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GitLab announces workforce reduction and end of their CREDIT values

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211–220 of 750 posts

Re: GitLab announces workforce reduction and end of their CREDIT values

#211
post #92
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Middle management is also why there’s so many broken processes and challenges in the first place.

Middle management exists to turn conflicting marching orders from the directors into less conflicting marching orders for the line workers, and to keep any negative feedback on how fucking stupid the directors are from ever reaching them. They don't cause the broken processes. They are the symptom of a broken executive process. A fish rots from the head down, and the people at the top get exactly the kind of company…

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Re: GitLab announces workforce reduction and end of their CREDIT values

#213
post #37

>removing up to three layers of management in some functions so leaders are closer to the work. I wish them the best of luck with that plan. Middle management is where the institutional knowledge sits on how to actually get shit done despite challenges & broken processes/systems. It's an even worse plan than eliminating juniors.

middle management is hired to delegate but persists mostly grow itself and its influence

Re: GitLab announces workforce reduction and end of their CREDIT values

#214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are imagining that the opposite of DEI is discrimination, whereas most see the opposite of DEI as merit.

The irony is that DEI promotes merit by forcing companies to justify hiring beyond basic “cultural fit” vibes. I’ve been in the business and seen a ton of hires on vibes. DEI actually asked people to expand the talent search, not hire anyone unqualified (which is what the anti-DEI folks are desperate to have us believe it did). I predict some major EEO lawsuits will eventually bring the pendulum back in the other dir…

  > my sense is that the return to vibes hiring (and RIF-ing) is resulting in very actionable discrimination cases.
Your sense? Based on what?

Re: GitLab announces workforce reduction and end of their CREDIT values

#215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a 'github down' post here every other day. The ball is right there, bouncing alone in front of the goal, and they just have to position themselves as "we're the stable ones" to score that market when the exodus inevitably happens. Nope, full throttle and stimulants, just because.

GitLab was never going to be the ones to take the mantle GitHub left on the ground. They’re a “clone” company and have very few original ideas of their own.

GitHub was already pretty much perfected years ago IMHO. I’m not convinced we need that many original ideas here

Re: GitLab announces workforce reduction and end of their CREDIT values

#216
post #17

Their old CREDIT values: Collaboration, Results for Customers, Efficiency, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging, Iteration, and Transparency. New values: Speed with Quality, Ownership Mindset, Customer Outcomes. In other words, work harder, not smarter, and no more DEI.

> Ownership I've noticed that the more a company pushes on ownership the more difficult it is to actually execute it.

Whenever someone at work tells you to take more ownership, the correct response is: "Sure, I'll take more RSUs". Of course, that's never what they mean. Ownership for me, responsibility for thee.

Re: GitLab announces workforce reduction and end of their CREDIT values

#217
post #17

Their old CREDIT values: Collaboration, Results for Customers, Efficiency, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging, Iteration, and Transparency. New values: Speed with Quality, Ownership Mindset, Customer Outcomes. In other words, work harder, not smarter, and no more DEI.

It’s there, at the end, -ish:

> Interpersonal excellence: individuals who are good humans, embrace diversity, inclusion and belonging, assume good intent and treat everyone with respect

Re: GitLab announces workforce reduction and end of their CREDIT values

#218
post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How well would the tech industry do if they fired all the autistic people for "not being team players"? How many dev teams are there without at least one furry, trans person, or socially awkward geek?

If you're not a team player I'd expect you to be on the chopping block regardless of underlying race, mental, culture, ...

The problem is that people are being cut for not being perceived as a team player, because they don't exactly fit the narrow perspective avoided by the dominant social culture. That doesn't mean they aren't team players.

For example: someone not always looking into your eyes while talking can be perceived as "rude". Same for wearing noise-canceling headphones in a talk-heavy environment. Oh, you don't drink alcohol during the "optional" Friday-afternoon company mixer? That's just weird. Want to have a day off for Eid rather than Christmas? Wellll, you did ask for it six months in advance and we did approve it already, buuuuut Dave planned a last-minute meeting which conflicts with the mandatory team meeting, so we moved the mandatory team meeting onto your day off... We'll just pay the hours you spent doing first-line support during Christmas in cash, okay?

Re: GitLab announces workforce reduction and end of their CREDIT values

#219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're not a team player I'd expect you to be on the chopping block regardless of underlying race, mental, culture, ...

It’s not like we have a term like “individual contributor” or anything in the industry. I’ve worked with several excellent “just leave me alone” sysadmin types.

> It’s not like we have a term like “individual contributor” or anything in the industry.

Perhaps I'm missing something here.

To me "individual contributor" means anyone who is NOT: A (technical) "Lead", "Chief", "Architect", or (possibly) "Staff" anything, and has no management or team-leader responsibilities.

Re: GitLab announces workforce reduction and end of their CREDIT values

#220
post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ownership Mindset Every company I've worked at hammers the "ownership" idea and I hate it so much. It's how they drive a culture where employees are expected to invest themselves into "owning" a problem space that can be taken from them at any moment. It's how they trick you into doing extra work that's not in your job description. Unless you're ACTUALLY an owner, don't be fooled by an "ownership" value.

Ownership implies both accountability and agency. In practice you often get all of the accountability, none of the agency.

Ownership means just that, owning the company. The people pushing to place additional burden on workers are the actual owners (the investors and C level execs). Quite the hubris to create a fake class of "ownership" that only extends to taking responsibility and being held accountable but carries none of the benefits of actual ownership.
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