Elastic lays off 7% of employees • Hacker News Board

Re: Elastic lays off 7% of employees

#61

Post by next_xibalba » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 11:53 PM UTC

Macha wrote: post #47

keithnz wrote: post #9

This just reaffirms my view is that big companies will lose headcount because of AI, but small and medium companies will (or at least have the potential to) leverage AI to do bigger and better things. This is because big companies could always spend big money on getting what they want made while small companies always have to tradeoff what they can realistically do with the resources they have.

Is elastic a big company? I’d put them somewhere between small and medium…

4,000 employees (pre layoff). That’s quite large.

Re: Elastic lays off 7% of employees

#62

Post by PowerElectronix » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 11:54 PM UTC

vanrysss wrote: post #51

torben-friis wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know HN is mostly against regulation, but I'm very glad my country restricts mass firings, and particular stricter rules apply for companies that turn a profit. If you're generating benefits, there should be very few reasons you need to let go people massively.

I have a cousin in Belgium who was laid off following some restructuring and her severance was 52 weeks. Not out of the goodness of the company's hearts, but mandated by law since they gave no notice and she had accrued seniority. US labor laws are a joke in comparison.

And people wonder why there are zero companies in europe competing with american ones in the tech sector...

Re: Elastic lays off 7% of employees

#63

Post by yamillove » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 11:54 PM UTC

zamadatix wrote: post #29

tracerbulletx wrote: post #22

Before the 1980s layoffs were seen as a massive failure of the company and almost never happened to tenured employees unless the company was collapsing. Before we are all made to think this is normal and unavoidable behavior.

I wouldn't have nearly as many complaints about this mindset change if ones life (e.g. insurance) weren't still so deeply tied to who your current employer is.

[flagged]

Re: Elastic lays off 7% of employees

#64

Post by 33MHz-i486 » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 11:54 PM UTC

tracerbulletx wrote: post #22

Before the 1980s layoffs were seen as a massive failure of the company and almost never happened to tenured employees unless the company was collapsing. Before we are all made to think this is normal and unavoidable behavior.

the business people took over tech and somehow convinced us Jack Welch’s management philosophy (targeted attrition, layoffs for financial engineering) was a best practice even though he and his proteges drove numerous old guard tech companies into the ground

Re: Elastic lays off 7% of employees

#65

Post by darth_avocado » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 11:54 PM UTC

tracerbulletx wrote: post #22

Before the 1980s layoffs were seen as a massive failure of the company and almost never happened to tenured employees unless the company was collapsing. Before we are all made to think this is normal and unavoidable behavior.

When Elon fired 80% of the company, I remember a lot of celebration on HN. Some of it was the perceived political bias within the employees and some of it was “The app works fine what were all those employees doing? They probably deserved it.”

At the time I remember talking about this becoming a norm as CEOs follow the lead and getting downvoted heavily. Its unfortunate that we are here, but also not surprising, given how limited empathy people have for each other at times here on HN. Unless we stand for each other, this won’t change.

Re: Elastic lays off 7% of employees

#66

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 11:54 PM UTC

ai_slop_hater wrote: post #4

puszczyk wrote: post #2

Makes me sad to read it as an ex-Elastic employee. AI is used to justify the redundancies, and the company still expects to grow in this fiscal year. In the SEC filling the specifically mention more “head count” in “go-to-market” roles [1]. > a reduction of approximately 7% of our workforce > Advances in AI, automation, and technology are reshaping how work gets done, and we're changing with them. (…) That's what thi…

I've grown to hate executives. This is obviously an AI-generated nothing burger. They never mean what they say publicly.

[deleted]

Re: Elastic lays off 7% of employees

#67

Post by outside1234 » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 11:54 PM UTC

tracerbulletx wrote: post #22

Before the 1980s layoffs were seen as a massive failure of the company and almost never happened to tenured employees unless the company was collapsing. Before we are all made to think this is normal and unavoidable behavior.

The worst part about the current situation is that the company is then just turning around and hiring people.

It is almost like the company really is just doing it to arbitrage or get rid of expensive (aka old) employees.

Re: Elastic lays off 7% of employees

#68

Post by mrcwinn » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 11:54 PM UTC

sandeepkd wrote: post #13

ai_slop_hater wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've grown to hate executives. This is obviously an AI-generated nothing burger. They never mean what they say publicly.

Do not want to sound like as if I am taking their side but the reality is that all these decisions are mandated by some subset of investors in one way or another. These executives are replaceable, and they would be replaced if they do not toe the line. In other words these executives happen to choose a easy and beneficial path rather than standing up for the long term right thing for the company.

That’s not how it works. Investors don’t mandate operational decisions. That’s for… operators. What they do ask for, in exchange for their investment, are things like revenue growth or certain margins.

You can crap on those investors. The answer then is to never take their money. But without money, the job probably wasn’t created in the first place. So the result is the same.

By the way, ever work alongside a really crappy non-executive and wonder how on earth they’re keeping their job? I sure have.

Re: Elastic lays off 7% of employees

#69

Post by outside1234 » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 11:55 PM UTC

yamillove wrote: post #63

zamadatix wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't have nearly as many complaints about this mindset change if ones life (e.g. insurance) weren't still so deeply tied to who your current employer is.

[flagged]

And the Republicans wrecked it by getting rid of the mandate and then not funding the subsidy.

Re: Elastic lays off 7% of employees

#70

Post by yamillove » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 11:55 PM UTC

vanrysss wrote: post #51

torben-friis wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know HN is mostly against regulation, but I'm very glad my country restricts mass firings, and particular stricter rules apply for companies that turn a profit. If you're generating benefits, there should be very few reasons you need to let go people massively.

I have a cousin in Belgium who was laid off following some restructuring and her severance was 52 weeks. Not out of the goodness of the company's hearts, but mandated by law since they gave no notice and she had accrued seniority. US labor laws are a joke in comparison.

Now compare your cousin’s yearly salary in Belgium with the average salary of a US employee doing the same job.