7 ms·

Previous layoff discussion from feb 2017 (~200 too): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13593416 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13593416 Supposedly thi

Previous layoff discussion from feb 2017 (~200 too): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13593416 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13593416 Supposedly this is an annual thing now: https://www.tpr.org/post/third-year-row-february-rackspace-layoffs https://www.tpr.org/post/third-year-row-february-rackspace-l...

tyingq 8y ago
So annual rank/stack, bell curve, fire x%. Right after performance reviews, and right before any annual raises. Typical slog of working at a recently PE purchased company. I wonder if anyone talented is left. Usually they get sick of it after a year or two. I would guess little to no real RSU handcuffs. The stock was badly underwater before it went private.
- ssimpson 8y ago
  it was more senior people this time. But it has been that way the last couple times too. I have a few very talented friends that lost their jobs. They also pretty much cut out a bunch of the private cloud group. Sad to see such a good company go this direction.
- raxthrowaway0 8y ago
  > So annual rank/stack, bell curve, fire x%. Right after performance reviews, and right before any annual raises. Except we hadn't completed ours yet, this event was planned for several months due to leadership expecting double-digit turnover after the performance review period, about 10% of leadership in a single product got wind of it coming and has already settled in at new companies, multiple principals and architects with spotless records were let go from a single product along with nearly 80% of its other headcount, and layoffs have been quietly happening without attention being drawn (a few a week). We were also told at an Open Book that Apollo had to intervene for Rackspace to afford contracted bonus structure this year, as Rackspace literally did not have cash on hand to meet targets. Other than all that, though, astute insight and analysis. You're right, just typical fiscal year slog. (PR is literally saying "we're a stable company, promise" in statements.)
  - tyingq 8y ago
    I wasn't saying Rackspace was in good financial shape. I was saying it probably sucks to work there, as it usually does in a "recently purchased by PE" company.
    - raxthrowaway0 8y ago
      You were saying the layoffs are "typical slog," going so far as to authoritatively declare how the layoffs that impacted us were executed. (Completely wrong.) I was merely reminding you that from the outside, you have extremely little context on which to speak authoritatively. You also cannot speak authoritatively on working conditions; Rackspace was a great place to work with little involvement from Apollo, despite your armchair theorizing regarding a place you've never been. Especially when the people who had been given assurances by ELT and then woke up Thursday to find they'd been broken on account of near insolvency of the business, when those people are hanging out in the comments among you, it's probably best to listen more than speak.
      - tyingq 8y ago
        Sorry, no. You're reading something into what I said. I'm using "slog" to mean "long shitty period". I was guessing review/stack/rank at the beginning of the year because I've spent time working at recently PE bought company, and quit once I saw the pattern. When do managers write reviews? They don't have to be delivered to the employees before rank/stack/layoff...
        raxthrowaway0 8y ago
        Great, now you're asking questions. My manager was terminated before he could complete reviews for his staff (he was forbidden from telling any of us about it, because they wanted us to be surprised we were being fired, so my immediate manager just up and vanished one morning). His manager, and that person's manager both turned over from the company weeks ago after they were given a courtesy notice of this event coming. Rackspace then reacted to the turnover and forced the highest manager mentioned so far to stay and personally fire everyone. I understand that you think your theory regarding this layoff is correct. It is not. Performance reviews had absolutely nothing to do with this event. At all. This event involved cost center. Proof I'm legit: The meeting invite to fire everyone was called "Business Update," and scheduled by Liana Greenberg on behalf of Scott Crenshaw. They fired 30 at a time, then quickly cleared the room for the next batch.

tyingq 8y ago

So annual rank/stack, bell curve, fire x%. Right after performance reviews, and right before any annual raises. Typical slog of working at a recently PE purchased company. I wonder if anyone talented is left. Usually they get sick of it after a year or two. I would guess little to no real RSU handcuffs. The stock was badly underwater before it went private.

ssimpson 8y ago
it was more senior people this time. But it has been that way the last couple times too. I have a few very talented friends that lost their jobs. They also pretty much cut out a bunch of the private cloud group. Sad to see such a good company go this direction.
raxthrowaway0 8y ago
> So annual rank/stack, bell curve, fire x%. Right after performance reviews, and right before any annual raises. Except we hadn't completed ours yet, this event was planned for several months due to leadership expecting double-digit turnover after the performance review period, about 10% of leadership in a single product got wind of it coming and has already settled in at new companies, multiple principals and architects with spotless records were let go from a single product along with nearly 80% of its other headcount, and layoffs have been quietly happening without attention being drawn (a few a week). We were also told at an Open Book that Apollo had to intervene for Rackspace to afford contracted bonus structure this year, as Rackspace literally did not have cash on hand to meet targets. Other than all that, though, astute insight and analysis. You're right, just typical fiscal year slog. (PR is literally saying "we're a stable company, promise" in statements.)
- tyingq 8y ago
  I wasn't saying Rackspace was in good financial shape. I was saying it probably sucks to work there, as it usually does in a "recently purchased by PE" company.
  - raxthrowaway0 8y ago
    You were saying the layoffs are "typical slog," going so far as to authoritatively declare how the layoffs that impacted us were executed. (Completely wrong.) I was merely reminding you that from the outside, you have extremely little context on which to speak authoritatively. You also cannot speak authoritatively on working conditions; Rackspace was a great place to work with little involvement from Apollo, despite your armchair theorizing regarding a place you've never been. Especially when the people who had been given assurances by ELT and then woke up Thursday to find they'd been broken on account of near insolvency of the business, when those people are hanging out in the comments among you, it's probably best to listen more than speak.
    - tyingq 8y ago
      Sorry, no. You're reading something into what I said. I'm using "slog" to mean "long shitty period". I was guessing review/stack/rank at the beginning of the year because I've spent time working at recently PE bought company, and quit once I saw the pattern. When do managers write reviews? They don't have to be delivered to the employees before rank/stack/layoff...
      - raxthrowaway0 8y ago
        Great, now you're asking questions. My manager was terminated before he could complete reviews for his staff (he was forbidden from telling any of us about it, because they wanted us to be surprised we were being fired, so my immediate manager just up and vanished one morning). His manager, and that person's manager both turned over from the company weeks ago after they were given a courtesy notice of this event coming. Rackspace then reacted to the turnover and forced the highest manager mentioned so far to stay and personally fire everyone. I understand that you think your theory regarding this layoff is correct. It is not. Performance reviews had absolutely nothing to do with this event. At all. This event involved cost center. Proof I'm legit: The meeting invite to fire everyone was called "Business Update," and scheduled by Liana Greenberg on behalf of Scott Crenshaw. They fired 30 at a time, then quickly cleared the room for the next batch.