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Bitpanda said no mass layoffs, three weeks before axing one-third of staff

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Re: Bitpanda said no mass layoffs, three weeks before axing one-third of staff

#61

Post by erichocean »

bb88 wrote: post #51
capableweb wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you know you're gonna do layoffs, say that it's being considered, and then do the layoffs. If it's possible you'll do layoffs, says it's possible that you'll do layoffs, figure out what you wanna do, then do that. If you know you're not gonna do layoffs, say you know you're not gonna do layoffs, and then don't do layoffs. If people will leave because you say there will be layoffs, they would leave even faster if y…

It's one thing to say, you're struggling, but you think you can make it without layoffs. Or another thing to say your financial models say for the next 90 days you're okay at the moment. Or you're trying to shift money around, or trying to increase revenue, or to say you're looking for funding... If people invest their lives in your company (relocating, working overtime, etc), they deserve the honest truth about what…

> If people invest their lives in your company

I think I may see the problem.

Re: Bitpanda said no mass layoffs, three weeks before axing one-third of staff

#62

Post by jackmott »

999900000999 wrote: post #53

Every single company is guaranteed to try and assure employees the company's doing okay. Think about it for a second, regardless of if your employer intends to do layoffs or not, the moment people fear for their jobs, they'll spend more time looking for work. I prefer the quick rip the Band-Aid off lay off, give me a bit of severance, let me shake the hands of upper management and we can all move on for our lives

No post body was provided.

Re: Bitpanda said no mass layoffs, three weeks before axing one-third of staff

#63

Post by eschneider »

From a purely practical perspective, it's rarely useful to ask about layoffs. You're unlikely to get an honest answer, and even if you were, how much trust can you put in it? All you do is signal that you're someone who "lacks commitment."

You just have to keep your eyes open all the time, make a judgement about how much sense things make, and make your own decisions on when things seem off.

Re: Bitpanda said no mass layoffs, three weeks before axing one-third of staff

#64

Post by Barrera »

Those turtlenecks.

Anyway, the article mentions:

> He [chief product officer] said the company was "very well funded" with no liquidity problems. While he noted that its 2022 financial results were "below budget," he said that this had been caused by macroeconomic conditions, including a supply crisis and the Ukraine conflict. The executive urged employees to focus on product and tech infrastructure improvements in preparation for the "next bull run."

This is exactly the same line given by every single business. Even the White House does it. This is due to Ukraine, supply shock, and macroeconomic factors. As if this didn't matter. As if that meant that whatever is happening can be ignored. Don't worry, nothing to see here. It's just special, highly unusual circumstances.

Except it does matter. No matter how well you wear the turtleneck eventually reality matters. Mean-reversions from bubbles matter. They are inevitable and they are painful. It's never "contained," no matter how much leadership wants you to believe it. Gear up.

Re: Bitpanda said no mass layoffs, three weeks before axing one-third of staff

#67

Post by Weatherweathe »

Completely unrelated to this new, but I remember interviewing with them 3 years ago and had my worst interview ever. There was 2 interviewers, one lady from HR and one guy from engineering (with a hard to understand english). For some reason they thought it was a good idea to ask about concurrency on PHP and right after what were my weakness. Looking back I think I was very lucky to not make it throught.

Re: Bitpanda said no mass layoffs, three weeks before axing one-third of staff

#68

Post by dougSF70 »

capableweb wrote: post #48
onion2k wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the past, HNers have mentioned that if you admit you're going to lay people off, then your best performers will leave. Is that true? Any kind of layoffs will cause your best performers to leave regardless of whether you tell people ahead of time. It's a strong signal that the company is in survival mode instead of growth mode, which at least means raises and bonuses are in doubt and at worst means the company is g…

Another way of going through it, is to share that you might have to do layoffs, watch as people leave and enough people might leave so you don't have to do layoffs in the end. If enough people don't leave, go ahead with layoff. It's both transparent and honest, no lies required.

Except, weaker performers will stick around for severance and top performers will leave. If sufficient above average performers leave to avoid a layoff you are left with a weaker team. In this instance company doesnt get to chose, which it might want to. Best idea is not to provide reassurance if you cant back it up. In which case, say nothing.

Re: Bitpanda said no mass layoffs, three weeks before axing one-third of staff

#69

Post by DonHopkins »

killingtime74 wrote: post #2

If your company so as mentions layoffs, even (especially?) if they deny it, they are coming. Just like a Pip, if it gets mentioned, start looking for another job

When the senior management all suddenly disappear at once, because they're under gag order and not allowed to talk about the company's future with anyone, that's a sign of things to come.

Re: Bitpanda said no mass layoffs, three weeks before axing one-third of staff

#70

Post by DonHopkins »

skeeter2020 wrote: post #24

That photo of the founders(?) displays maximum turtle neck. Is that because of some Jobsian influence or is it an esoteric coffee house theme? Either way, it would have got my spidey-sense tingling.

Maybe they just like to feel like they're being strangled by a really weak guy, all day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odXw8_DJkaA

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