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Our Company Is Doing So Well That You're All Fired

mcsweeneys.net

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Re: Our Company Is Doing So Well That You're All Fired

#91

Post by swatcoder »

matusp wrote: post #10

If the company fires hundreds or thousands of people and there is no visible dip in the productivity, is it really a bad thing? One thing that is baffling to me is that these companies can fire 10% of their workforce and they just keep on chugging without a hitch. The bullshit job phenomenon is the problem here.

> no visible dip in the productivity

How did you measure that? How long are you tracking it? How are you isolating other factors?

While you figure that out, what accountability does your organization have towards the hundreds of thousands of human individuals whose lives were just grossly disrupted and sent into potentially catastrophic strain?

Different societies have found different answers to the accountability question.

Whether or not the jobs were individually bullshit (almost all jobs are, as are almost all companies) has little to do with the conversation.

Re: Our Company Is Doing So Well That You're All Fired

#92

Post by google234123 »

ceejayoz wrote: post #24
matusp wrote: post #10

If the company fires hundreds or thousands of people and there is no visible dip in the productivity, is it really a bad thing? One thing that is baffling to me is that these companies can fire 10% of their workforce and they just keep on chugging without a hitch. The bullshit job phenomenon is the problem here.

“I stopped changing the oil and my car runs fine.” Sometimes problems take time to present themselves.

How about “ I stopped changing my oil every 50 miles and my car runs fine”

Re: Our Company Is Doing So Well That You're All Fired

#93

Post by nytesky »

matusp wrote: post #10

If the company fires hundreds or thousands of people and there is no visible dip in the productivity, is it really a bad thing? One thing that is baffling to me is that these companies can fire 10% of their workforce and they just keep on chugging without a hitch. The bullshit job phenomenon is the problem here.

It’s simple. People stop taking vacations and work longer hours and make up the missing 10% of labor. You also no longer have spare capacity for sick days or people leaving, but that doesn’t all come to roost on day one.

Re: Our Company Is Doing So Well That You're All Fired

#94

Post by ytx »

mankyd wrote: post #13
matusp wrote: post #10

If the company fires hundreds or thousands of people and there is no visible dip in the productivity, is it really a bad thing? One thing that is baffling to me is that these companies can fire 10% of their workforce and they just keep on chugging without a hitch. The bullshit job phenomenon is the problem here.

> is it a really a bad thing? It's great for the company. Not so much for the people. It's a matter of perspective. > The bullshit job phenomenon is the problem here. Perhaps, but who's fault is that? Sounds like the company's problem. Who suffers from the layoffs however? Per your example, not the company.

One relevant question is would the fired person have been better off had they not been hired or the job didn't exist in in the first place? It's far from clear to me, but admittedly doesn't soften the blow either way.

Re: Our Company Is Doing So Well That You're All Fired

#95

Post by Aurornis »

matusp wrote: post #10

If the company fires hundreds or thousands of people and there is no visible dip in the productivity, is it really a bad thing? One thing that is baffling to me is that these companies can fire 10% of their workforce and they just keep on chugging without a hitch. The bullshit job phenomenon is the problem here.

Companies reduce initiatives and headcount at the same time.

It's usually approached as a budget reduction exercise: Company is reducing budgets by X%. Select which projects get cancelled. Now work with managers to identify enough employees to lay off to reduce headcount spend by X%. Now reorganize remaining employees across remaining projects, with the understanding that a few extra people will leave due to future layoff fears.

The idea that companies like Twitter/X just removed a lot of employees and then operated exactly the same as before is a myth being propagated online right now, but companies must change their operations as part of layoffs. It's usually not obvious from the outside because the core product always gets attention, but side initiatives, internal tooling, new feature concepts, and even less-visible things (think bot/spam detection on X) lose attention that they may have needed.

But no, the idea that companies are making 10% of their workforce disappear at no cost to the business is just fantasy. The only time I saw this happen was when a company hired so fast that they didn't have work for some people to do, but that mistake was quickly recognized.

Re: Our Company Is Doing So Well That You're All Fired

#96

Post by kouru225 »

matusp wrote: post #10

If the company fires hundreds or thousands of people and there is no visible dip in the productivity, is it really a bad thing? One thing that is baffling to me is that these companies can fire 10% of their workforce and they just keep on chugging without a hitch. The bullshit job phenomenon is the problem here.

Or those people are doing work that takes a longer time frame to impact the company. Sure it’s fine for the next year, but once you start dealing with issues down the line you’ll wish you had been taking care of all that work.

Re: Our Company Is Doing So Well That You're All Fired

#97

Post by insane_dreamer »

matusp wrote: post #10

If the company fires hundreds or thousands of people and there is no visible dip in the productivity, is it really a bad thing? One thing that is baffling to me is that these companies can fire 10% of their workforce and they just keep on chugging without a hitch. The bullshit job phenomenon is the problem here.

> that these companies can fire 10% of their workforce and they just keep on chugging without a hitch

unless those 10% were working on things which may become important to the company in the future; a company that just "chuggs along" will eventually die

Re: Our Company Is Doing So Well That You're All Fired

#98

Post by iepathos »

complianceowl wrote: post #23

Isn't this kind of weird? Some try to blame capitalism, but AI is not capitalism. It is technological progress. Every president and dictator, no matter what type of economy or political system they have, are trying to develop AI right now. It's something that goes beyond any economic system and is a fact and force that can't be stopped and one must simply reckon with. What we have in the US today is not capitalism. I…

Oh a semantics argument, lovely. Let me ask you this, what percentage of US trade and industry isn't controlled by private owners for profit? Shareholders count as private owners in case that confuses you since it's public stock that is privately owned. Once you answer that, let me know what percentage is required to classify a country as capitalist.

Re: Our Company Is Doing So Well That You're All Fired

#99

Post by tareqak »

What about when companies are doing layoffs but still continue hire at exactly the same time? Sometimes, they even hire for the same positions that were just laid off.

Are there ever conversations where employees are asked to take a pay cut instead of being laid off?

Re: Our Company Is Doing So Well That You're All Fired

#100

Post by maerF0x0 »

If the company ultimately has no need for workers, then it's competitors won't either. And as they compete on price there will be no reason for the goods not to sink to the raw ingredient price + cost of capital. With the hypothetically perfect AI this will sink to near 0 + raw material cost (which itself will be plummeting due to AI).

I have long thought that automation will result in goods being so cheap that it becomes unconscionable to not provide them free of charge to anyone who asks for them, within reason. Think like how we do not charge for air, or a glass of tap water (in the USA). I'd love to work on making it so other goods become as such. Simple diet like rice and beans, simple clothing just jeans and a plain tshirt etc. Call me a communist but I think as a society we can get to a point where these things are just free because the cost of accounting for who gets what is higher than the value of the stuff.

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