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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

#761

Post by red-iron-pine »

BikiniPrince wrote: post #22
NorwegianDude wrote: post #6

> laid off employees who worked on ... the Pixel phone. That sounds weird to me. Pixel phones has grown very fast in the last years and I don't se how it can be seen as anything but a great success.

Yet everyone I know that owned a pixel despises it.

if it didn't spaz out while installing LineageOS on it, I'd still be using my Pixel 2 XL. it was probably struggling with some hardware failures (I dropped it a lot...) and wouldn't boot after.

Pixel 6s were on sale and I got one of those, no regrets. I am not enthusiastic about Google as a company, and I may consider an iPhone for my next cell, but I've been satisfied with the Pixel line so far.

Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#762

Post by tidbits »

SirMaster wrote: post #608
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…

>Your job is NOT safe. Maybe your job(s). But there are certainly companies out there that actually care about the welfare of their employees. Usually family owned and such. That's where I choose to work and they have always taken care of my needs and listened to me. I never really understood why people have such a desire to work for these big companies that don't care about you. I guess it's just different strokes..…

I worked at such a place right out of college. Always claiming we were family and that they would take care of their workers. Then covid happened, they lost some money, and laid off 25% of their employees, including people who had been there 10+ years. Now I work at a big company and make 3x as much with similar workloads. Glad I learned early on that no company is actually a family and will put your needs above the needs of the company!

Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#763

Post by hasty_pudding »

anonymouse008 wrote: post #755
nojvek wrote: post #736

Google is almost a 2T company. The amount of wealth that big google shareholders hold in the 1T+ tech companies is mind boggling. Perhaps US should consider raising capital gains tax.

Funny enough, this is already a response to a tax. 174 capitalizes software and general unproven R&D as the default now… ruining the cash position of many businesses that “made taxable GAAP profits” The rules of the game have changed. We were allowed to expense all employee compensation tied to software or R&D in the year in which we paid it. Now we can only expense a small fraction of that because we have to capital…

The company used the developer that year and made the profit that year. It doesn't make sense to me why they would they have to expense it over 5 years.

Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#764

Post by hiq »

karaterobot wrote: post #675
hiq wrote: post #384

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

"Yeah, it sucks for everybody and it doesn't work very well, but it scales!" Not picking on you, this is a very common refrain. The apparent advantages of scalable processes seem to trump the demonstrable disadvantages, especially in hiring. The end result is a system most people acknowledge flat-out sucks, it just flat-out sucks in bulk. We say "hiring the right people is the most important thing we do, so let's mec…

I think absolutes like "it sucks" are rather unhelpful when you need to choose something anyway, so it's not like doing nothing is an option. What would help is a clear alternative and how it does better one certain metrics while satisfying requirements. Yes scale does seem to be a constraint for big companies using this process, among other requirements making the whole leetcode process appealing. It's not only about costs.

Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#765

Post by datagram »

helen___keller wrote: post #542
HarHarVeryFunny wrote: post #529

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't characterize Leetcode interviewing as being biased towards those who recently took an algorithms class - it's biasing in favor of those (of any level of experience) who are willing to spend a few months practicing Leetcode. I thought that Google/etc had at least dialed this back a bit, or maybe just dialed back the "how many gas stations are in the US" type questions, after realizing this wasn't the best p…

> or maybe just dialed back the "how many gas stations are in the US" type questions, after realizing this wasn't the best predictor of good performance. These problems (known as fermi problems) have been out of vogue for over a decade now. Google is one of the companies that pioneered algorithm-centric leetcode problems as a replacement for fermi problems. Leetcode problems are not hugely useful outside of the data…

> a bunch of traits that simply can’t be tested

I think there's a lot more that could be tested that what current implementation-centric interviews measure. At my company for example, I feel like we've gotten a lot of use out of our debugging interviews.

Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#766

Post by eschneider »

geraldwhen wrote: post #251
sz4kerto wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree and I am sad that we're teaching each other to be skeptical and cynical. The company is not your friend and not your enemy, I agree. However, people _do_ develop personal relationship with each other. Sometimes even across the different levels in the company hierarchy. Yes, as with any other relationship, circumstances and interests might override this, but relationships still do matter. People have emotio…

This is just unrealistic. When layoffs happens, whole departments can get cut. They don’t differentiate performers. Likewise, there is a huge bias in hiring against older developers. Getting laid off in your 40s is a death sentence. You’ll never make as much money again, and you’ll be lucky to find employment. Be ready to retire by 50, because anything else is both risky and improbable.

> Getting laid off in your 40s is a death sentence.

That's just not true. In my mid (ugh, getting to be late) 50s and I've been laid off in most of the downturns since the dot-com bust, including this recent one. Getting a new job at comparable compensation has rarely been a big problem. I suppose if you let your skills get rusty or work on a VERY specialized tech stack and don't want to do something else, then sure, you'll have problems.

But in this market, I'd rather be a grizzled veteran with demonstrable skills in a variety of areas than a new grad.

Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#767

Post by Matumio »

riffraff wrote: post #753
scoofy wrote: post #747

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When it comes to large shareholders that wouldn't actually do anything. Nobody sells in these new blue chips; they just borrow against their positions. I've thought about this for a long time. If we wanted to actually tax this wealth, we should just make people pay capital gains on marked-to-market positions every 10 years. Now before everyone starts shouting "yea, but the valuations aren't value," you could easily t…

If you wanted to tax the wealth.. have a wealth tax? It's a thing in countries including Norway and Switzerland, and similar things exist in others (e.g. Italy taxes assets in some weird non linear way).

Yes there is a wealth tax in Switzerland, but... it would have to be much higher to make a difference. Raising it will not pass a referendum, which it practically has to in Switzerland. It has one big advantage, though: official numbers about wealth distribution.

I think micro taxation on all transactions (including at ATMs) would work better. Easier to explain, harder to avoid since you tax both sides of each transaction.

Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#768

Post by Solvency »

Between Discord, Twitch, Amazon+Prime, and Google... what's the layoff pattern here? Are we talking about social community teams? Streaming/networking engineers? Or is there no connective thread between these four companies?

Are there other corporate layoffs that round out this intrigue?

Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#769

Post by vkou »

Solvency wrote: post #768

Between Discord, Twitch, Amazon+Prime, and Google... what's the layoff pattern here? Are we talking about social community teams? Streaming/networking engineers? Or is there no connective thread between these four companies? Are there other corporate layoffs that round out this intrigue?

The connective thread is that tech growth has slowed/stopped and Wall Street is looking to make cuts, because salaries are expensive, and shit, if they have the option between more expenses and less expenses, they will keep taking 'less expenses', until it clearly and incontroversially affects the bottom line.

Re: Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

#770

Post by ianceicys »

Solvency wrote: post #768

Between Discord, Twitch, Amazon+Prime, and Google... what's the layoff pattern here? Are we talking about social community teams? Streaming/networking engineers? Or is there no connective thread between these four companies? Are there other corporate layoffs that round out this intrigue?

Salesforce just announced a hiring freeze and word on the street is that in the next 30 days they are going to be cutting staff.
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