> The last real deflation in tech was all the way back in 2000, 2001. There’s almost no one working in tech now who was around for that. Oh?
Tech companies according to people that don't actually work in them.
Silicon Valley layoffs aren’t a cost-cutting measure. They’re a culture reset
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Re: Silicon Valley layoffs aren’t a cost-cutting measure. They’re a culture reset
#22> And as petty a thing as, “We’re going to give you smaller to-go boxes so you can’t take the steak we’re giving you and go feed your family with it.”
That's not "petty" – people shouldn't have been doing that in the first place. A take-home box should be for you, not so you can pile up food to "feed your family".
Re: Silicon Valley layoffs aren’t a cost-cutting measure. They’re a culture reset
#23> And as petty a thing as, “We’re going to give you smaller to-go boxes so you can’t take the steak we’re giving you and go feed your family with it.”
That's what she thinks is petty? I wonder if she feels the same about replacing snack bars and drink fridges with free vending machines to slow down the workers who fill their backpacks full of Odwalla, Monster, and expensive snacks every night.
These benefits were worthwhile when employees appreciated them, but appeasing increasingly hostile and entitled workers is a losing battle.
Re: Silicon Valley layoffs aren’t a cost-cutting measure. They’re a culture reset
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
> childish perks like free food Ahh yes, food, such a childish thing.
Conveniently dropped the ‘free’ I see. Whenever I interviewed with companies and they mentioned free meals or fridges full of sodas as a perk, that was a red flag. Companies like IBM and Microsoft had on-site cafeterias and coffee shops usually with subsidized pricing and it never came up in in interviews.
Free lunches are childish to you?
Paying for food as a captive audience is very mature? I guess I'm glad to be childish :)
Re: Silicon Valley layoffs aren’t a cost-cutting measure. They’re a culture reset
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
Depends on where you work, obviously. In my organization (at a FAANG), people in their 40s are probably a (very slim) majority.
I'm also at a FAANG, and work with a lot of people in their 40's
They obviously exist but from a quick and dirty google search it looks like there was roughly 500k-600k software engineers in 2000 and over 4 million today in the US. Even if zero of the ones from 2000 attritioned out they’d be ~13% of the work force and I highly doubt none of them have retired in a 2 decade span
Re: Silicon Valley layoffs aren’t a cost-cutting measure. They’re a culture reset
#26> The last real deflation in tech was all the way back in 2000, 2001. There’s almost no one working in tech now who was around for that. Oh?
Tech companies according to people that don't actually work in them.
When layoffs happen, people project their fears and insecurities about their own fate by attempting to create perceived differences and virtues that separate them from those affected, mostly to convince themselves that their situation is different and it won’t happen to them. “Ha, those childish perks, and immature people working at those companies not shipping value.”
Read that as “I envied them before, but hopefully my suffering will be worth it if I don’t lose my job”.
It’s pretty sad and unpleasant to watch.
Re: Silicon Valley layoffs aren’t a cost-cutting measure. They’re a culture reset
#27> The last real deflation in tech was all the way back in 2000, 2001. There’s almost no one working in tech now who was around for that. Oh?
I do declare!
Re: Silicon Valley layoffs aren’t a cost-cutting measure. They’re a culture reset
#28The Silicon Valley culture was aimed at attracting younger talent away from established companies, with childish perks like free food and video games, and a less rigid work structure. But it was never going be sustainable. At the core, the ‘promise’ that these new tech companies alluded to one day had to actually appear. And the slow creep of government regulation was always going to catch up too. I always assumed mo…
> childish perks like free food Ahh yes, food, such a childish thing.
To be fair, the free food was intentionally to create a collegiate type environment.
But I think it’s a universally good perk for more than children. It’s tax efficient (company pre-tax and non-profit expense vs post-income-tax expensive), and it keeps people around the office and around their employees. Keeping employees at work with their coworkers is for sure good for business.
Re: Silicon Valley layoffs aren’t a cost-cutting measure. They’re a culture reset
#29As long as tech companies remain fantastically profitable the culture will not change. I see this as just a sour grapes piece from a journalist who has to cover tech from outside the bubble.
> As long as tech companies remain fantastically profitable the culture will not change.
I think it’s slowly changing. Maybe not getting “boring” and stodgy but changing. The culture from fb and goog in 2005 of crazy perks like food is probably going away. It’s probably be replaced with new things, like WFH and super funded 401ks and cushy healthcare. It’s a sign of an aging workforce and a changing WFH first culture. Eg Google provided digital (and pricy) reusable Covid test kits to everyone during the pandemic.
Re: Silicon Valley layoffs aren’t a cost-cutting measure. They’re a culture reset
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
Conveniently dropped the ‘free’ I see. Whenever I interviewed with companies and they mentioned free meals or fridges full of sodas as a perk, that was a red flag. Companies like IBM and Microsoft had on-site cafeterias and coffee shops usually with subsidized pricing and it never came up in in interviews.
Free lunches are childish to you? Paying for food as a captive audience is very mature? I guess I'm glad to be childish :)
Well you could actually very much look at it as childish.
The "free" food is obviously paid for by the company with money that could otherwise go to salaries.
If everyone got higher salaries and food was charged for, then you could make choices about spending money in the cafeteria or saving money bringing food from home. Adults make choices.
By making the decision for you that you'll take the lower salary but get unlimited food, the choice is being made for you, much like a parent decides for a child.
So yes, there's a very strong argument to be made that "free" lunch takes away adult autonomy and is indeed "childish".