I prefer to only work with people who have been laid off. The reason is I can't stand all these "I'll do anything for the company types."
Truth is they are dumb and naive.
Getting Laid Off in Tech: The Myth of Upper Middle Class Security
51–60 of 198 posts
Re: Getting Laid Off in Tech: The Myth of Upper Middle Class Security
#52Author is 22 years old, and was not laid off. But, because some peers were – from Snap, a boom-times high-flyer – he's now facing a crisis-of-confidence, first in himself, and then in what feelings of security might be available from reaching "[t]he upper middle-class, the professional class, that venerable example of American wealth and mobility".
Well, of course working for a single hot company at 22 doesn't mean your career is set for life. What, did he think he was going to retire at Snap?
There were idiosyncratically high expectations here... and now there's an idiosyncratically low mood, concluding "you do not have power. Remember that, always... being a well-ground cog is exactly what sustains our machine of systemic oppression, benefiting no one but those above."
That reads more like personal depression than an accurate extrapolation of lessons from his recent experience. Wait until he sees a dot-com crash, or a 2008-recession – then some broad despair might be (temporarily) justifiable. But even then, people with skills and creativity bounce back, and thrive. Not just in tech, but other sectors, too.
But to do so, you can't let a disappointment like a layoff (of yourself or, as here, others) send you into maudlin rumination about your own inherent powerlessness, and the 'systemic oppression' that sometimes paying gigs end sooner than you'd hoped. At least you can't stay in that mindset for very long.
You can look at the same facts and instead focus on what power you do have – the time and ability to build skills, relationships and savings that can deliver security across many possible futures and industry cycles, without reliance on any single employer's choices.
The people actually laid-off here may handle things better than this author – because they have no choice but to dust themselves off and engage with a broader world. And when a few months or a year later, they realize they're in a better place than Snap, they'll have less of the "woe-is-us" hopelessness expressed by this author.
Re: Getting Laid Off in Tech: The Myth of Upper Middle Class Security
#53Having been laid off due to downsizing, I think everyone should go through it at least once. Sure, the first time will leave you panic stricken, but you'll come out the other side with a lot more clarity about the employee-employer relationship. You are disposable. Even the CEO is disposable (as I've seen many times). Once you realize that, you'll stop the BS about loyalty to your company. It's a business arrangement…
Throwaway account because I'm currently in the middle of being laid off ("redundancy" in UK). I thought I always had that somewhat-cynical outlook by default, coming from a leftist family; but still, the unfairness of this process (first time for me in 20 years of work) boils my blood. Metrics massaged to target this and that, backstabbing, disrespecting people who built the company... all that will forever scar the…
I'm not sure how that would work. I completely agree that layoffs suck, but when a company is at that point, it's usually because other options have been exhausted. But turning a bunch of people out who have never run a company (presumably) as a spinoff seems pretty cruel in most cases. Edit: most of my experience being laid off has been at startups, where I guess it's a bit different from big companies.
Re: Getting Laid Off in Tech: The Myth of Upper Middle Class Security
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
Throwaway account because I'm currently in the middle of being laid off ("redundancy" in UK). I thought I always had that somewhat-cynical outlook by default, coming from a leftist family; but still, the unfairness of this process (first time for me in 20 years of work) boils my blood. Metrics massaged to target this and that, backstabbing, disrespecting people who built the company... all that will forever scar the…
Can you elaborate on the idea that companies should spin off departments? On the face of it, I don't see how that could work, but I probably don't understand your idea fully.
I also did not understand how that could work in most cases.
I agree with allanienhuis, that it can work well for products.
I was myself working on a mobile app (before they were really a thing) at Nokia. The app was for analyzing golf swings. There was a department working on sports related products. Someone decided to streamline the company (around 2002 or so I guess - nothing major back then), and this department was killed.
We were allowed to spin off the app and related IP to our own company, and were able to continue working on it. At the time I think it was a win-win for both sides.
Re: Getting Laid Off in Tech: The Myth of Upper Middle Class Security
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you elaborate on the idea that companies should spin off departments? On the face of it, I don't see how that could work, but I probably don't understand your idea fully.
