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I find it hard to believe that most of the justifications that these companies are using for layoffs weren't blatantly obvious.

xwolfi 4y ago
But are layoffs bad ? Did we expect them to be very slow following the trend up and very slow down so that they smooth the workforce, or did we want them to fullfill the demande NOW when we needed pcs during covid and... expect them not to fire now that we dont care anymore ?
- scrapcode 4y ago
  > But are layoffs bad ? It depends on what side of the layoff you are on and how these positions were signaled. It is what it is - I just think that these things should be considered by all employees in the future when jumps in market demand happen - especially all of these companies participating in mass layoffs. What I don't particularly like is how companies will signal that the massive rise in business is because they're such a great company and are doing so well. Then they'll turn around and shit-can thousands overnight with justification that it was an unforeseen market shift that they could've never prepared for. I loved working in the trades, but couldn't weather that frequent storm that had evolved to become the norm. I'd hate to see that become the norm in tech. Not to mention what high supply / low demand does for wages.
cjrp 4y ago
They've increased headcount when times were good, and reduced it when that demand recedes. What would they do differently if they had a 100% accurate forecast?
- scrapcode 4y ago
  I believe an argument could be made that some of these companies knowingly went overboard on the headcount increase. In the end, sometimes it is just the cost of business. Layoffs are common in the trades and come along with increased compensation that is often designed to help cover those layoff periods (see Davis Bacon Wage Act). My point being more in the direction of these layoff justifications seem disingenuous if not flat out lies.

xwolfi 4y ago

But are layoffs bad ? Did we expect them to be very slow following the trend up and very slow down so that they smooth the workforce, or did we want them to fullfill the demande NOW when we needed pcs during covid and... expect them not to fire now that we dont care anymore ?

scrapcode 4y ago
> But are layoffs bad ? It depends on what side of the layoff you are on and how these positions were signaled. It is what it is - I just think that these things should be considered by all employees in the future when jumps in market demand happen - especially all of these companies participating in mass layoffs. What I don't particularly like is how companies will signal that the massive rise in business is because they're such a great company and are doing so well. Then they'll turn around and shit-can thousands overnight with justification that it was an unforeseen market shift that they could've never prepared for. I loved working in the trades, but couldn't weather that frequent storm that had evolved to become the norm. I'd hate to see that become the norm in tech. Not to mention what high supply / low demand does for wages.

cjrp 4y ago

They've increased headcount when times were good, and reduced it when that demand recedes. What would they do differently if they had a 100% accurate forecast?

scrapcode 4y ago
I believe an argument could be made that some of these companies knowingly went overboard on the headcount increase. In the end, sometimes it is just the cost of business. Layoffs are common in the trades and come along with increased compensation that is often designed to help cover those layoff periods (see Davis Bacon Wage Act). My point being more in the direction of these layoff justifications seem disingenuous if not flat out lies.