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Restructuring Announcement

automattic.com

121–130 of 249 posts

Re: Restructuring Announcement

#122
post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This will continue until there are actual consequences for those responsible. I'm of the mindset that any time a company does layoffs, they should start from the top And work down.

>I'm of the mindset that any time a company does layoffs, they should start from the top And work down. Oh, to be young and idealistic again! So in your world, the people running the business should fire themselves first?

not the parent, but accountability is supposed to be assumed up the org chart while responsibility is delegated down.

so, yeah. the people ultimately accountable for fucking shit up should probably be held accountable first and foremost.

(this is why CEOs often resign in the wake of a scandal)

Re: Restructuring Announcement

#123
post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This will continue until there are actual consequences for those responsible. I'm of the mindset that any time a company does layoffs, they should start from the top And work down.

>I'm of the mindset that any time a company does layoffs, they should start from the top And work down. Oh, to be young and idealistic again! So in your world, the people running the business should fire themselves first?

> So in your world, the people running the business should fire themselves first?

If they are needed to continue leading, they should consider cutting their own salary until the problems are fixed. Let them take their entire compensation in just their equity for a time.

However we all know this won’t be the norm, and that’s OK. Not great, just OK.

Re: Restructuring Announcement

#124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree - it's not properly addressed, but it's nice to see it at least brought up. Layoffs are always awful, but seeing companies talk about "changing economic realities" amongst continuing revenue and profit growth - often all time highs - is a real morale killer for those who are left behind. Microsoft/Amazon/Alphabet/Google are trillion dollar megacorps who are insanely profitable, but they're firing people be…

> they no longer have to pretend we care about you at all and will instead try to cater to Wall Street The company isn't "catering" to wall street, wall street is their boss. The owners of the company vote on what they want the company to do, and hire the person in charge of the company. And besides, do you care about your company? If you got a job offer to make twice your salary doing something you'd enjoy more than…

> they're paying me a ridiculous amount of money to do a job I enjoy

> It's a deal that 99% of the world is envious of, and I don't think it should inspire bitterness and cynicism

First of all, I think it takes a lot of guts to continue to have this attitude in the current economic climate. Or, in your case, immense skill, but not everybody - not even everybody in the big tech companies - has that.

I think the bitterness and cynicism stems from not enjoying the work. As crazy as this sounds - it's the intangibles as much as the cash: for example, knowing the company will fight your efforts to improve things.

Re: Restructuring Announcement

#125
So if you took the deal last year you would have gotten 9 months, now the severance is 9 weeks. Way to reward "loyalty". Good thing we're so smart and better than everyone else and we don't need unions.

Re: Restructuring Announcement

#126
post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I'm of the mindset that any time a company does layoffs, they should start from the top And work down. Oh, to be young and idealistic again! So in your world, the people running the business should fire themselves first?

> So in your world, the people running the business should fire themselves first? If they are needed to continue leading, they should consider cutting their own salary until the problems are fixed. Let them take their entire compensation in just their equity for a time. However we all know this won’t be the norm, and that’s OK. Not great, just OK.

Jim Barksdale enters the room.

Re: Restructuring Announcement

#127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a single short word > “Automattician” The word you’re looking for is employee.

I checked my list, and the fact that employees of Automattic are called "Automatticians" did not make my list of things to be outraged about. Maybe next week.

Pointing out the error in your claim implied nothing about outrage.

Re: Restructuring Announcement

#128
post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This will continue until there are actual consequences for those responsible. I'm of the mindset that any time a company does layoffs, they should start from the top And work down.

>I'm of the mindset that any time a company does layoffs, they should start from the top And work down. Oh, to be young and idealistic again! So in your world, the people running the business should fire themselves first?

It's been done.

Bob Mercer and Peter Brown laid themselves off from IBM when they were told to execute 10% across the board layoffs. They had argued their team was one of the highest performing teams in the company but were told that they had their quota. 10% of their team was 2 so they took the hit.

From there, they went on to run Renaissance.

IBM should have kept them.

Re: Restructuring Announcement

#129
post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not uncommon for companies to be in a hiring mode until they're very much not in a hiring mode any more.

Yeah. I was made a manager in Feb 2022 with 5 directs and 9 headcount to fill. Hired 5, and then by June 2022 all remaining headcount was cut. In January 2023 we had our first-ever layoffs in the company's 25-year history.

It is so hard to fathom that a leader trusted with millions of dollars of other people's money can be so disengaged from recruiting as to not see a hard wall of cash crunch, months if not years ahead.

You can't assume fundraising will always go swimmingly. You have to always be in survival mode, and if that means not hiring aggressively, then you put on the breaks until the money comes in .

Either as a leader you are clueless about your business cash needs, you are clueless about risk management, or you are clueless about the market, all of which make you not a suitable leader for a long-term company.

Re: Restructuring Announcement

#130
post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I'm of the mindset that any time a company does layoffs, they should start from the top And work down. Oh, to be young and idealistic again! So in your world, the people running the business should fire themselves first?

> So in your world, the people running the business should fire themselves first? If they are needed to continue leading, they should consider cutting their own salary until the problems are fixed. Let them take their entire compensation in just their equity for a time. However we all know this won’t be the norm, and that’s OK. Not great, just OK.

Been there and done that. One startup I was at instituted a 50% pay cut for senior execs, 25% for the level below that and no cut below that. The CEO took a 100% pay cut.

This let us get through a short rough patch without layoffs.

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