Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 staff • Hacker News Board

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

#21

Post by Aardwolf » Thu, Apr 27, 2023, 2:12 PM UTC

neom wrote: post #14

"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 foref…

Because AI is what you need to store your files...

AI is super cool, but at least for storage of my files in the cloud I prefer something "dumb" to be honest

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

#22

Post by jvanderbot » Thu, Apr 27, 2023, 2:13 PM UTC

drstewart wrote: post #3

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

"Though I take full responsibility, unfortunately you bear the full consequences."

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

#23

Post by kentm » Thu, Apr 27, 2023, 2:13 PM UTC

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…

There’s also a high chance they just rounded the number for the press release and it doesn’t reflect an exact amount.

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

#24

Post by globalise83 » Thu, Apr 27, 2023, 2:13 PM UTC

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…

Yes, I feel especially sorry for fired_employees[498] and fired_employees[499] who were just added to make the round number!

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

#25

Post by avnfish » Thu, Apr 27, 2023, 2:13 PM UTC

I recently migrated from Dropbox to Google One. I find Dropbox's personal pricing really baffling: you get 2 GB for free or have to move all the way up to 2 TB and pay £100 a year. 100GB for £16 via Google is a much more sensible offer.

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

#26

Post by geodel » Thu, Apr 27, 2023, 2:13 PM UTC

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…

> "how many people do we need to sacrifice to appease the finance gods"

Specially important since company was founded and grown to employ thousands of dropboxers without any money from finance gods.

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

#27

Post by ericmcer » Thu, Apr 27, 2023, 2:13 PM UTC

Have other companies been blaming the potentials of AI as a reason for the layoffs? GPT is impressive but it seems pretty early to cut 15% of your workforce because of it.

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

#28

Post by arberx » Thu, Apr 27, 2023, 2:14 PM UTC

soared wrote: post #18

> 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 chatg…

Its bs.

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

#29

Post by xyst » Thu, Apr 27, 2023, 2:14 PM UTC

Why is a digital storage company moving into AI? Personally haven’t used them for at least 5-6 years so I am out of the loop there.

Seems like a poor excuse to cut people.

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

#30

Post by jq-r » Thu, Apr 27, 2023, 2:14 PM UTC

SheinhardtWigCo wrote: post #12

awestroke wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Taking full responsibility seems to mean literally nothing nowadays

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

Oh nice catch. A subtle, but big difference.