The idea might work better for products than departments. I worked for an employer who did exactly that when one of the new product/business they'd built wasn't growing (enough?) to warrant more investment. So he set up a couple of the developers working on the product with the rights to the product and helped work out new contracts with the existing handful of clients (it was large enterprise software). There was en…
But was the alternative in that case to fire the two employees? It sounds more like the case that they wanted to cut the product.
Specifically, in the case of the article, spinning off the redundant employees leaving them in a new firm with no product and no revenue sounds like a cruelly dystopian option. And if the company was willing to put money into it, I'm pretty sure most employees would prefer that as a severance package instead.
Re: Getting Laid Off in Tech: The Myth of Upper Middle Class Security
#56I'm not certain what he expects: lifetime risk-free employment? Yeah, there's stress involved with risk. But the risk one has as an upper-middle-class American is tech is nothing compared to the risks that others alive today face, and less than nothing compared to the risks that others in the past have faced. Nothing last forever. Not a job — not even one's life. Make the most of it while you can.
Author here. Not sure why you're being downvoted, I completely I agree with this. The fact that even upper middle class doesn't guarantee any real security was a huge wake-up call for me, and I can't imagine what it's like for everyone else.
'The best security is insecurity.' -- a concept that became apparent to me early on, and has served me well.
To realize that whatever security there once was on corporate jobs is at best a vanishing illusion. To realize that the way forward isn't to build on a rock that will likely be flooded at some point, but to realize that you must surf.
While that doesn't mean that it'll all be great, it does prepare you for when the wave does crash down on you and pummel you into the sandy bottom -- you get back in the mix a lot faster and more capably than those who bought into the expectation of stability.
Also can lead to a much more interesting career, even if not as consistently lucrative.
Re: Getting Laid Off in Tech: The Myth of Upper Middle Class Security
#57The author of the article is misinformed about the true landscape of wealth and income inequality. The middle class is ultimately defined by the ability and need to build your own safety net. The upper middle class is able to do this with plenty of wealth to spare for luxuries like private schooling for their kids, income security is provided by their network. Just tap your network and find another job. The upper mid…
This is so horribly wrong- I've known upper middle class that get there by not spending hardly anything and owning their own business and operating it (e.g. Gas Station + Auto Repair). No leeching there. No accounting for "Luck" here or proximity to resources and opportunity. Do they actually teach this in schools or what nowadays? starting to seem prevalent. Life is what you make it, tomorrow holds no promises, oppo…
The idea behind talking about classes isn't that there aren't people who don't fit the mold, but to just discuss the broader trends. For every frugal business owner making upper middle class incomes, (and deeply concerned that the economy will continue to support their livelihoods) there's fifty filling up middle management spots in midsize organizations or upper management spots in small organizations, safe in the understanding that the firm they're working for will insulate them from market trends and confident that they can find a new berth if it doesn't.
Also, my descriptions aren't intended to be prescriptive, just descriptive. You want to know what the landscape looks like before you try to safely navigate it.
Re: Getting Laid Off in Tech: The Myth of Upper Middle Class Security
#58Work for yourself. That's the answer. One job means you get fired and you're looking for a new boss. 10 clients means if one fires you, you still have 9 you're hopefully keeping happy. I try to follow what I read about Gates starting Microsoft in some Biography. He tried to keep 2x the salary of all the employees as cash on hand, so if something went bad, they could try to weather the storm as long as possible. So be…
I own my own business, which is kinda the same thing as working for yourself.
Two bits of advice:
1. The first check you don't write is usually the one to yourself. You're the only worker that will show up for free.
2. The problem with being your own boss is that your boss is always around.
I've never known stress and uncertainty like being a business owner. But I feel like I've learned a lot and am better for it. And if I ever work for anyone else again, I'll be a much better employee as a result.
Re: Getting Laid Off in Tech: The Myth of Upper Middle Class Security
#59I wrote about how my experience with layoffs at Silicon Graphics in 1999 turned out, in retrospect, to be extremely lucky bad luck: https://davepeck.org/2009/02/11/the-luckiest-bad-luck/
Re: Getting Laid Off in Tech: The Myth of Upper Middle Class Security
#60this is why i don't move out of Bay Area - me and my acquaintances have been through lay offs here at various years, during the booms and busts, and nobody had any significant issues promptly finding a new job (with a salary increase usually :). Compare that to, for example, the next best thing in US tech - when AMZN says come to Seattle i always imagine being laid off from it few years down the road (with a non-comp…
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