As you allude to in your overlay of the Federal Funds Rate and tech layoffs, we are learning just how exposed we are to cyclical risk. I probably have one more sizable economic downturn to survive before retirement, and I'm already giving considerable thought to my strategy for being better positioned for the next one.
I saw a layoff come and go at a big co I worked for that the GM (brand new to the org with no clue who did what) based who got cut 100% on the content of voluntary feedback forms you had to find and choose to fill out. I was sending these out regularly to attempt to make a case for my getting promoted, but a guy that had been on our team 15+ years and was vital to its operation got canned because he was focused on work and wasn't sending out peer review forms. That manager was kind of a disaster and just wanted to outsource stuff to india, so I'm glad she didn't last.
"Elite and top professionals don't get fired"... that's a bit like saying good people NEVER get cheated on by their spouses. You'd expect a CTO to be a bit more clever than to see the world in non-negotiable absolutes.
Yeah it was honestly strange and if I knew them I might ask what life experience gave them the urge to jump to such a confident conclusion about a stranger in another country in defense of an as yet unnamed company. Execs may need to make snap decisions sometimes but you don't need to go out of your way to do it on your time off! Could've asked a question. I try to resist getting confrontational but that sort of thing seems important to push back on, because who knows when the next time some hiring manager like them is going to discount a candidate for getting laid off?
Layoffs are to be expected at most companies evwntually and something everyone should plan for and hope to never experience. No matter what they say, almost no large corporation actually cares about their employees more than milking every dollar they can. They’ll actively hire more than they need in boom cycles knowing full well they’ll have to make large cuts soon down the line, but they’ll make more money if they hire now and fire later than if they have the appropriate staff. No one is safe, so plan accordingly. If I got fired I’d be more annoyed at having to interview than anything else and secondly annoyed at the lost income for however long it took to find a new job. Having half a year of income saved (I have way more) makes a layoff annoying as opposed to devastating. Forgive me for not caring when someone who makes a lot of money and blows it all due to life style inflation finds themseleves between a rock and a hard spot when they’re laid off out of no where.
Also your point of this being a leadership problem is 100% accurate and pertains not only to corporate America but to all societal structures including governance. Power structures across the board result in similar actions and is exactly why giving government more more more of everything does nothing generally except for exasperated preexisting problems. This is not a corporation phenomenon, it is a human psychological power dynamics phenomenon and will almost certainly be with us as a species in perpetuity
Thanks for the thoughtful response, apple number, I have a couple reactions. Wholeheartedly agree with "No one is safe, so plan accordingly" - that's probably my central message here as well. "Forgive me for not caring when someone who makes a lot of money [...] finds themselves between a rock and a hard spot" Maybe I've misunderstood but I feel like you might be casting casual judgement on an extremely large and varied group if you're implying no one in entire tech sector (or even beyond) would deserve sympathy upon being laid off. We're talking about hundreds of thousands of people and we can't make blanket assumptions about the options they had to do better. Of course we're not too worried about the L6 teamleads but that's beside the point.
@@apple1231230 "This is not a corporation phenomenon, it is a human psychological power dynamics phenomenon" I agree with this except where it might imply we can't improve. If we have a natural tendency to organize in power structures and then mistreat eachother that makes it all the more important learn how to temper the impact, like we would do with any other force universal even gravity. That's the philosophical argument and the empirical one is that for almost any kind of worker mistreatment we could find an example of a well-performing company that chooses to do it less. In the case of layoffs Toyota has maintained none for full-time employees for 80 years, right?
@@craftvscruft8060 I agree with you saying not to make blanket statements, and everyone has their own unique scenarios. I'm specifically refering to people who for all intents and purposes, (own a house at a good rate, make high salaries, no familial trauma and/or expensive medical needs they're having to deal with, decent mental state, and generally well off etc) are well off but still find themselves in a terrible spot upon being layed off, which is a lot of people. you can make excuses to varying degrees of validity for every problem in ones life, but at the end of the day many people would find themselves in a major pickle if laid off unexpectedly shearly for being terrible with personal finance. i don't feel bad for these people, which i would argue is probably the majority in this situation, assuming were talking corporate lay offs, not factory workers at amazon. as for your second reply i wholeheartedly agree. Im actually a closeted optimist. I think companies should and can do better, but realistically many don't, so one should plan for the worst and look for the best. If you ever find yourself privleged enough to own a company, as i hope to in the future, strive to make it a fair and valuable place to work. My philosophy will be radical transparency. We'll see how that goes.
