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Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers

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211–220 of 349 posts

Re: Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers

#211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

nicenewtemp84 believes that large companies layoff engineers based on skill. The truth: Eenie meenie miny moe

ReflectedImage thinks large companies layoff engineers based on a random number picker. The truth: everyone knows who the underperformers are.

You are making similar logical errors. You speak as if the most recent layoffs were simply firing the lazy employees.

AFAICT, companies are both jettisoning entire departments related to bad bets (or bad business models) and preparing for anticipated recession-level revenues.

Skills are not perfectly fungible. Managers making layoff decisions based on the roles/skills they need to keep and what budget they can afford. This necessarily means that some underperformers will be retained and many overperformers will be cut.

Re: Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers

#212
post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you let your bottom 20% performers go, what are the odds you'll want them back?

A bottom 20% can become a top 1% with more life experience. Humans are versatile.

Or by just moving to a more suitable role.

Re: Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers

#213
post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you let your bottom 20% performers go, what are the odds you'll want them back?

A bottom 20% can become a top 1% with more life experience. Humans are versatile.

Sure. If/once they become that all bets are off.

Re: Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers

#214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of b2b opportunities. Yes, more saas companies are needed, in niche markets. Lots more saas companies, lots more value to build.

any examples? At this point, it seems everything has been already build (saying as a person who only worked in IT and don't have visibility on other industries, but would like to get some)

Are you saying you think we are living in the best possible world and you see nothing to improve? Many people feel otherwise, and they are the ones launching companies.

Re: Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers

#216
post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re paying for healthcare at a tech company? Usually your company provides this as a benefit. Same for commuter subsidies.

I've never heard of any big tech co fully subsidizing healthcare. I pay ~$160/week between health/vision/dental

Is $160/week just for your coverage? I've worked at small startups and medium sized public companies, and my healthcare coverage costs have been far less than that.

Re: Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers

#217
post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then the company made a huge mistake letting them go, unless the company was just FULl of extremely talented engineers.. which statistically just isn't true.

Companies this profitable and large often actually overhire a small degree to deny the competition talent and to give a layer of people that can be laid off to boost profits quickly to make a board think management is good. Google or FB can lay off 5k people and not even NOTICE a change in productivity, but the boards eat it up.

This! AWS was doing this in 2017 and 2018.

Re: Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers

#219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In 2022, a 5-year peak year, 313 people in the entire US died from active shooters: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/active-shooters-fbi-report-2022... That's out of 330 million total population.

In 2020, 687 people were killed in railway accidents in the EU, being Poland the country with the highest number with 148 fatalities, followed closely by Germany with 137. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1192970/europe-railway-a...

there's a lot more than I would have thought in the US.

Railroad deaths totaled 893 in 2021, a 20% increase from the 2020 revised total of 744 and the highest since 2007. Nonfatal injuries totaled 5,781, a 4% increase from the 2020 revised total of 5,544.

Re: Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers

#220
post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and you think that's ok? or a common problem every country deals with?

It's possible to think it's not ok but also so vanishingly unlikely to happen that it's not a useful comparison point for quality of life in Europe vs America. For me, "never get sick or have any kids or anything" is a much stronger point against life the US - these are issues almost everyone has to confront.

https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/issue-brief/child-a...

The U.S. Is the Only Country Among Its Peers in Which Guns Are the Leading Cause of Death Among Children and Teens

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