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Googler... ex-Googler

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Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#41

Post by gizmondo »

somesortofthing wrote: post #30
ivraatiems wrote: post #9

The reality of one's lack of value to one's own employer is often baffling. It makes you wonder how anyone manages to stay employed at all, since apparently everyone is replicable and unimportant. I have been through layoffs where other people on my team, doing the same job I did approximately as well, got laid off. No explanation given for why them and not me. And it could happen to me at any time. It doesn't matter…

Layoffs in particular are like this because they're planned very quickly by very small groups of people. Rumors of impending layoffs obliterate morale, so the people in charge do everything they can to maintain secrecy and minimize the time between people hearing about layoffs and the layoffs taking effect. This basically always translates to random-seeming decisions - priority 1 is to cut costs by X amount, choosing…

In this particular case the impending layoff was basically obvious to everyone months in advance (see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42893463).

Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#42

Post by lifestyleguru »

morcus wrote: post #35
lifestyleguru wrote: post #26

[flagged]

This is someone's personal blog, and it seems like it wasn't posted by the person that owns the blog. Have the decency to just ignore and move on next time.

I say it as a person who had to get over it myself at some point. You will never win with colleagues who are all into politics and desperate to hold and advance their position. Let them have it, hopefully they'll tear off each other heads.

Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#43

Post by mathgeek »

disgruntledphd2 wrote: post #38
austhrow743 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least for me it’s more like “this guys career is still way better than mine so it’s hard to think of his situation as suffering”.

It's still hard. Maybe he or she has had better luck and opportunities than you, but that doesn't mean they don't suffer just as much when bad things happen. We're all on this rock together, and either nobody's pain is worthy or everyone's is.

> We're all on this rock together, and either nobody's pain is worthy or everyone's is.

This overgeneralizes IMHO. While the pain of being laid off due to something other than your own actions is fine, there are certainly folks out there who cause a lot of pain to others and aren't worthy of universal sympathy when their own pain comes along.

Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#44

Post by john-h-k »

austhrow743 wrote: post #34
ycombinatrix wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

At least for me it’s more like “this guys career is still way better than mine so it’s hard to think of his situation as suffering”.

If someone much richer and with a better career than me got punched in the face i would still see that as suffering. I don’t know why someone’s situation being better means they can’t be suffering

Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#45

Post by h4ckaerman »

> Googler...

Whole things reads like someone leaving a cult.

It's ok to be sad about leaving a job but your identity shouldn't be so tied up in it that you're crying in a blog post online.

We all lose jobs and we all get on with it. Obviously they're talented and will land fine somewhere.

I'm not trying to be mean but it's bad that a person can get upset to this point around a job. The corp isn't caring.

Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#46

Post by greatgib »

A strong but constant reminder that companies are not your family or friends despite what will say the corporate bullshit.

You should never invest more of your time and energy than what is expected for your position. And keep your side activities and hobbies as personal things using your personal email and accounts.

This is also why you should not owe fidelity to your company and don't hesitate to switch if you have a good opportunity because on its side the company will not hesitate.

Everything might be good and you can generate money, and still the day you are in a redundancy for whatever reason you will be worthing nothing to the company. Like that, just like a replaceable cog. And you will be badly handled because "it is the company policy and we can't do anything than being harsh in such a situation".

The worse is that usually the decision is non-sense but the one deciding is not the one that has to deal with the decision and with you. So you will try to argue, and they will try to invent reasons to rationalize the decision that is imposed on them also, you will try to contest, and they will become angry to have their bullshit called and will double down... And you will feel bad, not understand the situation.

The only thing I can tell you is the that if you are in such a situation is to not worry and go on, except in rare cases, for everyone I saw it happened, the event was finally for the best because the next step in their life was better in the end: better job, better salary, better project, being able to do what you always dreamed to like create a company or evolve your career.

Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#47

Post by pjmlp »

ivraatiems wrote: post #9

The reality of one's lack of value to one's own employer is often baffling. It makes you wonder how anyone manages to stay employed at all, since apparently everyone is replicable and unimportant. I have been through layoffs where other people on my team, doing the same job I did approximately as well, got laid off. No explanation given for why them and not me. And it could happen to me at any time. It doesn't matter…

This is a lesson that all senior developers know pretty well, that is why companies rather hire naive juniors, instead folks that already mastered how the game gets played, and cannot be sold on company mission, values, or whatever snake oil gets talked about during interview process.

Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#48

Post by mistrial9 »

weinzierl wrote: post #22
ivraatiems wrote: post #9

The reality of one's lack of value to one's own employer is often baffling. It makes you wonder how anyone manages to stay employed at all, since apparently everyone is replicable and unimportant. I have been through layoffs where other people on my team, doing the same job I did approximately as well, got laid off. No explanation given for why them and not me. And it could happen to me at any time. It doesn't matter…

"I have been through layoffs where other people on my team, doing the same job I did approximately as well, got laid off. No explanation given for why them and not me. And it could happen to me at any time." Usually there is a hidden variable that you don't know. It is your salary. That is why it sometimes looks surprising when senior roles are cut that look extremely valuable to the company from the outset. Maybe th…

ok, and also "big thieves hate little thieves." Very-well paid executives (stock) remove very well paid employees (salary) and benefit from the actions. This is an old situation in industrial business -- the high tech crowd are filled with self-grandeur and do not believe it, on a large scale IMHO.

Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#49

Post by grayhatter »

h4ckaerman wrote: post #45

> Googler... Whole things reads like someone leaving a cult. It's ok to be sad about leaving a job but your identity shouldn't be so tied up in it that you're crying in a blog post online. We all lose jobs and we all get on with it. Obviously they're talented and will land fine somewhere. I'm not trying to be mean but it's bad that a person can get upset to this point around a job. The corp isn't caring.

[flagged]

Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#50

Post by chanux »

lifestyleguru wrote: post #42
morcus wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is someone's personal blog, and it seems like it wasn't posted by the person that owns the blog. Have the decency to just ignore and move on next time.

I say it as a person who had to get over it myself at some point. You will never win with colleagues who are all into politics and desperate to hold and advance their position. Let them have it, hopefully they'll tear off each other heads.

In my first reading your original reply sounded rude. After reading this, it sounds you are relating with the author and airing your frustration from a similar experience.

I'm off to do some coding with natural language.

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