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Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 staff

blog.dropbox.com

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Re: Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 staff

#11

Post by speakfreely »

drstewart wrote: post #3

>I take full ownership of this decision and the path that led us here. There's the free bingo space!

The whole letter seemed pretty well written and as good as it could be, the severance and benefits are generous, all good except for this part. It reminded me of Gavin Belson laying off the Nucleus team. If you're "taking full ownership" but there's no financial effect on you, what does that mean exactly? You felt sad for a few minutes while you were writing the letter?

Re: Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 staff

#12

Post by SheinhardtWigCo »

awestroke wrote: post #8
drstewart wrote: post #3

>I take full ownership of this decision and the path that led us here. There's the free bingo space!

Taking full responsibility seems to mean literally nothing nowadays

There's a reason they said "ownership", not "responsibility".

Re: Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 staff

#14

Post by neom »

"As the world moved from physical film to digital photography, or from land lines to wireless communication, or from DVD rentals to streaming, opportunity and disruption went hand-in-hand. Companies that embraced a new reality and took decisive action did well. Companies that held onto the past or tried to have it all did not.

These transitions are never easy, but I’m determined to ensure that Dropbox is at the forefront of the AI era, just as we were at the forefront of the shift to mobile and the cloud"

Key takeaway, CEO thinks shift to AI is as consequential to his business as the shift from landlines to cell phones Et al.

Re: Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 staff

#15

Post by bongobingo1 »

droopyEyelids wrote: post #6

There's something a bit discordant about using the Dropbox font to convey this message. Feels a bit like having an illustrator create a corporate Memphis graphic of a layoff.

I can only imagine some giant long armed blue person dumping a bunch of tiny long armed blue people out of a bin, out of window.

There's also a paper-textured fern in the background.

Re: Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 staff

#16

Post by JediWing »

awestroke wrote: post #8
drstewart wrote: post #3

>I take full ownership of this decision and the path that led us here. There's the free bingo space!

Taking full responsibility seems to mean literally nothing nowadays

Yep, truly taking responsibility = returning comp to the company to keep more of these people on.

Re: Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 staff

#18

Post by soared »

> In an ideal world, we’d simply shift people from one team to another. And we’ve done that wherever possible. However, our next stage of growth requires a different mix of skill sets, particularly in AI and early-stage product development. We’ve been bringing in great talent in these areas over the last couple years and we'll need even more.

Imagine building a company that lets users store files online, seeing chatgpt released, and then laying off 16% of your company to.. use ai to store files better? I really don’t see how new ai capabilities lead to big layoffs and new opportunities for Dropbox.

Re: Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 staff

#20

Post by justeleblanc »

smcl wrote: post #2

Nice, round number. I wonder if that was a carefully thought out coincidence, or they fiddled with the numbers a bit until they got the right payroll savings then rounded it to the nearest 100. I suspect the latter - when I see a nice, round number of people being fired it makes me think that they decided "how many people do we need to sacrifice to appease the finance gods" rather than "how many of these roles are re…

What makes you think that 500 is the actual, exact number? It's probably just an approximation used in that PR piece.
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