Spotify will reduce total headcount by approximately 17% • Hacker News Board

Re: Spotify will reduce total headcount by approximately 17%

#701

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Dec 04, 2023, 4:43 PM UTC

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #567

fullshark wrote: post #512

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the consequence for doing your employees a disservice? Maybe a few of the best and most important employees get jaded and quit. Morale company wide takes a hit. These companies don't seem to care and I guess I'm not sure they should. For me, it's not just morale that's gone to shit, but I feel like I've woken up to the nature of the employer/employee relationship with all these layoffs. I was blind but now I s…

> I was blind but now I see, we ARE human resources, and it's very likely none of us are irreplaceable, none of us matter really all that much to our employers... Interestingly, there was a really good article in the NY times yesterday that made that exact point: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/03/business/economy/doctors-... Basically, the article was talking about how being a doctor or pharmacist used to be a very…

[deleted]

Re: Spotify will reduce total headcount by approximately 17%

#702

Post by r00fus » Mon, Dec 04, 2023, 4:50 PM UTC

rez9x wrote: post #649

crazygringo wrote: post #596

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is completely backwards. They didn't hire "for the sake of hiring" -- they hired specifically to build up their podcasting and audiobook efforts, which were totally new products within the app. Which they thought were essential to staying competitive -- e.g. what if people start moving over to Amazon instead with its Music+Wondery+Audible, or other competitors? Now it's turned out those bets haven't been as succ…

I recently left Spotify for Apple Music, in large part because of this new development path. I don't want podcasts, audiobooks, etc mixed in with my music. I prefer separate apps. I think what bothered me more was the focus on branching into these new paths without any innovation in the music department--I'm sure there was innovation that wasn't visible to me. I'm tired of the same black and green color scheme. I don…

Looking to do this - how did you migrate your playlists? Also my family was using my main Apple Music account - so I have to "clear out the new place" as I setup a family account for them.

Re: Spotify will reduce total headcount by approximately 17%

#703

Post by qzx_pierri » Mon, Dec 04, 2023, 4:52 PM UTC

teg4n_ wrote: post #627

jaywalk wrote: post #605

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless you are pretty high up at Spotify, you have literally no idea how much Joe Rogan has brought in for them. His podcast has been number one on the platform since it launched.

Personally, I cancelled my Spotify premium family plan over it. I doubt I’m the only one.

I suspect you didn't cancel your subscription because of Joe Rogan being given a deal at Spotify.

I think you cancelled your subscription so you could TELL people you cancelled your subscription as a result of Joe Rogan being given a deal at Spotify.

Re: Spotify will reduce total headcount by approximately 17%

#704

Post by maxverse » Mon, Dec 04, 2023, 4:52 PM UTC

adamhp wrote: post #578

mtlmtlmtlmtl wrote: post #40

I often wonder what kind of work actually happens at Spotify. Pretty much every major change to the software or api since I started using it has made the product worse. Breaking libspotify, pointless UI redesigns, obvious, user-facing bugs that go unfixed for years. Removing features like play queue for long periods. There's metadata errors and even audio corruption in some albums that I actually reported to them yea…

I don't work for and am not affiliated with Spotify in any way, but I can honestly say Spotify has added more value to my life than almost any other app I have downloaded. I have discovered so much music that I genuinely adore. It's honestly mind-boggling. I'm so excited to open up my Discover Weekly. I'm very grateful for the work that has gone into their curation of certain playlists and of the similarity scoring t…

Yeah, both are true for me. I love Spotify, and the app is getting worse. They got rid of the "make a radio from a playlist" feature, which made no sense to me - the tech is there. Instead, they're suggesting the "Enhance Playlist"/"Smart Shuffle" features, which are worse. Making radio from playlists was a major feature for me, and I really miss it. I have no idea why it's gone.

Re: Spotify will reduce total headcount by approximately 17%

#705

Post by mrkeen » Mon, Dec 04, 2023, 4:53 PM UTC

sitkack wrote: post #700

So effectively contractors. Companies shouldn't be allowed to "shed" this much of their workforce in a system like the US's here we have a very poor safety net. They bulked up, built their products and now want to slim down and enjoy their profits at the expense of these sacrificial workers.

Sidestepping the issue of the US's labour laws, I almost feel like this is what a healthy software industry should look like.

