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Cloudflare to cut about 20% of its workforce

reuters.com

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Re: Cloudflare to cut about 20% of its workforce

#801

Post by piperswe »

brailsafe wrote: post #360
throwaway2037 wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Seems like a somewhat traditional suggestion with a potentially massive financial and time commitment. Not that it's not something to do, but why do you think that's the move right now , especially since they're clearly established in their career and nobody cares about it after a few years?

I can't see or reply to the original comment since it's been nuked, but I can infer what it was saying.

I actually started studying part-time for a mathematics degree earlier this year, and I don't plan on stopping that now. Having a degree does open doors at more traditional companies and government jobs, and it would also make immigration to another country sometime in the future a lot more straightforward. There are definitely benefits, even though I'm established in my career!

Re: Cloudflare to cut about 20% of its workforce

#802

Post by siva7 »

everfrustrated wrote: post #44

There was an recent article on X with an interesting take - it could be that companies are doing layoffs not because AI is making them more productive but because it hasn't . Their costs have gone up paying for expensive AI but haven't seen any revenue benefits to offset it. Article https://x.com/championswimmer/status/2051807284691612099

Wishful thinking. It may ease minds for those negatively affected by AI.

Re: Cloudflare to cut about 20% of its workforce

#803

Post by johnbarron »

zamadatix wrote: post #244
johnbarron wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are they taking the piss by hiring and firing the same number as their public DNS IP ?

The "as many as 1,111" number was: > The number of our intern goal, a nod to our 1.1.1.1 public DNS resolver, is intentional. But like the sibling comment says, "over 1,100" does not reference any of their resolver IPs anyways. In all likelihood, they hired fewer than the maximum of 1,111 interns and they are probably chopping slightly more than that here (max vs min).

Wanna bet they are firing in groups sizes, that match exactly CIDR subnets?

Re: Cloudflare to cut about 20% of its workforce

#804

Post by buran77 »

s_dev wrote: post #766
xp84 wrote: post #702

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This reads to me almost like saying “Why are pigs not avoiding the most problematic slaughterhouses?” A. We have to work somewhere, and in 2026 honestly it’s actually the employer’s market which is kinda new to me, as someone who always just passively waited until an interesting job offer fell in my lap. B. They all pretty much work the same. Everywhere is “like a family” and “cares about sustainability” and all, unt…

>This reads to me almost like saying “Why are pigs not avoiding the most problematic slaughterhouses?” I don't think that's a fair comparison. Pigs are literally reared for slaughter and have no autonomy. Employees can and do choose these companies completely of their own volition.

> Employees can and do choose

What criteria would you use? Companies that don't do mass layoffs excludes all big-tech. What makes you think that "seriously inquiring about such practices in interviews or at the application stage" will get an honest answer?

Re: Cloudflare to cut about 20% of its workforce

#805

Post by cortesoft »

shimman wrote: post #671
_heimdall wrote: post #570

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For better or worse, it isn't a company's job to pay laid off employees until they find a new role. The industry standard for severance is 1-2 weeks pay per year at the company, paying out roughly 7 months is a big deal (and yes, an acknowledgment of how rough they know the job hunt will be).

Maybe it should be the companies job, being jobless in the US is a potential death sentence and since we don't have universal healthcare, universal childcare, or universal higher education/vocational training the onus should be forced on the companies to provide welfare for workers since they are so adamant about not paying taxes to create a welfare system that doesn't mean homelessness or death. There is also no ind…

I don't think it should be the companies job, but I would be ok with it being paid for by taxes companies pay.

Requiring companies to do all of these extra things just gives larger companies more and more advantages, since they have an economy of scale to provide go government-type services.

I don't want my company to be in charge of my whole life. Let them pay taxes to a government that can provide those things equally for everyone.

Re: Cloudflare to cut about 20% of its workforce

#806

Post by KoolKat23 »

OtherShrezzing wrote: post #683
s_dev wrote: post #542

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is completely acceptable. When was the last time you saw any job seeker seriously enquire about such practices in interviews or at the application stage? A lot of people here and in the industry in general seem to optimise for compensation package and put blinkers on themselves for other factors that are definitely relevant. Companies aren't penalised by candidates for such practices. I'm not saying it's good bu…

> When was the last time you saw any job seeker seriously enquire about such practices in interviews or at the application stage? There’s some kind of reverse-survivorship bias here. I’d never apply at Meta because their management does the “hire a bunch of excess people in the good times, so when Zuck‘s next inevitable efficiency-drive happens, the team is able to layoff lots of people while still staying operationa…

And now it seems they may be recording your screen all day long. What a wonderful environment.

Re: Cloudflare to cut about 20% of its workforce

#807

Post by tlogan »

jiveturkey wrote: post #753
tlogan wrote: post #625

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do we need to complicate here? cloudFlare is not making any profit. They are losing money. The board probably wants profit now (they predict less growth) so the management needs to cut the costs. This AI story is a just an excuse. If there is not AI they will say “high gas prices”. Or “inflation”. Or whatever … It is true that the companies like Meta, Oracle and Microsoft are laying off due to AI but because they…

> They are losing money. They have $4b in cash and Q1 FCF $84m, and 70% gross margin. They can become profitable anytime they want.

And apparently “anytime they want” is going to be this year.

Re: Cloudflare to cut about 20% of its workforce

#808

Post by throw-the-towel »

usrusr wrote: post #576
mihaaly wrote: post #556

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It feels like it was the most beneficial implementing better decision making mechanics by replacing manager with AI, not lowly folks doing actual value creation. LLM models have better reasoning abilities than these folks....

They are not as good at building an old boys/girls network though who help each other into positions of power and wealth. Companies within companies...

They actually are! LLM ATSes give better scores to resumes written by the same LLM.

Re: Cloudflare to cut about 20% of its workforce

#809

Post by _heimdall »

danaw wrote: post #788
_heimdall wrote: post #571

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't read this as employing 20% was twiddling their thumbs and sitting around. If it means anything beyond economic issues, I read the implication as their LLM expenses have gone threw the roof and with the choice of cutting LLM use or cutting headcount, well we see what mattered more to them.

llms don't need healthcare or stock grants

And if Jevans paradox wins out, all that money will just go towards tokens.

Re: Cloudflare to cut about 20% of its workforce

#810

Post by alain94040 »

AloysB wrote: post #135

This is awkward. Exhibit A - September 2025 - "Help build the future" - Cloudflare hires 1111 interns to "help build the future" [ https://blog.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-1111-intern-program/ ] Exhibit B - May 2026 - "Building for the future" - Cloudflare lays off 1100 people, about 20% of their workforce to "continue building the future" [ https://blog.cloudflare.com/building-for-the-future/ ] I'll finish on this quo…

This paragraph from September 2025 didn't age well:

Like you, we have seen numerous reports that more and more firms are capping their total headcount in favor of leaning on more AI tools, leading to downsizing their intern and new-graduate hiring. [...] But we think this misreads the moment completely, so we’re heading in the opposite direction.

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