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Googler... ex-Googler

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Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#711

Post by skybrian »

DannyBee wrote: post #454
abdj8 wrote: post #110

Layoffs are a difficult thing for employees and their managers. I have seen people (one was a VP of Engineering) escorted out of the building, sent in a cab to home along with a security guard (this was in India), not allowed access to computer or talk with other employees. But, recently have had a very different experience. The current company I work for announced 30% layoffs. The list was made public within one hou…

Google is just really bad at this, but seems to think it's not bad at this. It's sad since there is no excuse for it - plenty of companies conduct regular layoffs and role eliminations in more compassionate ways, it would not take much to survey and learn from their practices. Hell, IBM was often more compassionate about layoffs than Google. Some of it they've tried to become more formal about in ways that actually m…

Google didn’t used to be quite so bad at this. Back when they closed the Atlanta office, people there got a lot of notice and opportunity to find another role. The complaints were about not being allowed to go full-time remote.

I wonder what changed?

Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#712

Post by bee_rider »

_huayra_ wrote: post #576
PaulHoule wrote: post #537

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google is bad at a lot of things but has a “we’re number one why try harder?” attitude. Or rather you can’t benchmark the performance of anyone there against industry peers because they are protected by a two-sided market. Bazel, Kubernetes and other startup killing tools are developed there because with monopoly services they can hire 3x the number of developers at 3x the rate of other firms and shackle them with to…

Funny how they're bad at this from start to end. Most of these comments talk about the "end" part, but don't forget: Google has a notoriously laggy hiring process with extreme delays and an unacceptably high level of silence on important issues from recruiters. I have been ghosted so heavily from recruiters TWICE at Google when I was literally telling them "Hey I have offers from $x and $y and I need to decide in 2 w…

The phrasing “from start to end” got me thinking—tangential, but—they were an extremely cool company when Millenials were in school and looking to join the workforce. Anybody would have jumped at the opportunity to work for them.

Actually, I can’t even think of a similar company nowadays.

Anyway, it wouldn’t surprise me if they had a really bad hiring pipeline as a result. Why work on the skill of hiring, if people will jump through flaming hoops to work for you.

As MS converts into IBM, and Google converts into MS, I guess they will have to figure that out.

Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#713

Post by shadowgovt »

rwmj wrote: post #631
mixermachine wrote: post #506

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> job security is an illusion Depends a bit on your country. My CEO can fire me but there is a longer notice period depending on how long I have been with the company. - 2 years: 1 month - 5 years: 2 months - 8 years: 3 months ... - 20 years: 7 months Germany btw.

That's pretty wild. Is that a German employment law or something specific to your company?

It's employment law.

Germans are so expensive to hire and maintain that companies have offshored German manufacturing to the United States.

(... And God bless Germany for it. Trickle-down theory doesn't work in general in capitalism but it does work in labor negotiations: every right Germans secure for themselves is a right an American company employing Germans and other countries has to abide by when doing business, and it incentivizes the company to minimize their paperwork by treating everyone to the German standard).

Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#714

Post by shadowgovt »

slivym wrote: post #448
kouteiheika wrote: post #257

Right, okay, let's look at their most recent SEC filling to see how much money they lost in 2024 to justify layoffs... right, they made 350 billion in revenue (the highest ever in their history from what I can see) with a 100 billion in net income. Yep, this checks out, they definitely need to lay off people, can't afford them.

They're not a charity. What do you want them to do? Hire $100Bn worth of engineers until their net income is 0? The possibly difficult truth at Google is that there's probably <1% of the company that is really essential to their monopolistic search business. The rest are either working on other projects which might be strategically interesting but not essential, or are working on the core product but not in a way tha…

Google's strategy, traditionally, was basically what you're describing (modulo the "until their net income is 0" part). Because their belief about engineering was if you get all the smart people and give them some creative freedom, they invent Gmail. And Tensorflow. And Kubernetes.

