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Morale plummets at Google as workers complain bosses are 'inept' and 'boring'

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Re: Morale plummets at Google as workers complain bosses are 'inept' and 'boring'

#331

Post by SequoiaHope »

hyperman1 wrote: post #322
TaylorAlexander wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or from another perspective, it's weird when the Queen does it too.

It makes more sense if the queen is just a mascot for $country. The whole country got together and made it, but its not practical to get everyone on the photo. So you put a crown on some random person to make clear she's a representation of the whole country, not a real person (at that instant). What's missing here is the crown/suit/...

I think there is some ideology attached to how "normal" that would be, and whether someone accepts the "mascot" analogy.

If society were very focused on worker's rights and the recognition of the necessity of labor, such as in an idealized socialist society or a society with a predominance of worker cooperatives in the economy, then the idea of having a monarch or CEO of a company standing in front of the hard work of people whose names are not mentioned and whose faces are not pictured would seem absurd. You would expect and indeed commonly see photos showing many workers in front of the item in question.

Just as an example I went to the wikipedia page for the Tennessee Valley Authority, and it was quick to find what I would expect: a photo of a large group of workers in front of a dam they constructed:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_Valley_Authority#/me...

Or you might find a focused photo of a worker who is one of the people who built the thing, and representative of the type of workers on the project:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_Valley_Authority#/me...

I say this just to say, sure it can "make sense" but I think this is an artifact of the world we live in, where we have a hierarchical government and most firms in our economy are themselves hierarchical in nature. And so when the person at the top of the hierarchy stands for a photo op in front of the thing, we naturally accept that they serve as a "representation" of the output of the company.

But someone with a more worker-focused view would be more inclined to see that and find it off-putting. For the photo of Sundar Pichai up thread, I do in fact find it irritating that they don't even mention the people who were involved with the project he is standing in front of. And wouldn't you know it, I am a very pro-worker in inclination.

Re: Morale plummets at Google as workers complain bosses are 'inept' and 'boring'

#332

Post by lotsofpulp »

darreninthenet wrote: post #323
foofie wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This basically sends the message "doesn't matter how good you are, we're going to spin the wheel every so often and if it lands on you you're out" The conspiracy theory that's making the rounds is that these rounds of layoffs from tech firms have zero to do with financial reports or economy downturns, and are instead a coordinated effort, along with RTO policies, to wrestle negotiation power from tech workers and p…

Is there no law in the US that requires an employer to find a job for somebody before firing? And that includes being allowed to apply for open roles...

Barring an agreement to the contrary, employers and employees can terminate employment any time they want, except in Montana, as long as the termination is not due to the employee being in a protected class.

Re: Morale plummets at Google as workers complain bosses are 'inept' and 'boring'

#333

Post by tehlike »

twojobsoneboss wrote: post #239
tehlike wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ex googler here. Google has become a utility company, and I believe that's what you are saying. And I agree. I love Gmail, photos, drive etc and I have been a Google user longer than I have been an employee. This is a good thing. But, I started my career at google, and can tell you with confidence that it is not the best place to build a career, especially if you are a high performer. Google will shape everyones care…

What he really meant is it’s a great career choice financially (see the supporting extended family sentence after that) And utility? Come on now. Yes it might be doing much less actual innovation than before but compare that to building awful websites at an actual utility company. I’ll wait.

I mean, it's something we use everyday without thinking much. That's what I meant mostly but yeah innovation is also slowing

Re: Morale plummets at Google as workers complain bosses are 'inept' and 'boring'

#334

Post by avidiax »

belter wrote: post #243
jjjjoe wrote: post #204

The reason the word "inept" keeps coming up is just how opaque and senseless to the rank and file the January 2023 layoffs were. High performers, low performers, newest hires, most tenure: we saw all kinds of heads roll. I saw a team lose its sole TL with a decade+ of tenure on the team, then turn around and hire 4-6 people to try and catch up. A growing deployment team was actively hiring before and after it got a 6…

Its almost like Developers need...A Union....

Google has a union (AWU). It is currently protesting in support of Gaza.

Re: Morale plummets at Google as workers complain bosses are 'inept' and 'boring'

#335

Post by sigilis »

Erratic6576 wrote: post #327
gtirloni wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bard is a horrible name though. Poet? Horse ornament? It's close to Bardo which is the stage after death and before rebirth. Gemini is much more neutral and easy to work with. Like Alexa or Siri.

Gemini because of the two opposite faces: one looking towards you; the other one, towards the NSA

That would have been Janus. Gemini are twins, which represents all of your data being copied I guess.

Re: Morale plummets at Google as workers complain bosses are 'inept' and 'boring'

#336

Post by pooper »

dilyevsky wrote: post #302
jjjjoe wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

no.

If you think managers everywhere dont employ this tactic i have a bridge to sell you

Absolutely. There was a leaked memo iirc from Microsoft that prohibited "exceeds expectations".

And then there's the antipoaching https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antipoaching

Re: Morale plummets at Google as workers complain bosses are 'inept' and 'boring'

#337

Post by darreninthenet »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #332
darreninthenet wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there no law in the US that requires an employer to find a job for somebody before firing? And that includes being allowed to apply for open roles...

Barring an agreement to the contrary, employers and employees can terminate employment any time they want, except in Montana, as long as the termination is not due to the employee being in a protected class.

So apart from the protected class thing, there's no concept of wrongful dismissal in the US?

And what's different in Montana?

Re: Morale plummets at Google as workers complain bosses are 'inept' and 'boring'

#338

Post by gtirloni »

sigilis wrote: post #335
Erratic6576 wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gemini because of the two opposite faces: one looking towards you; the other one, towards the NSA

That would have been Janus. Gemini are twins, which represents all of your data being copied I guess.

ROFL, thanks for that.

Re: Morale plummets at Google as workers complain bosses are 'inept' and 'boring'

#339

Post by bradleyjg »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #156
treprinum wrote: post #12

"And I just want to clarify that, through these changes, people feel it on the ground and sometimes people write back and say, ‘Thank you for simplifying.’" Is there any mandatory training for CEOs to first understand when somebody is kissing up, second evaluate how devastating is cherry picking rare positive feedback to the company's morale? I can't believe top people can be so inept.

The CEOs job is to make the board happy. That’s it. There’s no other requirement. You make the board mad you’re fired. You make the board happy, then you’re golden and can do whatever. The easiest way to make a board happy is to reduce headcount, increase revenues (ideally wherever you have strongest margins) and prevent collective bargaining. CEO at this level isn’t a people leader like you’d expect because boards d…

The easiest way to make a board happy is to reduce headcount, increase revenues (ideally wherever you have strongest margins) and prevent collective bargaining.

The easiest way to make a board happy is to stack it with your friends. Preferably those that are not that rich so that they appreciate the several hundred thousand dollar a year gig for very little work.

Re: Morale plummets at Google as workers complain bosses are 'inept' and 'boring'

#340

Post by lotsofpulp »

darreninthenet wrote: post #337
lotsofpulp wrote: post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Barring an agreement to the contrary, employers and employees can terminate employment any time they want, except in Montana, as long as the termination is not due to the employee being in a protected class.

So apart from the protected class thing, there's no concept of wrongful dismissal in the US? And what's different in Montana?

Montana has a state law requiring “good cause”:

https://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/title_0390/chapter_0020/part_00...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At-will_employment

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