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Unity Software to cut 3.8% of staff in 'company reset'

reuters.com

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Re: Unity Software to cut 3.8% of staff in 'company reset'

#41

Post by mindwok »

shermantanktop wrote: post #35
monero-xmr wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm c-suite and the most important function of layoffs is to preserve the business as an ongoing concern, preserving what jobs I can. If the business fails, everyone loses their job, which is terrible! Now, if the reason for layoffs is due directly to poor decisions by someone who should not have reasonably made that decision given the variables in front of them, that person should probably be terminated. But layoffs…

This is how I explain senior execs to junior engineers: their job is not to write code or give speeches, it’s almost entirely about making decisions in the absence of perfect information. That’s an important skill. But it also provides the perfect cover for bad decisions, because “we didn’t know then what we do now.” So I have little sympathy for the c-level exec who ends up on the wrong side of events as they unfold…

Good take. It's pretty much the entire function of being C-Suite, putting your ass on the line for decisions nobody wants to make and having the confidence/credentials/ego/whatever to get people to buy into your decision.

Re: Unity Software to cut 3.8% of staff in 'company reset'

#42

Post by dralley »

dsgnr wrote: post #19
seattle_spring wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice! It's nice to see a company make an employee-friendly movement here, as opposed to many of the other big players forcing their employees back into the commute rat-race.

It seems more like its to save money on office real estate and the fees that come with that like cleaning services, security, etc than it is about being employee friendly.

Jim Whitehurst was always very remote-friendly when he was CEO at Red Hat

Re: Unity Software to cut 3.8% of staff in 'company reset'

#43

Post by JumpCrisscross »

vore wrote: post #38
monero-xmr wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm c-suite and the most important function of layoffs is to preserve the business as an ongoing concern, preserving what jobs I can. If the business fails, everyone loses their job, which is terrible! Now, if the reason for layoffs is due directly to poor decisions by someone who should not have reasonably made that decision given the variables in front of them, that person should probably be terminated. But layoffs…

It is your job to anticipate the market – you are responsible for all the business decisions! If you're allowed to shrug it off and say "we didn't see this coming, we did the best we can, by the way 3.8% of you are getting laid off because of this but not me, even though I made the calls", well, it sounds like you're just milking the business for yourself until it well and truly goes kaput.

> is your job to anticipate the market

No, it’s not. It’s to engage it best.

Take two cultures: one that executes leaders for making bad calls and one that judges them according to what they knew when they made the decision. Who wins?

We’ve run this experiment hundreds of times because it’s appealing to think steep consequences for bad decisions leads to good decisions. But it doesn’t. It causes caution and indecision. The example that comes to mind is Carthage vs. Rome; the former executed failed generals while in Rome "defeated generals seldom faced serious punishments" [1].

[1] https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/libyan-studies/artic...

Re: Unity Software to cut 3.8% of staff in 'company reset'

#44

Post by raincole »

monero-xmr wrote: post #25
btbuildem wrote: post #7

Do these layoffs include any of the C-suite / execs / upper management? You know, the people directly responsible for the company's situation? Accountability? No?

I'm c-suite and the most important function of layoffs is to preserve the business as an ongoing concern, preserving what jobs I can. If the business fails, everyone loses their job, which is terrible! Now, if the reason for layoffs is due directly to poor decisions by someone who should not have reasonably made that decision given the variables in front of them, that person should probably be terminated. But layoffs…

Good comment.

If you (anyone who reads this) are an employee, remember this is how c-suite people see you.

You're cost. You're something that prevents the business from being "preserved". You're like water or electricity bills from the businesses' point of view. You'll be fired not because you did anything wrong: firing you is nothing different from using less water. Water, of course, can't be wrong or right.

That's why you should have zero loyalty to the business. (You're water bills. Water bills don't have loyalty)

Re: Unity Software to cut 3.8% of staff in 'company reset'

#45

Post by initplus »

luaKmua wrote: post #40
initplus wrote: post #31

Unity are spending too much money to develop far too little. New engine features are almost universally half baked (DOTS, UI mess). They acquire in demand features from the community just to let them wither (pro builder). The only thing that's consistent between different Unity features is how unpolished they seem. Notably the mess they have made of DOTS seems to have been partially responsible for sinking Cities Sky…

No love for Unity here, their licensing debacle was horrendous, but I've seen no indications that DOTS is responsible for CS2 perf issues. Everything I've seen points to other things lacking in the engine (a decent LODing system for example), general optimization issues that'd be present in any game shipped too early, and inefficiencies in the rendering pipeline.

