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Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

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Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#341

I work for Stripe and got laid off this morning. Sucks because my manager was only told this morning, and didn't have a chance to talk about how well I was doing or take any part in the decision making. We'll at least I'll get a break. I worked nights and weekends all of October.

I believe that this is the case for all employees laid off by Stripe, including myself.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#342

It is far better to be a massive underperformer at three jobs than be a good employee at one. Layoffs that are large usually have nothing to do with performance as if they did, word would leak. This is why I feel no guilt over letting my teams down repeatedly. It doesn't matter unless you are bad enough to fire.

> It is far better to be a massive underperformer at three jobs than be a good employee at one

Can you explain this? Do you mean working three jobs at once?

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#343
post #20

> In making these changes, you might reasonably wonder whether Stripe’s leadership made some errors of judgment. We’d go further than that. In our view, we made two very consequential mistakes, and we want to highlight them here since they’re important: > - We were much too optimistic about the internet economy’s near-term growth in 2022 and 2023 and underestimated both the likelihood and impact of a broader slowdown…

> We were much too optimistic about the internet economy’s near-term growth in 2022 and 2023

A lot of this was driven by covid-cautious WFH culture. Someone working from home in the Bay Area in January 2022 might not realize the extent other industries are back in the office and other regions are done with covid.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#344
post #90
post #47

Hey pc, if you're around: > John and I are fully responsible for the decisions leading up to it. What are the two of you doing to show accountability? Are you slashing your own future stock grants, cutting your own salaries, diluting your positions with stock grants to everyone else? What's the consequence for this decision on your end that shows you're accountable for what happened, not just responsible for it? Sinc…

That's in the email: Severance pay. We will pay 14 weeks of severance for all departing employees, and more for those with longer tenure. That is, those departing will be paid until at least February 21st 2023. Bonus. We will pay our 2022 annual bonus for all departing employees, regardless of their departure date. (It will be prorated for people hired in 2022.) PTO. We’ll pay for all unused PTO time (including in re…

> PTO. We’ll pay for all unused PTO time (including in regions where that’s not legally required).

I'm sorry, but the wording rather funny. That sort of suggests that it was somehow an option to not pay for used PTO, even if they are legally required to.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#346
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's in the email: Severance pay. We will pay 14 weeks of severance for all departing employees, and more for those with longer tenure. That is, those departing will be paid until at least February 21st 2023. Bonus. We will pay our 2022 annual bonus for all departing employees, regardless of their departure date. (It will be prorated for people hired in 2022.) PTO. We’ll pay for all unused PTO time (including in re…

The last time I got laid off, my severance was basically enough to buy a bus ticket to the unemployment office. What they're doing here is incredible. (Almost felt compelled to name names here but took a breath)

> (Almost felt compelled to name names here but took a breath)

You should still do it.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#347

I would like to offer some tips for those faced with the potential of layoffs that I have compiled. I understand much of these come too late for those already affected, but for those worried about the prospect, these can help to ease the pain if it does happen: • Check if your company pays out unused PTO, sick days, etc as cash. If they do, do not use any of the applicable type(s) unless you are going to lose it. • H…

> unused PTO

This is required in California.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#348
post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what I hate about the internet rage machine. No research was done by people automatically assuming that the company was just going to send the employees packing with “thoughts and prayers”. That’s very generous severance and the company doing right by its employees. I don’t know how long the process is for non US citizens. But in my over 25 year career, and changing jobs eight times as a software developer, i…

> This is what I hate about the internet rage machine. I think the issue (also related to how we interface with the internet) is that most of these replies completely dodged the question. The OP was asking about personal accountability, not about "how are your going to make this as palatable as possible?" Consider two scenarios: (1) A manager fires half their workforce, but gives them a generous severance. In respons…

My ex worked in a tiny office, the company got into trouble and her boss was asked to cut $###K from payroll. He had to cut at least one person that they really needed. It was bad.

In theory he had to cut her too, because he was something like $30K short of the goal and her salary as an office admin would have more than covered that. But then he’d have to do her job. His solution was to cut his own salary enough to hit the target to the decimal point.

They landed a new contract a handful of months later and were eventually able to hire back one of the people they lost.

I think he may have even backdated some raises they missed out on. He was her best boss.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#349

It is far better to be a massive underperformer at three jobs than be a good employee at one. Layoffs that are large usually have nothing to do with performance as if they did, word would leak. This is why I feel no guilt over letting my teams down repeatedly. It doesn't matter unless you are bad enough to fire.

> It is far better to be a massive underperformer at three jobs than be a good employee at one Can you explain this? Do you mean working three jobs at once?

Yes. Find three remote jobs. It is what I do.

Re: Stripe laying off around 14% of workforce

#350

I work for Stripe and got laid off this morning. Sucks because my manager was only told this morning, and didn't have a chance to talk about how well I was doing or take any part in the decision making. We'll at least I'll get a break. I worked nights and weekends all of October.

> I worked nights and weekends all of October.

Just in October? Has this happened before?

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