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> 'They were going based on a lottery, like Russian roulette. The severance package is generous, but they're treating us like they treat the drivers,' she conti

> 'They were going based on a lottery, like Russian roulette. The severance package is generous, but they're treating us like they treat the drivers,' she continued, referring to Uber's less than stellar reputation in fairly compensating their independent contractors. Maybe I am old but it seems to me that woman is super entitled. By her own words the severance package is generous; what else does she want?

vertex-four 6y ago
To be treated as a human being, and to have the people in management at her company treat their employees as if their jobs at least mattered at some point.
- darrmit 6y ago
  I’m sorry but saying being laid off via an online meeting with a generous severance package is equivalent to not being “treated as a human being” is a bit rich.
  - bhupy 6y ago
    Especially during a time when every meeting is online via Zoom.
  - colinmorelli 6y ago
    Yeah I was torn about responding to this comment. By the employee's own admission, the severance was generous. There is no other option but to use online meetings for this now. So maybe a 1:1 could have been done, but a) that would have taken significantly longer to complete and b) would have resulted in people spreading rumors and employees who were not impacted would have feared for their jobs thus impacting productivity and morale. We can talk for hours about all the things Uber could certainly could have done differently throughout their history that - maybe, possibly, in a parallel universe - could have prevented this from happening. But they are where they are now, and there's no "good way" to lay off 3,500 people in a situation like this. Also, to the sibling here - there's simply not enough information to suggest that these employees could not ask questions at all. At least by my read, that's not stated anywhere, and unless explicitly stated otherwise my assumption is that they were provided with the contact information for someone if they had questions - as this is typically how most companies would handle this, particularly at Uber's size.
  - fzeroracer 6y ago
    Well no, that's not the inhumane moment. What makes it feel inhumane is when you're laid off with 3700 other employees in a three minute meeting. It means you don't get to talk directly with your manager nor are you potentially given a chance to speak with your team.
    - paypalcust83 6y ago
      For-profit corporations without employee ownership and regular employees on the board of directors will inevitably treat employees like disposable cogs or dirt. The mistake many people repeatedly make is the line-up to be abused when they should form their own business ventures with civilized, humane, and Golden Rule treatment of others rather than rent-seeking investors to squeeze blood money out of them and cheat them out of livable wages.
      - aaomidi 6y ago
        This. You don't want this to happen to you? Unionize. The tech industry might finally get the wakeup call to unionize.
        sceptical 6y ago
        How would that help? If a company loses 80% of its revenue over night adjustments will have to be made, union or no union.
        aaomidi 6y ago
        Adjustments can be made in a much more humane way.
    - flukus 6y ago
      > What makes it feel inhumane is when you're laid off with 3700 other employees in a three minute meeting. At least they spared them one more long meeting where they yap on about how important people are, how this a hard choice, how the company will emerge stronger (like I care), this doesn't reflect upon you personally, etc. They weren't cowards hiding behind nice words while the "liberated" people from their jobs. That's more humane than most companies. > It means you don't get to talk directly with your manager nor are you potentially given a chance to speak with your team. This very often happens during in person layoffs already, "we're sorry to let you go, security has a box with all your crap at the door".
  - paypalcust83 6y ago
    You're making some assumptions here and taking third-hand information as gospel. It depends on what "generous" means in fact, how much notice they were given, and their prospects or help to get other jobs in a job climate that is worse than the Great Depression. What if it were you?
- osazuwa 6y ago
  I dunno. Seemed like a good way to do the layoff to me. Do the hard thing in one swoop. Should they have separate meetings where people who haven't gotten fired yet hear rumors and have to writhe in uncertainty until they get the call? Besides, getting fired along with 3499 people has got to feel better than getting fired alone.
paypalcust83 6y ago
Yep, in a Niemöller-ignorant, selfish manner.[0] And "Russian roulette" would imply suicidal gambling of one's own volition so that is an improper metaphor. 0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_...
pnako 6y ago
> they're treating us like they treat the drivers She almost reached the point of enlightenment, but stopped right there.
- ken 6y ago
  Worse: "We knew they didn't have the drivers' backs, but they don't have anyone's backs."
  - lowdose 6y ago
    You can't treat people in your own office like you treat those people on the street. Office people do not have to bring their own gear to work everyone knows that.
econcon 6y ago
>but they're treating us like they treat the drivers. So it's fine to treat drivers bad? Who enabled this treatment of drivers? I prefer being fired/layed off through a text message, it will save me not having to make weird faces and hide emotions when dealing with the person who laid me off.
- findyoucef 6y ago
  Why save them the emotional torment? They should feel uncomfortable
  - loktarogar 6y ago
    some poor HR person? it's their job...
    - iJohnDoe 6y ago
      It’s not some poor HR person. The HR person loves to fire people, for lots of different reasons. Here are just three reasons. 1. The HR person craves drama. They live for it. It’s the reason they are an HR person. Firing people is drama. 2. Firing people gives the the HR person a sense of power over others and sense of being important. They are really just doing the bidding of someone higher up, but that is why it makes them feel important because they are “in the know” when most others are not. 3. It gives them a feeling of being in control and immune to being fired since they often manipulate and control the outcomes. If someone wanted to help people then they wouldn’t have chosen HR as a profession. HR isn’t there to help the employees. They are there to help and protect the company.
- waltpad 6y ago
  Until you discover that this message was forged, and when you show up one week later, then they really fire you for not showing up at work for a week.
  - ornornor 6y ago
    Wat?

