4 ms·

I had the exact same experience with a well known startup in SF. I got a glowing "Outstanding" review in the previous quarter. My manager left and the new manag

I had the exact same experience with a well known startup in SF. I got a glowing "Outstanding" review in the previous quarter. My manager left and the new manager who came in took just 15 days (with a single one on one meeting) to decide she din't like me and fired me without offering much of a reason.

bradknowles 8y ago
UT Austin was much like that for me. Highest possible ratings from the previous manager, and then the new manager was hired. Technically, I was caught in the campus-wide 10% across-the-board layoffs, but it's very clear why I was made eligible for that list. Funny that it happened to be the same month that I was recovering from surgery to remove my cancerous thyroid gland.
- artwr 8y ago
  For what it's worth, I am sorry that happened to you. That's terrible.
- technofiend 8y ago
  Ouch!! That's heartless. Got recruited into a role by a friend who a few months later decided to pack up and go back to his previous company. My gall bladder died and went necrotic nearly killing me. I came back from the hospital to find an email telling me my job had been eliminated.
Sharlin 8y ago
I'll never understand US-style at will employment. It just seems so barbaric and arbitrary. Where I'm from the current conservative government just proposed legislation that would make it slightly easier to fire people in small companies (at most dozen employees or so). This caused the left-leaning part of the country to throw a collective hissy-fit, including several political strikes organized by major unions.
- ghaff 8y ago
  It also means that US employees are able to leave the next day if they want and that company hiring decisions don't have to factor in that it's going to be really really hard to get rid of someone if they don't work out or circumstances change. It allows a lot for flexibility for everyone, with some costs.
  - SeanBoocock 8y ago
    Sure, but those costs are borne disproportionately by employees, and of those by people in lower skill positions.
  - dingaling 8y ago
    Most UK tech companies have an initial six-month 'probationary' contract. If you're a good fit in that period then that is superceded by a permanent contract. So both sides benefit, the company has the initial flexibility to hire and fire and after that the employee gains some assurance that he won't be thrown off the premises arbitrarily.
    - NeedMoreTea 8y ago
      That just reinforces our inexorable march down to the US level. When I started most UK tech, and companies in all other industries had an initial one month probation. Very occasionally, usually for the most senior roles, it might be two or three. Six months weighs the balance much too heavily on the employer side I think.
- taurath 8y ago
  That is american working culture - it is built upon the myth that if you can't cut it you don't work hard enough or smart enough. If you aren't a millionaire or on your way to become one, its because there's something wrong with you.
  - blacksmith_tb 8y ago
    The idea that your success proves your goodness (and not just random chance, or a rigged system, etc.) goes farther back than the USA[1]. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Protestant_Ethic_and_the_Spirit_of_Capitalism#Origins_of_the_Protestant_work_ethic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Protestant_Ethic_and_the_S...

bradknowles 8y ago

UT Austin was much like that for me. Highest possible ratings from the previous manager, and then the new manager was hired. Technically, I was caught in the campus-wide 10% across-the-board layoffs, but it's very clear why I was made eligible for that list. Funny that it happened to be the same month that I was recovering from surgery to remove my cancerous thyroid gland.

artwr 8y ago
For what it's worth, I am sorry that happened to you. That's terrible.
technofiend 8y ago
Ouch!! That's heartless. Got recruited into a role by a friend who a few months later decided to pack up and go back to his previous company. My gall bladder died and went necrotic nearly killing me. I came back from the hospital to find an email telling me my job had been eliminated.

Sharlin 8y ago

I'll never understand US-style at will employment. It just seems so barbaric and arbitrary. Where I'm from the current conservative government just proposed legislation that would make it slightly easier to fire people in small companies (at most dozen employees or so). This caused the left-leaning part of the country to throw a collective hissy-fit, including several political strikes organized by major unions.

ghaff 8y ago
It also means that US employees are able to leave the next day if they want and that company hiring decisions don't have to factor in that it's going to be really really hard to get rid of someone if they don't work out or circumstances change. It allows a lot for flexibility for everyone, with some costs.
- SeanBoocock 8y ago
  Sure, but those costs are borne disproportionately by employees, and of those by people in lower skill positions.
- dingaling 8y ago
  Most UK tech companies have an initial six-month 'probationary' contract. If you're a good fit in that period then that is superceded by a permanent contract. So both sides benefit, the company has the initial flexibility to hire and fire and after that the employee gains some assurance that he won't be thrown off the premises arbitrarily.
  - NeedMoreTea 8y ago
    That just reinforces our inexorable march down to the US level. When I started most UK tech, and companies in all other industries had an initial one month probation. Very occasionally, usually for the most senior roles, it might be two or three. Six months weighs the balance much too heavily on the employer side I think.
taurath 8y ago
That is american working culture - it is built upon the myth that if you can't cut it you don't work hard enough or smart enough. If you aren't a millionaire or on your way to become one, its because there's something wrong with you.
- blacksmith_tb 8y ago
  The idea that your success proves your goodness (and not just random chance, or a rigged system, etc.) goes farther back than the USA[1]. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Protestant_Ethic_and_the_Spirit_of_Capitalism#Origins_of_the_Protestant_work_ethic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Protestant_Ethic_and_the_S...