5 ms·

The honest question is - how are they able to retain the 220 employees? I'd assume are very talented scientists, engineers, etc. Given this story has been going

The honest question is - how are they able to retain the 220 employees? I'd assume are very talented scientists, engineers, etc. Given this story has been going on for more than a year (or two), how do they keep people around?

Swizec 10y ago
Being laid off is better than quitting. Comes with all sorts of perks from what I've heard.
- BlackFingolfin 10y ago
  Not necessarily so if the company goes bankrupt...
  - smallgovt 10y ago
    In practice, it is largely true due to the WARN act which requires 60 day notice. No employee wants to keep around employees who know they're being let go, so in most cases, this means 60 days severence.
ng12 10y ago
What makes you think they're talented? At this point I'm sure the only ones left are the guys who can't find another job with the same pay.
jonathankoren 10y ago
I suspect they won't. If I worked at Theranos, I would certainly be looking for a new job. The only question is, if having Theranos on my resume is a negative, or if I need to say I was backpacking across the Andes during that time.
natosaichek 10y ago
I know someone who works there and despite his high level of talent and unusual skillset is having problems finding another position because of the black mark the "Theranos" brand is having on his resume. He's been looking for more than a year. :-/
- hockeybias 10y ago
  o.u.c.h.
- freddyc 10y ago
  Unfortunately, he's probably not helping his cause by hanging around at this point. I'm sure he has his reasons - family, mortgage etc - but a lot of recruiters likely treat those who remained despite the damning revelations very differently to those who jumped as soon as the writing was on the wall.
sndean 10y ago
Also, I'm interested in what their employees are doing every day. Do they have offices to show up to, still?
- hkmurakami 10y ago
  Yes they have a shiny office in a prime location right on Page Mill Road.
ultrahate 10y ago
There's no shame in paying the rent, imho. People still onboard either: * don't know the risks somehow, so they must be idiots * know the risks, but think they'll get paid * know the risks, but haven't put together an escape plan * know the risks, and are just waiting for last check before they start whatever the next chapter of their life is going to be
- mattnewton 10y ago
  If I was hiring a software developer from a similar situation, this would be a huge red flag for me. Competent developers are constant being wooed away, and the fact that you hadn't jumped ship yet makes me think you are in the best case clueless and in the worst case incompetent to the point of unemployability. The market must be very different for these medical science workers to make this a good idea. It must be much much harder to find a job.
  - ultrahate 10y ago
    Yeah, I was just about to reflex-respond to your comment before I read the last line, because med science is something that I'd contend the vast majority of HN to be unfamiliar with. Depending on what the pay or benefits or whatever the retention situation for medsci workers at Theranos is, maybe it's just good sense to milk that cash for however long they can before going back to whatever else is there for them. I agree though, it certainly says something about an employee who worked at Theranos, or Enron, or higher-up Samsung, etc. 220 is a lot of people, too. Anyways, my point about medsci is that the field of medsci is so diverse and specialized that it might be hard to find somebody with both neuropsychology + pharma experience (just an example) and I think that a few people lingering around are probably just being overpaid so much to stay that it would be foolish to give that money up until you absolutely had to. Super elite talent (Lattner comes to mind) has some different dynamics to it, but it's the same principle of having such a strong but also highly specialized base of knowledge, that it makes sense to ante up in order to get that talent onboard, and for the talent it'd be ridiculous to turn down the money since you're so valuable that you'd be able to morph your new workload into something that will make you a stronger developer regardless. Similar to someone with extremely advanced medical knowledge, just being around the right environment and tools and stuff would probably give that person tremendous ROI, on top of being paid well, that when the storm passes they'll be stronger because of it. Lots of angles to think about with all of this!
ChuckMcM 10y ago
I'm sure that some people don't care if it's dying they enjoy their job, I'm sure that some people are hoping it will pull out and their longevity/loyalty will be rewarded, and some may not give it any thought at all.

Swizec 10y ago

Being laid off is better than quitting. Comes with all sorts of perks from what I've heard.

BlackFingolfin 10y ago
Not necessarily so if the company goes bankrupt...
- smallgovt 10y ago
  In practice, it is largely true due to the WARN act which requires 60 day notice. No employee wants to keep around employees who know they're being let go, so in most cases, this means 60 days severence.

ng12 10y ago

What makes you think they're talented? At this point I'm sure the only ones left are the guys who can't find another job with the same pay.

jonathankoren 10y ago

I suspect they won't. If I worked at Theranos, I would certainly be looking for a new job. The only question is, if having Theranos on my resume is a negative, or if I need to say I was backpacking across the Andes during that time.

natosaichek 10y ago

I know someone who works there and despite his high level of talent and unusual skillset is having problems finding another position because of the black mark the "Theranos" brand is having on his resume. He's been looking for more than a year. :-/

hockeybias 10y ago
o.u.c.h.
freddyc 10y ago
Unfortunately, he's probably not helping his cause by hanging around at this point. I'm sure he has his reasons - family, mortgage etc - but a lot of recruiters likely treat those who remained despite the damning revelations very differently to those who jumped as soon as the writing was on the wall.

sndean 10y ago

Also, I'm interested in what their employees are doing every day. Do they have offices to show up to, still?

hkmurakami 10y ago
Yes they have a shiny office in a prime location right on Page Mill Road.

ultrahate 10y ago

There's no shame in paying the rent, imho. People still onboard either: * don't know the risks somehow, so they must be idiots * know the risks, but think they'll get paid * know the risks, but haven't put together an escape plan * know the risks, and are just waiting for last check before they start whatever the next chapter of their life is going to be

mattnewton 10y ago
If I was hiring a software developer from a similar situation, this would be a huge red flag for me. Competent developers are constant being wooed away, and the fact that you hadn't jumped ship yet makes me think you are in the best case clueless and in the worst case incompetent to the point of unemployability. The market must be very different for these medical science workers to make this a good idea. It must be much much harder to find a job.
- ultrahate 10y ago
  Yeah, I was just about to reflex-respond to your comment before I read the last line, because med science is something that I'd contend the vast majority of HN to be unfamiliar with. Depending on what the pay or benefits or whatever the retention situation for medsci workers at Theranos is, maybe it's just good sense to milk that cash for however long they can before going back to whatever else is there for them. I agree though, it certainly says something about an employee who worked at Theranos, or Enron, or higher-up Samsung, etc. 220 is a lot of people, too. Anyways, my point about medsci is that the field of medsci is so diverse and specialized that it might be hard to find somebody with both neuropsychology + pharma experience (just an example) and I think that a few people lingering around are probably just being overpaid so much to stay that it would be foolish to give that money up until you absolutely had to. Super elite talent (Lattner comes to mind) has some different dynamics to it, but it's the same principle of having such a strong but also highly specialized base of knowledge, that it makes sense to ante up in order to get that talent onboard, and for the talent it'd be ridiculous to turn down the money since you're so valuable that you'd be able to morph your new workload into something that will make you a stronger developer regardless. Similar to someone with extremely advanced medical knowledge, just being around the right environment and tools and stuff would probably give that person tremendous ROI, on top of being paid well, that when the storm passes they'll be stronger because of it. Lots of angles to think about with all of this!

ChuckMcM 10y ago

I'm sure that some people don't care if it's dying they enjoy their job, I'm sure that some people are hoping it will pull out and their longevity/loyalty will be rewarded, and some may not give it any thought at all.