vertex-four 6y ago

To be treated as a human being, and to have the people in management at her company treat their employees as if their jobs at least mattered at some point.

darrmit 6y ago
I’m sorry but saying being laid off via an online meeting with a generous severance package is equivalent to not being “treated as a human being” is a bit rich.
- bhupy 6y ago
  Especially during a time when every meeting is online via Zoom.
- colinmorelli 6y ago
  Yeah I was torn about responding to this comment. By the employee's own admission, the severance was generous. There is no other option but to use online meetings for this now. So maybe a 1:1 could have been done, but a) that would have taken significantly longer to complete and b) would have resulted in people spreading rumors and employees who were not impacted would have feared for their jobs thus impacting productivity and morale. We can talk for hours about all the things Uber could certainly could have done differently throughout their history that - maybe, possibly, in a parallel universe - could have prevented this from happening. But they are where they are now, and there's no "good way" to lay off 3,500 people in a situation like this. Also, to the sibling here - there's simply not enough information to suggest that these employees could not ask questions at all. At least by my read, that's not stated anywhere, and unless explicitly stated otherwise my assumption is that they were provided with the contact information for someone if they had questions - as this is typically how most companies would handle this, particularly at Uber's size.
- fzeroracer 6y ago
  Well no, that's not the inhumane moment. What makes it feel inhumane is when you're laid off with 3700 other employees in a three minute meeting. It means you don't get to talk directly with your manager nor are you potentially given a chance to speak with your team.
  - paypalcust83 6y ago
    For-profit corporations without employee ownership and regular employees on the board of directors will inevitably treat employees like disposable cogs or dirt. The mistake many people repeatedly make is the line-up to be abused when they should form their own business ventures with civilized, humane, and Golden Rule treatment of others rather than rent-seeking investors to squeeze blood money out of them and cheat them out of livable wages.
    - aaomidi 6y ago
      This. You don't want this to happen to you? Unionize. The tech industry might finally get the wakeup call to unionize.
      - sceptical 6y ago
        How would that help? If a company loses 80% of its revenue over night adjustments will have to be made, union or no union.
        aaomidi 6y ago
        Adjustments can be made in a much more humane way.
  - flukus 6y ago
    > What makes it feel inhumane is when you're laid off with 3700 other employees in a three minute meeting. At least they spared them one more long meeting where they yap on about how important people are, how this a hard choice, how the company will emerge stronger (like I care), this doesn't reflect upon you personally, etc. They weren't cowards hiding behind nice words while the "liberated" people from their jobs. That's more humane than most companies. > It means you don't get to talk directly with your manager nor are you potentially given a chance to speak with your team. This very often happens during in person layoffs already, "we're sorry to let you go, security has a box with all your crap at the door".
- paypalcust83 6y ago
  You're making some assumptions here and taking third-hand information as gospel. It depends on what "generous" means in fact, how much notice they were given, and their prospects or help to get other jobs in a job climate that is worse than the Great Depression. What if it were you?
osazuwa 6y ago
I dunno. Seemed like a good way to do the layoff to me. Do the hard thing in one swoop. Should they have separate meetings where people who haven't gotten fired yet hear rumors and have to writhe in uncertainty until they get the call? Besides, getting fired along with 3499 people has got to feel better than getting fired alone.

paypalcust83 6y ago

Yep, in a Niemöller-ignorant, selfish manner.[0] And "Russian roulette" would imply suicidal gambling of one's own volition so that is an improper metaphor. 0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_...

pnako 6y ago

> they're treating us like they treat the drivers She almost reached the point of enlightenment, but stopped right there.

ken 6y ago
Worse: "We knew they didn't have the drivers' backs, but they don't have anyone's backs."
- lowdose 6y ago
  You can't treat people in your own office like you treat those people on the street. Office people do not have to bring their own gear to work everyone knows that.

econcon 6y ago

>but they're treating us like they treat the drivers. So it's fine to treat drivers bad? Who enabled this treatment of drivers? I prefer being fired/layed off through a text message, it will save me not having to make weird faces and hide emotions when dealing with the person who laid me off.

findyoucef 6y ago
Why save them the emotional torment? They should feel uncomfortable
- loktarogar 6y ago
  some poor HR person? it's their job...
  - iJohnDoe 6y ago
    It’s not some poor HR person. The HR person loves to fire people, for lots of different reasons. Here are just three reasons. 1. The HR person craves drama. They live for it. It’s the reason they are an HR person. Firing people is drama. 2. Firing people gives the the HR person a sense of power over others and sense of being important. They are really just doing the bidding of someone higher up, but that is why it makes them feel important because they are “in the know” when most others are not. 3. It gives them a feeling of being in control and immune to being fired since they often manipulate and control the outcomes. If someone wanted to help people then they wouldn’t have chosen HR as a profession. HR isn’t there to help the employees. They are there to help and protect the company.
waltpad 6y ago
Until you discover that this message was forged, and when you show up one week later, then they really fire you for not showing up at work for a week.
- ornornor 6y ago
  Wat?