As you allude to in your overlay of the Federal Funds Rate and tech layoffs, we are learning just how exposed we are to cyclical risk. I probably have one more sizable economic downturn to survive before retirement, and I'm already giving considerable thought to my strategy for being better positioned for the next one.
I saw a layoff come and go at a big co I worked for that the GM (brand new to the org with no clue who did what) based who got cut 100% on the content of voluntary feedback forms you had to find and choose to fill out. I was sending these out regularly to attempt to make a case for my getting promoted, but a guy that had been on our team 15+ years and was vital to its operation got canned because he was focused on work and wasn't sending out peer review forms. That manager was kind of a disaster and just wanted to outsource stuff to india, so I'm glad she didn't last.
Sounds like a mess glad you're on your feet thanks for the story from the trenches
"Elite and top professionals don't get fired"... that's a bit like saying good people NEVER get cheated on by their spouses.
You'd expect a CTO to be a bit more clever than to see the world in non-negotiable absolutes.
Yeah it was honestly strange and if I knew them I might ask what life experience gave them the urge to jump to such a confident conclusion about a stranger in another country in defense of an as yet unnamed company.
Execs may need to make snap decisions sometimes but you don't need to go out of your way to do it on your time off! Could've asked a question.
I try to resist getting confrontational but that sort of thing seems important to push back on, because who knows when the next time some hiring manager like them is going to discount a candidate for getting laid off?
I like you.
Layoffs are to be expected at most companies evwntually and something everyone should plan for and hope to never experience. No matter what they say, almost no large corporation actually cares about their employees more than milking every dollar they can. They’ll actively hire more than they need in boom cycles knowing full well they’ll have to make large cuts soon down the line, but they’ll make more money if they hire now and fire later than if they have the appropriate staff.
No one is safe, so plan accordingly. If I got fired I’d be more annoyed at having to interview than anything else and secondly annoyed at the lost income for however long it took to find a new job. Having half a year of income saved (I have way more) makes a layoff annoying as opposed to devastating. Forgive me for not caring when someone who makes a lot of money and blows it all due to life style inflation finds themseleves between a rock and a hard spot when they’re laid off out of no where.
Also your point of this being a leadership problem is 100% accurate and pertains not only to corporate America but to all societal structures including governance. Power structures across the board result in similar actions and is exactly why giving government more more more of everything does nothing generally except for exasperated preexisting problems. This is not a corporation phenomenon, it is a human psychological power dynamics phenomenon and will almost certainly be with us as a species in perpetuity
Thanks for the thoughtful response, apple number, I have a couple reactions. Wholeheartedly agree with "No one is safe, so plan accordingly" - that's probably my central message here as well.
"Forgive me for not caring when someone who makes a lot of money [...] finds themselves between a rock and a hard spot" Maybe I've misunderstood but I feel like you might be casting casual judgement on an extremely large and varied group if you're implying no one in entire tech sector (or even beyond) would deserve sympathy upon being laid off. We're talking about hundreds of thousands of people and we can't make blanket assumptions about the options they had to do better. Of course we're not too worried about the L6 teamleads but that's beside the point.
@@apple1231230 "This is not a corporation phenomenon, it is a human psychological power dynamics phenomenon"
I agree with this except where it might imply we can't improve. If we have a natural tendency to organize in power structures and then mistreat eachother that makes it all the more important learn how to temper the impact, like we would do with any other force universal even gravity.
That's the philosophical argument and the empirical one is that for almost any kind of worker mistreatment we could find an example of a well-performing company that chooses to do it less. In the case of layoffs Toyota has maintained none for full-time employees for 80 years, right?
@@craftvscruft8060 I agree with you saying not to make blanket statements, and everyone has their own unique scenarios. I'm specifically refering to people who for all intents and purposes, (own a house at a good rate, make high salaries, no familial trauma and/or expensive medical needs they're having to deal with, decent mental state, and generally well off etc) are well off but still find themselves in a terrible spot upon being layed off, which is a lot of people.
you can make excuses to varying degrees of validity for every problem in ones life, but at the end of the day many people would find themselves in a major pickle if laid off unexpectedly shearly for being terrible with personal finance. i don't feel bad for these people, which i would argue is probably the majority in this situation, assuming were talking corporate lay offs, not factory workers at amazon.
as for your second reply i wholeheartedly agree. Im actually a closeted optimist. I think companies should and can do better, but realistically many don't, so one should plan for the worst and look for the best. If you ever find yourself privleged enough to own a company, as i hope to in the future, strive to make it a fair and valuable place to work. My philosophy will be radical transparency. We'll see how that goes.