You go in, you build, and when the job is done, you leave.

We just haven't figured out how to get the job done yet.

Re: Spotify will reduce total headcount by approximately 17%

#706

Post by ryloric » Mon, Dec 04, 2023, 4:54 PM UTC

cbozeman wrote: post #372

lupire wrote: post #328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is nonsense. They hired people to grow users, usage revenue, not to brag about employee counts. Companies brag about maximizes revenue per employee.

No, that makes sense to you . I grew up with someone who is now in the C-Suite of one of America's largest corporations - a company that has been in the Fortune 100 for decades. He has bounced from directorship to C-Suite in Fortune 500s for the past 12 years, and I asked him about this phenomenon over cigars about six months ago, he said this: "cbozeman, you have to understand these people. Most of these people maki…

You know, the older I get, the more the world seems upside down to me and I'm not even that fucking old.

Re: Spotify will reduce total headcount by approximately 17%

#707

Post by ghaff » Mon, Dec 04, 2023, 4:54 PM UTC

rPlayer6554 wrote: post #644

jmarchello wrote: post #495

Anytime I see layoffs like this, All I hear is "We hired for the sake of hiring when money was cheap and we wanted to signal 'growth', But now reality has set in and we need our employees to serve a purpose beyond simply headcount". In my opinion they did these employees a disservice by hiring them in the first place. We need our companies to act more responsibly regardless of the price of capital. Innovate sure, but…

You can't have your cake and eat it too. There are plenty of other lower risk companies that have way lower chances of layoffs, but they don't pay as well. Working at a company that tasks risks and has a high rate of return also has a higher chance of making the wrong bet and needing to cut you. If you want a perfectly stable job go work in the government: you'll be practically unfirable. - someone who was layed off…

Or the public sector. Anyone who thought a money-losing company like Spotify was a safe ship to jump on board didn't think things through.

Re: Spotify will reduce total headcount by approximately 17%

#708

Post by FirmwareBurner » Mon, Dec 04, 2023, 4:55 PM UTC

cbozeman wrote: post #372

lupire wrote: post #328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is nonsense. They hired people to grow users, usage revenue, not to brag about employee counts. Companies brag about maximizes revenue per employee.

No, that makes sense to you . I grew up with someone who is now in the C-Suite of one of America's largest corporations - a company that has been in the Fortune 100 for decades. He has bounced from directorship to C-Suite in Fortune 500s for the past 12 years, and I asked him about this phenomenon over cigars about six months ago, he said this: "cbozeman, you have to understand these people. Most of these people maki…

> They see engineers and programmers as expendable and easily replaceable

Most businesses see their employees as disposable commodities but at least Spotify, FANG and big-tech treat and pamper them way better than the rest.

Re: Spotify will reduce total headcount by approximately 17%

#709

Post by ctvo » Mon, Dec 04, 2023, 4:55 PM UTC

robertlagrant wrote: post #698

ctvo wrote: post #638

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think trying to normalize a ~20% workforce reduction as business as usual is a little bit much here. Management made a lot of mistakes to get to this situation. It wasn't we tried a few things and it didn't work out, it was we burrowed too much money, spent too much money, and risked too much. What other tech company has cut this deeply recently? You name their competitors, like Amazon and Apple -- is it happening…

> You name their competitors, like Amazon and Apple -- is it happening there? Their competitors are not direct comparisons, though, and percentages can be a little misleading. Spotify is ~7.5k employees, and does one thing. Amazon is ~1.5m employees, and does many, many things.

Amazon's layoffs are a percentage of corporate workforce, not their ~1.5 million warehouse + corporate pool.

Re: Spotify will reduce total headcount by approximately 17%

#710

Post by vvillena » Mon, Dec 04, 2023, 4:55 PM UTC

fundatus wrote: post #611

dbrueck wrote: post #598

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in both camps: Spotify is hands down the best ROI for me in terms of where my streaming dollars go. OTOH, it drives me crazy that customers like myself have been begging them for many years to add basic features like remembering my spot in a playlist.

> remembering my spot in a playlist Can you elaborate? Seriously curious how that exactly would look like.

Maybe a "resume" button next to the "play" button in the playlist page. Or just an option hidden in the "..." menu.