Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Twitter announces layoffs

sec.gov

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

191–200 of 410 posts

Re: Twitter announces layoffs

#191

Post by VLM »

adevine wrote: post #164
mattmanser wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's removed all the fairly meaningless corporate buzzwords like: roadmap structural change nimbler streamlined impactful And many more.

While they may be jargon, they're not meaningless. I mean, roadmap? Is there anyone who has worked at a tech company that doesn't know what a roadmap is, and why it's important? Is there anyone who doesn't know that nimbler means better able to react to changes in the marketplace?

Its meaningless because no one has official corporate goals of becoming less streamlined, or less nimble, or a less clear roadmap.

Content free filler might be a more polite way to put it.

I could demonstrate the uselessness of content free filler by inserting (VLM took a breath here) (VLM fixed a typo here) all through my post above, but all it would do it boost word count and water down the core message, kinda like .... yeah.

There is another story on the front page at this moment about training a neural network to generate clickbait... I'd like to see a trained NN that eats CorporateSpeak and outputs English. It smells simple; at least at a low performance level it just has to pattern match and eat "content free filler" or whatever you want to call it.

Re: Twitter announces layoffs

#192

Post by saintx »

BlackJack wrote: post #122
quarterto wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The purpose of language is communication. Did you understand what melvinmt meant? Yes, of course you did. What's the big deal? What are you gaining by "correcting" a pointless[1] semantic distinction, other than your own smug satisfaction? [1]: Yes, it's pointless. Why is there no such distinction for "more"?

He was just giving a tip. Your "smug satisfaction" view is in your mind. I would want to know if I was misusing a word.

"If I were misusing a word."

Just trying to help ;-)

Re: Twitter announces layoffs

#193

Post by ChuckMcM »

efuquen wrote: post #172
Taek wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is part of the startup world. Companies stall, and companies fail. If stability is required, it should be worked into the employee agreement. I don't know what is meant by "generous exit package", but it may be enough to tide the employees over to their next job.

Twitter is still a "startup"?

Any company that has yet to operate on a consistent business model is still a start up :-). But in twitter's case that is stretching it. Both ad funded and public I'd say they are a 'small cap company' rather than a startup.

That said, it's clear they are struggling to stay alive and that is a trait of many start ups.

Re: Twitter announces layoffs

#194

Post by huslage »

celticninja wrote: post #37

> The world needs a strong Twitter Really? Does it? I think Twitter needs a strong Twitter, shareholders need a strong Twitter even Twitter employees need it. However the world is, at best, ambivalent about Twitter, if it disappeared tomorrow a replacement would spring up within a few weeks if the world really needed a way to shotgun their messages into the ether.

The alternatives have no base, no brand and aren't as universally accessible (regardless of blockages). The world needs Twitter because Twitter is the most efficient way of reaching a large audience quickly NOW. Regardless of what the future holds, or "what-if" scenarios the reality remains that Twitter holds a place as the world's voice in certain situations.

Re: Twitter announces layoffs

#195

Post by VLM »

bshimmin wrote: post #146
yuvadam wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Team, 336 people will be fired. We hope it brings our stock price back up. Jack

This is like corporate email golfing, I love it. I propose "Hey" instead of "Team".

In this particular example, whats important is keeping the character count under 140, so your proposal wins 1 point. (insert golf clap). I will see your "Hey", and counter propose "Yo". That frees up two characters for use elsewhere vs the original "Team".

Re: Twitter announces layoffs

#196

Post by fredkbloggs »

simonswords82 wrote: post #126
mrweasel wrote: post #22

I'm a little surprised that they're only firing 336 people. Unless this is just the first round of layoffs and more will follow once products and management has been streamlined/trimmed whatever you want to call it.

Usually in a situation like this you want to cut hard and deep just the once. Every time you make cuts the entire workforce is on knife edge (excuse the pun), so it's best to do one round and get it out of the way so everyone can refocus on their work. That's a long way of saying I doubt there are more layoffs planned. That's not to say they won't make more layoffs if they don't get their shit together.

It's moot. Veterans know there's another round coming no matter what, and tenderfeet will freak out no matter what.

Since this is their first round, it probably consists of an accumulated RIF list that's been made up mentally over time by each manager, containing the slackers, bums, obnoxious misfits, and anyone absurdly overpaid, as well as people who have made powerful enemies. It probably also contains people who were working on canceled projects and weren't valuable enough that another manager would fight to have them transferred instead (some may be rehired by others later anyway). Standard stuff. And as such, since Twitter hasn't come to Jesus at this point, it's a pretty small round. Later, when it becomes apparent that more of what they're doing is a drain on their very limited revenue with little or no realistic hope of any return on investment, there will be more rounds as more projects are canceled. Of course, by then, they'll have less cash available and so will need to cut even more...

Every company in a downward spiral starts by cutting fat, then muscle, and finally bone. You're correct that it's much better to cut too deep the first time and stabilize the company financially at a much smaller size before cautiously expanding, but no one does it that way. Remember, to a manager, the size of one's empire is the size of one's dick (not to mention current and future pay), and to a CEO it's the same with the size of the company. No one wants to cut more than the minimum that can possibly be justified at any given moment, which is why almost every company that cuts keeps cutting in a downward spiral until sale or bankruptcy... and thus why there's always another round, as every veteran knows.

Really nothing to see here at all.

Re: Twitter announces layoffs

#199

Post by ausjke »

How many employees does it have? I recall it's about 4000 or so, so this is like a 10% cut?

It's better to do a big axe once instead of slicing it gradually, will this be it?

Been there done that, and it sucks.

Re: Twitter announces layoffs

#200

Post by deepfriedbits »

cdubzzz wrote: post #115
jusben1369 wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Odd. While incredibly flawed it's still the single best toolto fight against censorship and public and private control. If you have doubts go look at how many national governments have blocked it at one time or another. The world is better off with a strong Twitter.

Saying it like that makes it sound too much like the brand is what is needed as opposed to the tool. To put your words another way: The world is better off with a strong tool to fight against censorship and public and private control. If Twitter starting taking massive cash payments from governments to filter content, it would be a strong Twitter with lots of cash, but not a strong tool to fight against anything.

Yes, but Twitter deserves credit for creating something that didn't exist. It's global IRC for the masses. That and it brought the Internet real-time search. That's huge and did not exist before Twitter.
Post reply on HN