I hope you use your new free time to beat every expert song on Wacca
Googler... ex-Googler
121–130 of 1001 posts
Re: Googler... ex-Googler
#122> But I was also immediately ripped away from my calendar, docs, code, and more. Layoffs are never easy. I've been through a few myself and it really takes the wind out of your sails. That being said, this sentence made me pause a bit. None of these things mentioned are actually yours. They are the property of Google. One thing that helped me immensely in my career is understanding that my relationship with a company…
Exactly.. Many see it as some sort of marriage in an age where even marriages are contractual relations
Re: Googler... ex-Googler
#123Earlier quoted context omitted.
For some perspective, the bulk of this is simply illegal in the Netherlands, likely other countries in the EU as well: - layoff plans must be communicated ahead of time. Minimum 30 days notice, usually much more - Needs to be negotiated with worker representatives (works council, syndicate if there is one) - LIFO principle for layoffs, newest employees are let go first. Stack ranking not possible - Any kind of discri…
> LIFO principle for layoffs, newest employees are let go first. Stack ranking not possible Newer employees often see this as incredibly unfair.
If it’s the rule, everyone knows it. There is no guessing about randomness or hidden variables, and ultimately less favoritism than a line manager coming up with a stack ranking.
Looking at the larger picture, what otherwise tends to happen is that older people get pushed out. Then we have a massive issue of them ending up unemployed because nobody wants to hire them. This is compounded by the retirement age being pushed further and further away.
Re: Googler... ex-Googler
#124> But I was also immediately ripped away from my calendar, docs, code, and more. Layoffs are never easy. I've been through a few myself and it really takes the wind out of your sails. That being said, this sentence made me pause a bit. None of these things mentioned are actually yours. They are the property of Google. One thing that helped me immensely in my career is understanding that my relationship with a company…
I think their point was that they were told they could look for another internal role, but at the same time had their access revoked, which sends a very mixed message.
Re: Googler... ex-Googler
#125Earlier quoted context omitted.
believing it to be the empty set is on you, man.
I dunno man, I've been making a similar joke for well over a decade, so it seems like a common perspective. That being said I talk about my former big tech all the time too, so maybe I'm part of the problem?
"How do you know if someone is the sort of person to make derogatory jokes about 'the way certain sorts of people are'?"
Re: Googler... ex-Googler
#126Yep, it sucks. Speaking from experience - I was laid off a few years ago. I was sad my time ended, but my path forward was to leave SF with money and time to visit countries I'd always wanted to see.
It's a trend away from the post-WW2 "promise of lifetime employment". Over the decades, companies have crept toward "human autoscaling" so slow no one noticed. You're far from alone - every other company is doing it. Go see the numbers at https://layoffs.fyi . When the whole industry is doing something, companies must follow suit to stay alive.
Nurture your network! Keep being present on their feeds. Reach out to the ones on your team that you had personal relationships with. Some will shun you; it's not personal, they're ashamed and fearful. It is human nature, same as the company's behavior toward you is a company's nature.
There was never a better time to take things into your own hands. Go look at @IndyDevDan's content on youtube and test the limits with agentic coding: https://agenticengineer.com/state-of-ai-coding/engineering-w...
Spend your 8-20 paid weeks agentic-coding (not vibe-coding) silly projects for your nieces and nephews. You'll come back stronger and more employable than ever.
Don't be sad to be kicked out. The boot that kicked you was attached to a Hills Hoist.
Re: Googler... ex-Googler
#127> Googler... Whole things reads like someone leaving a cult. It's ok to be sad about leaving a job but your identity shouldn't be so tied up in it that you're crying in a blog post online. We all lose jobs and we all get on with it. Obviously they're talented and will land fine somewhere. I'm not trying to be mean but it's bad that a person can get upset to this point around a job. The corp isn't caring.
I'm fine with "Googler". Google employs 180,000 people. There are cities half that size with their own demonym.
Re: Googler... ex-Googler
#128Earlier quoted context omitted.
For some perspective, the bulk of this is simply illegal in the Netherlands, likely other countries in the EU as well: - layoff plans must be communicated ahead of time. Minimum 30 days notice, usually much more - Needs to be negotiated with worker representatives (works council, syndicate if there is one) - LIFO principle for layoffs, newest employees are let go first. Stack ranking not possible - Any kind of discri…
> layoff plans must be communicated ahead of time. Minimum 30 days notice, usually much more In the United States, employers with more than 100 full-time, non-probationary employees must provide 60 days notice of most planned layoffs[0] > - LIFO principle for layoffs, newest employees are let go first. Stack ranking not possible This is functionally equivalent to a stack ranking in that it is a forced-distribution sc…
> In the United States, employers with more than 100 full-time, non-probationary employees must provide 60 days notice of most planned layoffs[0]
This seemed quite surprising to me, and from reading your reference, I don't think it's nearly as broad a protection as it seems to me like you're stating it. the law seems to apply to companies that you describe, but the types of events that they need to provide notice for don't seem like "most planned layoffs" to me; the employee guide lists the following as potentially being covered:
• A plant closing (see glossary)—where your employer shuts down a facility or operating unit (see glossary) within a single site of employ- ment (see glossary and FAQs) and lays off at least 50 full-time workers;
• A mass layoff (see glossary)—where your employer lays off either between 50 and 499 full-time workers at a single site of employment and that number is 33% of the number of full-time workers at the sin- gle site of employment; or
• A situation where your employer (see glossary) lays off 500 or more full-time workers at a single site of employment
I don't think most layoffs in the US are due to shutting down an entire office, a third of an office with at least 150 people, or 500 people from the same office. I'd expect most layoffs to either be much less concentrated in a single location or not large enough to hit the defined thresholds.
[0] https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/layoffs/warn [1] https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/Layoff/pdfs/Worke...
Re: Googler... ex-Googler
#129The reality of one's lack of value to one's own employer is often baffling. It makes you wonder how anyone manages to stay employed at all, since apparently everyone is replicable and unimportant. I have been through layoffs where other people on my team, doing the same job I did approximately as well, got laid off. No explanation given for why them and not me. And it could happen to me at any time. It doesn't matter…
This is a lesson that all senior developers know pretty well, that is why companies rather hire naive juniors, instead folks that already mastered how the game gets played, and cannot be sold on company mission, values, or whatever snake oil gets talked about during interview process.
Not all. You're talking about douchebag companies.
If I try to hire someone in the future, and I'm talking straight with a candidate, about how we do things and what we're looking for, and they just nod their head, like I'm going through BS rituals that your stereotypical MBA thinks is professional to say but not mean... I will be sad.
And if, while they're BSing me, they're congratulating themselves on having "mastered how the game gets played"... I will be angry.
(This is another reason I won't Leetcode interview. It's signalling that the company is all about disingenuous baggery theatre.)
Re: Googler... ex-Googler
#130If Google realizes they made an oopsie, I hope he respectfully tells them "no, thanks." I could never go back to an employer that did this to me, then said it was just a mistake.
I have a mortgage to pay. I certainly could.