Tesla to Cut 10% of Jobs • Hacker News Board

Re: Tesla to Cut 10% of Jobs

#21

Post by cmrdporcupine » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 1:07 PM UTC

tootie wrote: post #12

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #6

Uh,ok... Two days ago the "Who is hiring" thread here had something like 20+ software engineering positions for Tesla. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31585021 More erratic decision making from Mr Musk. Like, I dunno, the time he told Twitter he was taking Tesla private while tripping on LSD. He needs to step aside from Tesla at this point.

It's possible they are still hiring for software and laying off for other areas.

I'm sure that's the case. But personally I wouldn't want to be a SWE in that kind of scenario. Dumpster fire all around you and company as a whole pivoting to austerity while at the same time hiring 20+ software engineers? When I see that many open postings at once, alarm bells go off.

Re: Tesla to Cut 10% of Jobs

#22

Post by javajosh » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 1:08 PM UTC

drfuchs wrote: post #13

Anybody care to speculate on the chance that Twitter forces their sale to him, and then TSLA goes down far enough that Musk gets a margin call on the loan he's using to finance the purchase, and he loses everything? Or at least half of everything?

I think it's a very high likelihood. Why? Because Musk is idea-driven and doesn't really care about money, so he is the perfect person to harness with financial and legal obligation, because he will continue to pull no matter what. Sure it's slavery with extra steps, plus so many people hate Musk there's not even a cultural downside!

Re: Tesla to Cut 10% of Jobs

#23

Post by adverbly » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 1:09 PM UTC

Let me get this straight:

"Work 80 hr weeks! Be just like me!"

Musk: becomes worlds richest person

Employees: laid off

What planet do you live on where you see this as a sustainable, world-improving system for the world and for compensation? Anyone that works 50 hr weeks for this dude is out of their mind.

Re: Tesla to Cut 10% of Jobs

#24

Post by alkonaut » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 1:09 PM UTC

that_guy_iain wrote: post #11

akmittal wrote: post #5

So this was not enough? https://mobile.twitter.com/BBCWorld/status/15320445618071797...

Well, that happened yesterday and is probably part of their process of reducing numbers by 10%. It's better if they quit than if they're laid off.

Except if yo lay off 10% you get to cut (at least some of) the 10% you want to get rid off. And if you rely on persuading people to quit by reducing satisfaction, you'll get rid of a large chunk of the 10% best employees instead.

Re: Tesla to Cut 10% of Jobs

#25

Post by mjr00 » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 1:10 PM UTC

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #6

Uh,ok... Two days ago the "Who is hiring" thread here had something like 20+ software engineering positions for Tesla. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31585021 More erratic decision making from Mr Musk. Like, I dunno, the time he told Twitter he was taking Tesla private while tripping on LSD. He needs to step aside from Tesla at this point.

Not defending Tesla or Musk specifically here, but this happens all the time. Until you're ready to announce to internal staff (and publicly, if you're large enough) that you're in a hiring freeze and/or doing layoffs, you need to keep up appearances that things are operating normally, even if that means keeping up the recruiting pipeline for positions that you have no intention of hiring.

The absolute worst thing you can do is go into a "soft freeze" mode where new hires slowly stop getting approved, backfills aren't happening, middle management gets told that hiring will be revisited next quarter, etc. Non-management employees will notice this and you'll start getting rumors circulating and people leaving.

Re: Tesla to Cut 10% of Jobs

#26

Post by leroman » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 1:10 PM UTC

If people are afraid for their jobs (or more generally about the economy) they are more likely to do what you say..

WFH.. criticism about Twitter.. all things better discussed when economy recovers.. how convenient..

Re: Tesla to Cut 10% of Jobs

#27

Post by watwut » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 1:11 PM UTC

that_guy_iain wrote: post #11

akmittal wrote: post #5

So this was not enough? https://mobile.twitter.com/BBCWorld/status/15320445618071797...

Well, that happened yesterday and is probably part of their process of reducing numbers by 10%. It's better if they quit than if they're laid off.

> It's better if they quit than if they're laid off.

For who?

Re: Tesla to Cut 10% of Jobs

#28

Post by kenferry » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 1:13 PM UTC

that_guy_iain wrote: post #18

ericbarrett wrote: post #16

A couple of days ago somebody posted this Reddit thread: https://old.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/v2lpdw/e... "Tesla expanded massively during Covid, as of now half of the dev team(including me) don’t have parking space or desk. It’s physically impossible for everyone to return to office. "Should I ignore the email, or should I drive to the office and sit under the stairs?" Commenters' general feeling was…

They can and will buy desks.

When people say “no desk” what they mean is “no space in the building to allocate a desk”.

Re: Tesla to Cut 10% of Jobs

#29

Post by rinze » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 1:13 PM UTC

So the message here seems to be "if you want your employees to leave, make them return to the office".

Re: Tesla to Cut 10% of Jobs

#30

Post by snarf21 » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 1:14 PM UTC

drfuchs wrote: post #13

Anybody care to speculate on the chance that Twitter forces their sale to him, and then TSLA goes down far enough that Musk gets a margin call on the loan he's using to finance the purchase, and he loses everything? Or at least half of everything?

Go read Matt Levine's latest .. He already massively changed the part that is margin, etc. because of the huge drop in TSLA price.