Thread regarding Alphabet Inc. (Google) layoffs

Don't be evil

Google just laid off 12,000 people. My sympathies are with all those affected, both directly and indirectly. The negative impact on people's lives and careers can't be overstated.

Google's motto used to be: don't be evil. Apparently that has been streamlined to just two words now. Laying off pregnant women, people with health conditions, older workers, etc is pretty evil. Laying off people after insisting they return to one of the most expensive real estate markets in the world is pretty evil. Laying off people without so much as a face to face conversation is pretty evil.

But the crowning glory is not laying off the worst performer at the company. Pichai is paid handsomely to manage the business. By his own admission, he allowed headcount to balloon. By his own admission, he failed to do basic forecasting just a year or two into the future. By his own admission, he is fully responsible for the economic and human costs of these layoffs.

What was he doing? Was he even present in a meaningful way, these past several years?

In Google terms, that's a solid NI (needs improvement) performance rating. Shareholders, including myself, need to start asking hard questions about why our employees are being treated this way, and why our money is being wasted this way. And why this clown still has a job.

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| 7701 views | | 4 replies (last January 30, 2023) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+1kTcijaQ

4 replies (most recent on top)

Maybe its because I am older and have been laid-off REPEATEDLY.... but the attitude I am seeing from people getting laid off in the tech industry is sort of ridiculous. Yes. It sucks. It sucks for everyone in any industry at any time. Its very easy to take it personally. But its not new or unique.

Over the years I have learned one thing: You- as an employee- are expendable. That sounds harsh but its the truth. I worked at my fair share of tech companies who were super touchy-feely and claimed they really cared about their employees. That is done of course to develop loyalty and prevent those who have talent from going to the competition. Workers are there to provide the input to grow and sell product which in turn creates profit that ultimately lines the pockets of the investors, the senior management and board members. When it all works everybody wins. The workers get paid a handsome income, the investors and board members grow more wealth and its all hunky-dory.

All of that can change for any number of reasons. Economic downturns, pressure from competition, missed earnings, loss of profits..... And anyone who has spent a decent amount of time in this industry knows this all too well. I was here when the dot-com crashed. And then there was the 08-09 recession. I've also been at a few startups that failed. I've been at companies that were bought by the competition. From that experience I have an attitude to NEVER and I do mean never trust that I will be employed from one day to the next. As such I live as if I could lose my job at any time. And so while the parking lots of the companies I worked for were filled with BMWs and Teslas driven by people who always bought the latest gadgets and spent 500k over asking for a million+ house I drove a beater and saved my money. A lot of tech workers could benefit from understanding this reality.

Google is no different than any other tech company. Throughout history many a tech company in the valley goes from being the top dog to a mere memory. If you do not keep ahead of things that can happen VERY quickly. And as such, it too will lay people off if that benefits the business.

Best of luck to all of those whom were affected.

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Post ID: @3lgv+1kTcijaQ

"Google just laid off 12,000 people. My sympathies are with all those affected, both directly and indirectly. The negative impact on people's lives and careers can't be overstated."

Seriously ?? bloated compensation packages, free gourmet meals and massages and your heart is going out to them ? they just got a 9 months+ severance package

dude or dudette ....... half of the Google employees have never worked at another company and are spoilt ..... live in a bubble. They needed this punch in the face moment

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Post ID: @kco+1kTcijaQ

Sorry but according to the main poster, it's evil to lay off pregnant women, older people, those with health conditions. So the opposite of that, aka good, is to layoff men, younger, and those without health conditions yet? Doesn't that seem... evil to a certain group if you belonged to that group through no fault of your own?

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Post ID: @ivb+1kTcijaQ

No Sundar's doing a fine job. He took advantage of the plandemic by hiring a lot of people, revenue went up, and now, when they are of no use, he's got rid of them. This is what every tech CEO did.

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Post ID: @ivc+1kTcijaQ

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