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

Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

271–280 of 1001 posts

Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#271

Post by jbu »

andsoitis wrote: post #59
nly wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TINA when CPI inflation (in the UK) is has been 18% in just 2 years.

> TINA when CPI inflation (in the UK) is has been 18% in just 2 years. The UK inflation rate was 3.9 percent in November 2023, down from 4.6 percent in the previous month. Between September 2022 and March 2023, the UK experienced seven months of double-digit inflation which peaked at 11.1 percent in October 2022. https://www.statista.com/statistics/306648/inflation-rate-co...

That's why we now have the Vimes Boot Index - https://www.vimesbootsindex.co.uk/

Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#272

Post by ur-whale »

sinuhe69 wrote: post #127

Seriously, why people in tech are opposed to unions? In Europe, unions and Betriebsrat (works committee) are the norm. Why not in the US?

> Why not in the US?

How many large tech. companies has Europe produced ?

Why would (or even: could) anyone start/build a cutting-edge tech. company in Europe given the hell that labor laws are over there ?

Labor laws in Europe are a giant hindrance to economic growth.

People in most European countries have made a political choice: safety and stagnation over wealth and growth.

That's their choice, fine, they're free to do as they please in their own house.

But when you make a choice, you can't ignore the consequences of these choices.

That's why "not in the US":

Different political choices, betting on growth, agility, innovation, running fast, and yes -- ooooh, what a terrible thing -- taking risks, and among others that employment may come and go because the world is not a static place.

Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#273

Post by mapcars »

freetinker wrote: post #113
wayfinder wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google is good at making algorithms and tech but product development and long term vision have never been its strong points.

Institutionally, Google has the attention span of a Goldfish. Apple will continue to entrench their position as a leader in edge computing. Apple deserve their success; I hope they don’t get complacent once the Pixel division implodes.

Even if technically Apple is capable their predatory business models will never make me consider any of their products worth it.

Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#274

Post by trashtester »

Snild wrote: post #258
trashtester wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One reason is that in times of high growth, unions tend to be a limiting factor to innovation, growth and worker compensation, especially for top performers. Another is that during layoffs, unions may force the company to lay off people based on seniority instead of competency. If you compare salaries for developers between Germany and the US, I think this point becomes blatantly clear.

> during layoffs, unions may force the company to lay off people based on seniority instead of competency. Interesting. That's the default by law here in Sweden, but can be negotiated with the union -- usually in exchange for better severance compensation.

I actually had Sweden in mind when writing it.

Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#275

Post by peacemaker »

geraldwhen wrote: post #251
sz4kerto wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree and I am sad that we're teaching each other to be skeptical and cynical. The company is not your friend and not your enemy, I agree. However, people _do_ develop personal relationship with each other. Sometimes even across the different levels in the company hierarchy. Yes, as with any other relationship, circumstances and interests might override this, but relationships still do matter. People have emotio…

This is just unrealistic. When layoffs happens, whole departments can get cut. They don’t differentiate performers. Likewise, there is a huge bias in hiring against older developers. Getting laid off in your 40s is a death sentence. You’ll never make as much money again, and you’ll be lucky to find employment. Be ready to retire by 50, because anything else is both risky and improbable.

The idea that you must retire from tech before 50 is so incredibly false I have difficulty believing this view is even shared here.

Perhaps in some of the "trendy" "bro-culture" startups you'd have a more difficult time as an older developer but even in those places, the level of experience and skills older devs bring can be extremely valuable.

But say you were laid off in your 40's, now what? Well, there are so many bigger, less volatile companies out there with solid pay that are desperate for senior people with experience. There's also consulting for those who have spent a career building up a network of contacts. You can still leverage those old contacts for future opportunities as well.

Governmental work and such is also a place where age is not a concern. Here I agree you might not make as much money but employment is always available to developers who are skilled, experienced and flexible.

Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#276

Post by redwood »

nly wrote: post #35

My firm made billions last year too and just laid off hundreds of engineers (a decent %) Some of the best engineers, those that I respected the most, went. People who make no sense. After last year's layoffs they told us they were "done" and it was "all behind us". Last year then turned out to a better year financially than 2022 (we have access to the top line numbers) You can't trust anything anyone above you in the…

Re "we have access to top line numbers".

Consider that that's only a part of the picture. Revenue minus costs, combined with the growth dynamics and constituent nature of both tell a fuller picture. Top line alone is almost meaningless

Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#277

Post by bomewish »

ngrilly wrote: post #76
nly wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait until your manager is laid off and you're talking to them afterward. This has happened to me twice in my career and both times its like you're talking to a whole different person. In my cynical opinion, being that different person is the number 1 trait companies look for when selecting managers

How different were they (your managers) before and after being laid off?

+1 super curious

Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#278

Post by dathinab »

conradfr wrote: post #180
resolutebat wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? And why are you working there?

On the other hand, how many times in your career have you stayed at a company more than 9 years?

Honestly as long as a company has enough variety internally I (slightly) prefer staying with until they "go bad".

Now I also prefer startups and my carrier isn't yet that old (like ~8 years) so never is still the answer.

Through companies being often way less likely to give a trusted long term employee a payrise or trust them with more responsibilities then they are to do so with a new hired employee they have hard times to properly judge the skill of is still an (absurd but not IT specific) issue.

Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#279

Post by gumballindie »

azangru wrote: post #117
nly wrote: post #35

My firm made billions last year too and just laid off hundreds of engineers (a decent %) Some of the best engineers, those that I respected the most, went. People who make no sense. After last year's layoffs they told us they were "done" and it was "all behind us". Last year then turned out to a better year financially than 2022 (we have access to the top line numbers) You can't trust anything anyone above you in the…

> You can be somewhere for 10 years Our organization has a policy that it hires developers on 3-year contracts, and renews them no more than two times. So when you have reached 9 years in the org; when you have become intimately familiar with the domain, and the codebase, and the way the org works etc., you are out. I am still incredulous that someone has thought that yes, this is exactly how an organization should m…

Not that I am insensitive to one’s predicament, but who takes 9 years to become familiar with a domain? Unless it’s some kind of software that runs a special kind of nuclear submarine that no one knows how it works and no one want to change more than one line of code per year.

Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#280

Post by collyw »

teitoklien wrote: post #145
sinuhe69 wrote: post #127

Seriously, why people in tech are opposed to unions? In Europe, unions and Betriebsrat (works committee) are the norm. Why not in the US?

You add unions in tech, and then wonder why dev salaries in EU and the UK are so abysmally low.

Nah, Spain has crap salaries, and I have never heard of unions here.
Post reply on HN