This has changed. But it's worth noting it is a change. Larry and Sergey retained controlling stakes in Google's IPO specifically because they intended to build a company that didn't operate like other companies... In essence, they didn't plan to give two shits about shareholder capital, they expected the money would work itself out if they just kept making brilliant products people wanted.

But, the founders have left and Google is now just another company.

Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#715

Post by ThrowawayB7 »

swiftcoder wrote: post #641
DannyBee wrote: post #454

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google is just really bad at this, but seems to think it's not bad at this. It's sad since there is no excuse for it - plenty of companies conduct regular layoffs and role eliminations in more compassionate ways, it would not take much to survey and learn from their practices. Hell, IBM was often more compassionate about layoffs than Google. Some of it they've tried to become more formal about in ways that actually m…

> Google is just really bad at this, but seems to think it's not bad at this The BigTech firms have been doing this intentionally for a very long time. I started hearing about Microsoft doing the security-escorts-you-straight-out-the-door all the way back in 2012. It's not that they are bad at this, it's that they think the trade-off works out in their favour. And it probably does - what's a few but-hurt former emplo…

> "I started hearing about Microsoft doing the security-escorts-you-straight-out-the-door all the way back in 2012."

Are you sure about that? Microsoft's 2014 layoffs, which were large enough to be reported in the tech press, let employees keep network and building access until the actual layoff date.

Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#716

Post by dennis_jeeves2 »

azangru wrote: post #324

I've skimmed through the comments; and seen that most people have commented on the cog in the machine thing, or on layoffs in general and how they suck. To me, the shock from this blog post was about seeing a Chrome developer relations engineer whom I have grown to admire and who has been doing a stellar job educating web developers on new html and css features, get the sack. He was one of the best remaining speakers…

>a stellar job educating web developers on new html and css features, get the sack.

I have trouble relating to the evangelist fervor that some developers develop toward their craft.

Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#717

Post by causal »

cab11150904 wrote: post #565
causal wrote: post #560

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Consider therapy

On what basis? You're assuming that this feeling is wrong. It is not. There is no need for correction.

Not trying to invalidate your feelings, but stewing in resentment is like drinking poison daily. Therapy can help you acquire the psychological tools and habits needed to help you and those around you live happier lives

Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#718

Post by bdangubic »

2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #90
bdangubic wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

outside of having stupid money what percentage of people (excluding people living paycheck to paycheck) manage their finances well, especially in the first decade of their career? I’d ballpark that at 0.78%

Are you pessimistic or is that a serious estimate? It’s so … low.

being a realist ... I think in the US no one is (purposely) thought basic financial literacy and it spills over into probably the first decade of working life

Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#719

Post by LPisGood »

bbqfog wrote: post #688
LPisGood wrote: post #680

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like this is a very cynical way of looking at things. I know some excellent people in leadership that have been promoted from lower level management jobs. I’m not sure the career change made them no longer care about people.

This is definitely how the capital class views labor. Don’t be fooled, and ignore at your own peril.

I wouldn’t really consider someone that moved from middle management to upper management/executive leadership to be a part of the “capital class.”

Investors, board members, maybe even some CEOs, sure.

Re: Googler... ex-Googler

#720

Post by bsimpson »

Aurornis wrote: post #600
yojo wrote: post #575

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve been seeing more of this classist rhetoric on HN and I honestly don’t get it. If you truly care about workers, focus your energy on the corporations and politicians that are producing the system you are unhappy with. Belittling other, higher paid workers doesn’t advance anyone’s cause. And FWIW, the jobless rate in tech is higher than most blue collar jobs and the national average. This guy seems good, but he fa…

> I’ve been seeing more of this classist rhetoric on HN It has always been there. It usually gets downvoted away but it takes time. Inflammatory takes like this one are usually more popular when stories are fresh and then get downvoted as the story ages on. My theory is that these shallow, ragebait-ey takes appeal to people who are skimming stories for a chance to rage a bit, but then they get bored and move on to th…

I'm glad it's been deservingly downvoted.

It was at the top of the comments when I saw this hit HN, and it pissed me off to see a trollish shitpost in that position, especially when the post is about the community losing an awesome contributor (and a friend).

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