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Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

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Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#171

Post by wbharding »

memish wrote: post #90
eganist wrote: post #47

Hey pc, if you're around: > John and I are fully responsible for the decisions leading up to it. What are the two of you doing to show accountability? Are you slashing your own future stock grants, cutting your own salaries, diluting your positions with stock grants to everyone else? What's the consequence for this decision on your end that shows you're accountable for what happened, not just responsible for it? Sinc…

That's in the email: Severance pay. We will pay 14 weeks of severance for all departing employees, and more for those with longer tenure. That is, those departing will be paid until at least February 21st 2023. Bonus. We will pay our 2022 annual bonus for all departing employees, regardless of their departure date. (It will be prorated for people hired in 2022.) PTO. We’ll pay for all unused PTO time (including in re…

As has often been Stripe's way as a company, they are setting the bar for what other companies should strive toward. Has there ever been a more generous severance package posted to HN?

As the owner of a (much, much) smaller company, I'm inspired by how the Collisons run their business, especially under adverse circumstances. Yes, they fucked up in estimating the future market, but they are in good company among CEOs and non-CEOs lately.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#172

Post by huffmsa »

joegahona wrote: post #151
bryant wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They know what accountability is. That's why they never use the word. Yeah we know you're responsible for it, but how are you being held accountable for it? No one will remember in two years time, but my hope is it'll factor into candidates' decisions around whether to pursue a career with Stripe. If I've got senior executives without accountability, it's a distraction to my ability to deliver the product as well as…

Do you have an example handy of a CEO who has provided acceptable accountability in a situation like this?

Satoru Iwata took a large pay cut when Nintendo was in a downturn in 2014ish

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#173

Post by groffee »

nsxwolf wrote: post #137
ulfw wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's zero responsibility. Just empty words that frankly are unnecessary in the situation.

What would make it better in your eyes? A year's severance? 2 years?

It's not about the severance.

It's about the empty platitudes they and all people like them spew. "they take responsibility" what does that even mean? It's meaningless.

Are they taking a paycut themselves? Letting themselves go instead of their employes? Cutting down on bonuses to keep their people employed?

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#174

Post by [deleted] »

bryant wrote: post #86
strikelaserclaw wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i hate this trend of ceos saying they take responsibility. Reminds me of lord farquuad, "some of you may die, but that is a price i'm willing to pay"

They know what accountability is. That's why they never use the word. Yeah we know you're responsible for it, but how are you being held accountable for it? No one will remember in two years time, but my hope is it'll factor into candidates' decisions around whether to pursue a career with Stripe. If I've got senior executives without accountability, it's a distraction to my ability to deliver the product as well as…

[deleted]

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#175

Post by rootusrootus »

esel2k wrote: post #148
nsxwolf wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The last time I got laid off, my severance was basically enough to buy a bus ticket to the unemployment office. What they're doing here is incredible. (Almost felt compelled to name names here but took a breath)

As a European the severance for a large company doesn’t sound all to different to what I am used to. Normally you have 3 months by contract plus some add a month per year tenure. Healthcare costs, career support etc is normal for larger/successful companies. Then certain countries (not the company) will pay 80percent of your salary for 2 years to find a new job. Happy that some companies also start to do this in the…

> some companies also start to do this in the US

This is pretty normal in my experience. Having experienced layoffs (never as a target, always from the side) for the last 25 years. There are probably edge cases, but some amount of severance (based on time with the company, typicall), healthcare coverage, bonus acceleration, etc, is all completely normal.

On HN, of course, you're mostly only going to see the edge cases posting, so it's easy to get a distorted view of normal.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#176

Post by TomBombadildoze »

czbond wrote: post #147
eganist wrote: post #47

Hey pc, if you're around: > John and I are fully responsible for the decisions leading up to it. What are the two of you doing to show accountability? Are you slashing your own future stock grants, cutting your own salaries, diluting your positions with stock grants to everyone else? What's the consequence for this decision on your end that shows you're accountable for what happened, not just responsible for it? Sinc…

Ya know.... Founders and CEO's are responsible every day. They created the business for people to have jobs, they have to deal with it when the business cannot support the jobs. When things in the macro economy change, sometimes the business can't operate at the same level it was before. People like to on CEO's & leaders in good times, but employees often forget that while the employee can just go get another job, th…

Please. Stripe is privately held so let's look at a market comp, SQ.

SQ 2021 Revenue: $17B

SQ 2021 cash and short term investments: $5.3B

Stripe 2021 Revenue: $12B

Similar businesses, operating in the same market, with the nearly the same number of employees (about 8000). Barring exceptional circumstances, we would expect their financial health to be roughly similar.

You said it yourself:

> the leaders have to... [deal] with investors

The economy is contracting and their share price is falling. They could afford to dip into cash and keep everyone on board but their investors are more concerned about propping up the valuation. They don't have two shits to give about the people they're letting go.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#177

Post by antihero »

imnotreallynew wrote: post #124
memish wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's in the email: Severance pay. We will pay 14 weeks of severance for all departing employees, and more for those with longer tenure. That is, those departing will be paid until at least February 21st 2023. Bonus. We will pay our 2022 annual bonus for all departing employees, regardless of their departure date. (It will be prorated for people hired in 2022.) PTO. We’ll pay for all unused PTO time (including in re…

Goodness, I’d voluntarily take that deal anyday. 3.5 months of paid vacation at the salaries Stripe pays? Yes please. I just read the rest. On top of 3.5 months pay, they get accelerated vesting, cash payment for healthcare benefits, all unused PTO paid, and more. That’s incredible.

Isn’t it mandatory to pay holiday accrued? Because it’s been, well, accrued…

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#178

Post by candiddevmike »

ericb wrote: post #154
Barrin92 wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

preparing for an eventual end to the free money rally instead of over-hiring isn't exactly something I'd consider to fall into the realm of psychic abilities. is "we're a fast growing business but this cannot last indefinitely, let's not overexpand" ´really too much to ask for? It's constantly happening to tech companies because of their internal fantasies.

If they under-expand, people will similarly complain when their stock languishes compared to other stocks and the board will replace them with someone telling a growth story. The only thing the stock market rewards is growth, so is it really their fantasy?

In this case, stripe is private, so their stock performance is mostly moot.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#179

Post by ulfw »

sdrinf wrote: post #105
tempsy wrote: post #36

I feel bad for employees that have waited a decade to cash out. No reason why Stripe couldn’t have gone public in 2020-2021 at a huge valuation but from past interviews it sounds like the decision to remain private was just a founder preference thing because “focus” or something. Now the IPO market is completely frozen and its valuation is likely cut in half from peak, at least.

The second they go public it triggers a 6-12 months window after which all of their employees can cash out. This will, inexorably lead to an exodus of their most senior peeps, and when it happens, will probably be ground zero for the next gen of fintech startups. Delaying going IPO this way, amongst other things, is about retention.

To a certain extend yes you're right. But they've overextended. Realistically there won't be a fertile IPO market at their size/level of valuation in years now. So unless they up their salaries, it's doubtful some people who joined in hopes of cashing out after 1-2 years would be willing to wait an additional 4 or 5.
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