"Unfortunately a lot of the graphics-related issues are indirectly caused by the game’s use of DOTS"

"The cause for unnecessary geometry is both the lack of simplified LOD variants for many of the game’s meshes, as well as the simplistic and seemingly untuned culling implementation. And the reason why the game has its own culling implementation instead of using Unity’s built in solution (which should at least in theory be much more advanced) is because Colossal Order had to implement quite a lot of the graphics side themselves because Unity’s integration between DOTS and HDRP is still very much a work in progress and arguably unsuitable for most actual games"

https://blog.paavo.me/cities-skylines-2-performance

Re: Unity Software to cut 3.8% of staff in 'company reset'

#46

Post by photoGrant »

initplus wrote: post #31

Unity are spending too much money to develop far too little. New engine features are almost universally half baked (DOTS, UI mess). They acquire in demand features from the community just to let them wither (pro builder). The only thing that's consistent between different Unity features is how unpolished they seem. Notably the mess they have made of DOTS seems to have been partially responsible for sinking Cities Sky…

they thought they had the Hollywood lock. Then turns out Hollywood isn't worth shit these days and treats em' like some post house on deathrow either way.

They bet too much, too hard, in all the wrong places. And tried lock-in and pricing out the indies. They should've done the Adobe thing and let those college kids pirate.

Dunno, very expected from this angle.

Re: Unity Software to cut 3.8% of staff in 'company reset'

#47

Post by Stevvo »

initplus wrote: post #31

Unity are spending too much money to develop far too little. New engine features are almost universally half baked (DOTS, UI mess). They acquire in demand features from the community just to let them wither (pro builder). The only thing that's consistent between different Unity features is how unpolished they seem. Notably the mess they have made of DOTS seems to have been partially responsible for sinking Cities Sky…

The issues with CS:2 are well documented and nothing do with DOTS; it was entirely the game developers fault.

Re: Unity Software to cut 3.8% of staff in 'company reset'

#48

Post by vore »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #43
vore wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is your job to anticipate the market – you are responsible for all the business decisions! If you're allowed to shrug it off and say "we didn't see this coming, we did the best we can, by the way 3.8% of you are getting laid off because of this but not me, even though I made the calls", well, it sounds like you're just milking the business for yourself until it well and truly goes kaput.

> is your job to anticipate the market No, it’s not. It’s to engage it best. Take two cultures: one that executes leaders for making bad calls and one that judges them according to what they knew when they made the decision. Who wins? We’ve run this experiment hundreds of times because it’s appealing to think steep consequences for bad decisions leads to good decisions. But it doesn’t. It causes caution and indecisio…

Then the compensation model is inherently unfair if the rank and file is forced to bear the brunt of bad leadership.

Re: Unity Software to cut 3.8% of staff in 'company reset'

#49

Post by JumpCrisscross »

vore wrote: post #48
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> is your job to anticipate the market No, it’s not. It’s to engage it best. Take two cultures: one that executes leaders for making bad calls and one that judges them according to what they knew when they made the decision. Who wins? We’ve run this experiment hundreds of times because it’s appealing to think steep consequences for bad decisions leads to good decisions. But it doesn’t. It causes caution and indecisio…

Then the compensation model is inherently unfair if the rank and file is forced to bear the brunt of bad leadership.

> the compensation model is inherently unfair if the rank and file is forced to bear the brunt of bad leadership

Considering solely risk, sure. There are other relevant inputs. More pertinently, this is why we have public services and safety nets.

Re: Unity Software to cut 3.8% of staff in 'company reset'

#50

Post by dylan604 »

lmm wrote: post #22
dsgnr wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems more like its to save money on office real estate and the fees that come with that like cleaning services, security, etc than it is about being employee friendly.

Whatever their reasons, the end result sounds good for employees.

if you're not part of the staff being let go
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