121–130 of 329 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is it inconceivable that layoffs are the right choice for a business?
It's not inconceivable, but it's weird that everybody is doing it at the same time even when the company is perfectly healthy.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is it inconceivable that layoffs are the right choice for a business?
It's not inconceivable, but it's weird that everybody is doing it at the same time even when the company is perfectly healthy.
Also if your strategy is to hire as many engineers as you can possibly afford so that you can keep up with or beat the competition, then if the competition starts downsizing it means you can do the same, and maybe you see an economic contraction as a bigger risk.
Conjecture of course, but plausible I think.
The real question is: does the CEO take full responsibility?
I really get the feeling that many companies are just blindly doing whatever other companies do. One starts large layoffs, and suddenly everybody is doing it. At other times, when one goes on a hiring spree, they all go. One tries to reduce salaries, they all do. One pays enormous bonuses, and they all do. It's like CEOs aren't really thinking for themselves, just copying whatever the market does.
If Confluent was building out new product features and "investing in growth" hoping to sell those features to expand customer uptake, should they just blindly keep going?
Sure, there are probably some 20 something CEOs right now running startups that are like OMG I guess we should lay off too, but it's such a naive take.
CEOs can't just will the market to bear whatever their vision is, they have to "make something people want". And if there are less people to sell to, well, you're gonna make less money...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The CEO answers to the board, and the board is usually of the type to at least ask the question "Everyone is jumping off a bridge, why aren't we?" And sadly the easiest answer is "we ARE jumping off the bridge, see?"
Is it inconceivable that layoffs are the right choice for a business?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is it inconceivable that layoffs are the right choice for a business?
Yes. They never are. A recent study investigated this and neither stock price nor productivity nor profitability improved. All mass layoffs do is crater employee morale. And yes, it's a "others are jumping into the lake with their clothes on, let's get our brooks brothers shirts wet, too" thing without any rational cogitation involved..
I really get the feeling that many companies are just blindly doing whatever other companies do. One starts large layoffs, and suddenly everybody is doing it. At other times, when one goes on a hiring spree, they all go. One tries to reduce salaries, they all do. One pays enormous bonuses, and they all do. It's like CEOs aren't really thinking for themselves, just copying whatever the market does.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The CEO answers to the board, and the board is usually of the type to at least ask the question "Everyone is jumping off a bridge, why aren't we?" And sadly the easiest answer is "we ARE jumping off the bridge, see?"
Is it inconceivable that layoffs are the right choice for a business?
If you had a healthy business and do a mass layoff, you don't have a healthy business anymore.
The real question is: does the CEO take full responsibility?