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Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions
281–290 of 1001 posts
Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions
#282Earlier quoted context omitted.
I see what you are saying. I am an engineer-turned-EM and you don't know me, so please take everything I say with a grain of salt: > Your job is NOT safe. Nothing will make execs happier than having this line of thought popularized amongst engineers. It will allow them to hire cheaper, and exploit existing engineers more. I think a better way to put it is: "A job is not your family, and a job is not your identity. Yo…
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…
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Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions
#283Fire engineering since it is expenses. Hire sales since they earn money.
I don't see this comment going down well here regardless of how much truth there may be to it.
Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions
#284Earlier quoted context omitted.
Better put, the relationship you have with your employer is a business relation ship. It's not personal. They are not your friends, nor your enemies. It's simply a convenient arrangement between the two of you for as long as that lasts. And it might become convenient for either side to change that arrangement at any point. The more you earn, the higher the risk that at some point somebody decides that they want to sp…
And this goes both ways, employees can go out as they please. The opposite party usually get hurt when it happens (either the firing or employee go out), and usually coworkers / existing workers that get the bad things. So in my experience, don't get too attached to company (or coworker either), and go out if things start to go south or if there's better opportunity out there.
> And this goes both ways, employees can go out as they please.
Spoken like a man who never needed healthcare, who never had dependents, who never lived under the cage of a visa.
Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions
#285Seriously, why people in tech are opposed to unions? In Europe, unions and Betriebsrat (works committee) are the norm. Why not in the US?
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.
Low salaries in tech in EU is not related to unions. Most software jobs are outside of unions. There amount of money in the EU industry is lower and people are ok to low salaries. It is an open market: people are getting paid bare minimum.
Covid and remote work shift changed a bit, though. Salaries in the EU tech grown dramatically.
Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions
#286Layoffs are always counter-productive as going forward employees take fewer risks, to evade being the one laid off. Layoffs kill innovation.
must disagree. A bloated company is the killer of innovation. Job security is no indicator for innovation. In fact, the most unsecure job produce the most innovative Tech (see Startups).
This viewport is very misleading. Startups don’t produce the most innovative tech _because_ they’re less secure.
Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions
#287Earlier quoted context omitted.
I really don't agree with this line of thinking. > Mass layoffs work when there was over-hiring Ok, let's define "over-hiring". Google... had 99k employees in 2018, 119k in 2019, 135k in 2020, 156k in 2021, 190k in 2022, 174k in 2023. and made $136b in 2018, $161b in 2019, $182b in 2020, $257b in 2021, $282b in 2022, $297b in 2023. They basically doubled their headcount to double their revenue. How is that over-hirin…
Not necessarily. If your revenue curve is trailing your hiring curve by N years, you need to stop hiring N years before your revenue curve plateaus.
Yes, you need to stop hiring, great call.
Have they stopped hiring? Uhhhh...
That really tells you all you need to know about the cynicism.
Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions
#288Earlier 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?
Being an asshole while in charge and then back to nice, empathic person once he doesn't have any power over other people any more
Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions
#289I'm surprised to see so many comments here taking layoffs personally, or talking about how layoffs are stupid. Layoffs are not personal, and the corollary to that is that you should never treat your company as a friend. It's a company trying to maximize value. Also, layoffs do work. Almost every large, successful company has done them at some stage. They are an expected, and necessary, part of operating a company and…
> Research has long shown that layoffs have a detrimental effect on individuals and on corporate performance. The short-term cost savings provided by a layoff are often overshadowed by bad publicity, loss of knowledge, weakened engagement, higher voluntary turnover, and lower innovation — all of which hurt profits in the long run. To make intelligent and humane staffing decisions in the current economic turmoil, leaders must understand what’s different about today’s larger social landscape. The authors also share strategies for a smarter approach to workforce change.
https://hbr.org/2022/12/what-companies-still-get-wrong-about...
Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions
#290My 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…
> SWEs in particularly no longer live in a world where you can expect to have a rewarding career working for >=5 years at any given firm
Doesn't this apply to everyone?