organization Meta was still incompetent in that field compared to others. Now, being Meta and having all those new people, and the budget, could have built a proper org for hardware. Something that would require quite a cultural change so. And that latter bit is hard.
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