'promises only bind those who believe in them'. Jacques Chirac
Bitpanda said no mass layoffs, three weeks before axing one-third of staff
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Re: Bitpanda said no mass layoffs, three weeks before axing one-third of staff
#12If your company so as mentions layoffs, even (especially?) if they deny it, they are coming. Just like a Pip, if it gets mentioned, start looking for another job
That doesn't make much sense to me. If there is market turmoil, are you saying the best strategy for a company is to not communicate anything no matter the company and industry?
The best strategy is to talk through the business performance, and the business goals. When businesses miss goals, or they clam up on the underlying fundamentals - it generally means that trouble is brewing. Sometimes this is done on "tenuous" justifications, I once worked at a startup that insisted that employees could not have access to revenue data or other business metrics if they were to go public. Of course, the reality was that the business wanted to hide how deeply underwater everyones options were - as well as how far off the growth projections were from business reality.
Re: Bitpanda said no mass layoffs, three weeks before axing one-third of staff
#13If your company so as mentions layoffs, even (especially?) if they deny it, they are coming. Just like a Pip, if it gets mentioned, start looking for another job
What if the company doesn't bring it up, but says there won't be a layoff in response to a direct question (at an employee town hall, for example)? It seems like that's how a lot of these rumors get started.
Re: Bitpanda said no mass layoffs, three weeks before axing one-third of staff
#14Ehm they were not really careful with spending money. They had their own barista, cool startup offices and overpaid a lot for people with meh experience.
They did not really have anyone good to manage their finances.
Re: Bitpanda said no mass layoffs, three weeks before axing one-third of staff
#15If your company so as mentions layoffs, even (especially?) if they deny it, they are coming. Just like a Pip, if it gets mentioned, start looking for another job
What if the company doesn't bring it up, but says there won't be a layoff in response to a direct question (at an employee town hall, for example)? It seems like that's how a lot of these rumors get started.
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Re: Bitpanda said no mass layoffs, three weeks before axing one-third of staff
#16No post body was provided.
Re: Bitpanda said no mass layoffs, three weeks before axing one-third of staff
#17> Bitpanda’s chief product officer, Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad, told employees via a Slack message there would be no mass layoffs, weeks before the company cut its workforce by a third. If they knew of the layoffs and lied Bitpanda must be punished for it. Many employees may have made decisions based on that lie.
not sure about specific labor laws in your area, but even if they knew for a fact there would be layoffs, and told employees otherwise, i dont think thats punishable (may be wrong/unethical, but legally i dont think they did anything wrong).
being at a company for 16 years, i have learned:
1)everything is status quo, until one day it isnt.
2)there will be no changes, till there is change one day.
3)there will be no layoffs, until one day there is...
alot of times the people working above you directly dont know/are aware of pending doom.
it is possible at the time the CPO made that statement, it could have been true at the time or that they were aware of that there would be no layoffs.
Re: Bitpanda said no mass layoffs, three weeks before axing one-third of staff
#18If your company so as mentions layoffs, even (especially?) if they deny it, they are coming. Just like a Pip, if it gets mentioned, start looking for another job
That doesn't make much sense to me. If there is market turmoil, are you saying the best strategy for a company is to not communicate anything no matter the company and industry?
On the context of this one article, what do you expect a company can communicate about layoffs?
Re: Bitpanda said no mass layoffs, three weeks before axing one-third of staff
#19What are the appropriate or possible responses to being publicly asked if you're going to do a layoff, in the case that: (1) you are definitely going to do a layoff (2) you have not yet decided but are considering it (3) you are definitely not doing a layoff In the past, HNers have mentioned that if you admit you're going to lay people off, then your best performers will leave. Is that true? If so, what should compan…
Probably being open from the beginning is the way to go, but if your top performers are going to leave because they hear layoffs are coming, they will still leave after layoffs have arrived. Most likely won't.
Re: Bitpanda said no mass layoffs, three weeks before axing one-third of staff
#20What are the appropriate or possible responses to being publicly asked if you're going to do a layoff, in the case that: (1) you are definitely going to do a layoff (2) you have not yet decided but are considering it (3) you are definitely not doing a layoff In the past, HNers have mentioned that if you admit you're going to lay people off, then your best performers will leave. Is that true? If so, what should compan…
If you're doing layoffs, then generally one of three things is true:
1) The company is in bad shape, and the layoff is a Hail Mary play to try and delay the inevitable long enough for a miracle to happen
2) The company is in fine shape, but for whatever reason, has done an honest self-assessment and determined that they've got more people working there than are necessary to continue operating (and, if they're really being both honest and thorough, has done at least some due diligence to identify the genuine low performers)
3) The company is in fine shape, but the higher-ups and/or shareholders think they should be getting more money, so they're cutting costs and pocketing the difference
Two of those three are excellent cause to leave, whether or not the layoffs are announced ahead of time. Many cases of #2 are also cause to leave, when they do not do the appropriate due diligence and lay people off indiscriminately or according to nepotism/who plays golf with the right people.
If your best people will leave upon finding out that you're laying people off, then they will probably leave whether or not you announce it ahead of time like decent people—the only question is when.
So basically, you're compromising on honesty and basic decency in order to maybe buy yourself a few more months.