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Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

nytimes.com

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Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#391

Post by marcyb5st »

twh270 wrote: post #262
otikik wrote: post #108

Earlier 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…

"Your job is not safe" does not mean you should do everything possible to keep your job -- allowing yourself to be unfairly exploited and abused. It means that you need to be responsible for yourself, and not allow thoughts like "I'm a valuable employee", or "I have too much seniority", or "my manager and I get along great" to convince you management won't lay you off or fire you or that they owe you anything. As oth…

I read it as: do the Barr minimum to meet expectations and nothing more because if they want to fire you your transformative impact is worth nothing

Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#392

Post by FrustratedMonky »

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…

""Never get invested emotionally.""

Second this, because it so hard. You pour yourself into something, and then management changes, direction changes, and suddenly your baby turns into crap. Your creation probably isn't even put out of its misery, it is allowed to live, but gets tortured, and mangled into some unholy abomination.

It can be very upsetting. I still dwell on a big project, get angry, tense, it is very unhealthy, and also difficult to let go.

Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#393

Post by ghaff »

rvz wrote: post #315
jillesvangurp wrote: post #83

Earlier 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…

> I actually got a fair deal and honestly I needed the wake up call that job security is a big illusion. I was just coasting in my career and a bit too comfortable. Many people fall for this and as long as you are an employee, no job is ever secure. > I've been doing startups and freelance work ever since. Which means I'm my own boss now and I've learned a lot in the decade since that happened. This gives some hope t…

And if you're not an employee, your biggest client can decide to "go in a different direction" at any time. Of course, you try to diversify but you're still subject to the economy, clients having management changes, etc.

Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#394

Post by Buhuhhuhu »

mindwok wrote: post #98

I'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…

For me this is very offputting and definitly makes me move faster out of that system.

I can either work for the next 30 years 40h a week and create some 'value' for companies like google and have nice holidays, etc. OR i don't.

And yes i can afford a very basic version of not working anymore already or at least no longer playing the game in some companies.

Wasn't there some Gen X/Z meme about quite quitting? Guess what could incluence this? Having an appreciation for your company and your companies management style.

Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#395

Post by ken47 »

hiq wrote: post #384
ken47 wrote: post #347

Google is overrated. It's been obvious for over a decade after they built an interview process that is heavily biased towards those who recently took an algorithms class. You had talking heads yammering about how hard it was to get into Google, which to be honest, made the company even less appealing. Is this a software engineering company or some kind of hyped up nightclub? Yeah, maybe it's a hard interview if you'v…

> It's been obvious for over a decade after they built an interview process that is heavily biased towards those who recently took an algorithms class. What would you do instead? Threads about tech interviews are always the same: we all complain about the process with no real alternative when you want to hire at that scale. In particular about: > Just about every other skill that is needed to be a good software engin…

I've seen plenty of HN threads where good alternative processes were described. I'm not going to be exhaustive here: writing a program over a few hours that is reflective of the kind of work that the company actually does, coming up with and debating the architecture of a system, mock code reviews, etc.

You might say these don't scale as well as standardized testing of university classical algorithms knowledge. The general response to that would be that if you're optimizing for scale, then you're not optimizing for quality, so stop the hype around Google only hiring "the best."

It's telling that as Google has begun to regularly lay off engineers, they have also begun to deemphasize classical algorithms in their interview process.

Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#396

Post by GoToRO »

lgkk wrote: post #183

It’s just business. And it’s not like swe aren’t making 400k or more at least in bay area. People need to understand that just because you have a little bit of RSUs and a 200k base doesn’t mean you’re God. You’re an asset like a machine. And you’re expensive to the bottom line. This is literally explicitly laid out now with section 174. If you’re taking this personally ask yourself why you’re even working for arguabl…

But we are a family!

Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#397

Post by [deleted] »

whiplash451 wrote: post #165
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…

> Take their fucking money, build a big emergency fund, save, invest. Very sane advice, but unfortunately not always an option. The likelihood of making real (not paper) life-changing money in a few years has considerably decreased in 5-10 years. It will only come back with a good pace of IPOs and investor-positive acquisitions.

[deleted]

Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#398

Post by bArray »

cebert wrote: post #318
bArray wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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) I've seen a manager at a large company make "once in 10 year cuts", then the next year make similar cuts. This was maybe 5/10 years ago and they still cut like this today - how on earth they are still operating I don't know. One…

> How many people work for a company now that they believe will be around in 10, 20, 50, 100 years time? There's an extremely high chance you will far outlive the company you work for. I’ve worked at the same company now for 14 years. If I chose to, I feel like there’s a good chance I could work another 15-25 years at the same firm. My company sells software to local, state, and federal government customers. There ar…

The company I'm speaking for is one of these government customers - and they are absolutely necessary with no competitors. I still think that given all that, they may be allowed to go bust simply because it is run so poorly and it might actually be better to start again.

Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#400

Post by ifyoubuildit »

lazyasciiart wrote: post #355
killerstorm wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it a bit hilarious that programmers feel entitled being employed for life in one company. Did you ever consider finishing the project? Getting it done and delivered? My first paid job as a programmer was like that. We made an exam software for university, a complete package covering the process from authoring test questions to making reports. We made it in 6 months and it was done. Finished. Working. There was…

You’re suggesting that Microsoft should be done with Windows by now, are you?

If only. Circa windows 7 era would have been a perfect time, just keep adding security updates and we'd be golden.
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