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>If you are affected, you will receive this notification in your personal email, because we made the decision to cut access to Coinbase systems for affected emp

by nojito 4y ago

>If you are affected, you will receive this notification in your personal email, because we made the decision to cut access to Coinbase systems for affected employees. I realize that removal of access will feel sudden and unexpected, and this is not the experience I wanted for you. Given the number of employees who have access to sensitive customer information, it was unfortunately the only practical choice, to ensure not even a single person made a rash decision that harmed the business or themselves. Very interesting!! Cutting nearly 20% of your staff but not giving any opportunity for workload transitions take place.

bambax 4y ago
Wow. The language is nice but the behavior is horrendous. Also illegal in many parts of the world: IDK if they have employees in Europe but if they do it will be a big mess. Suddenly cutting off an employee from a company, with no way to even say goodbye to their former colleagues, is despicable. It really shows who you are. Let's hope they will have a hard time hiring back anyone in the future. Edit: as pointed out in many comments in this thread, this is apparently "normal" in the US. Point taken. (But if it is, then it's a little strange that the CEO felt the need to justify it.)
- nemo44x 4y ago
  It’s totally normal here and done to protect the company. It’s one of the reasons Americans are paid considerably more than Euros. Companies can take on more risk and pay more because they aren’t burdened with strict employee relationship laws. What Coinbase is giving in severance is quite generous. They don’t have to do that but it’s really nice and I’d say it improves their reputation. These types of things (layoffs) happen and they’re taking care of their ex-employees.
  - ausbah 4y ago
    most US companies wouldn't be giving severance anywhere like this, much less severance at all
    - nemo44x 4y ago
      Right, which is why I said it improves their standing for future employees who know that if something goes south, they'll take care of them.
- parasubvert 4y ago
  It’s incredibly common to walk employees out in a layoffs in North America, like 90% of the time. You might get a chance to pack your belongings, but sometimes they’ll pack them for you and mail them, or you can book an appointment to do this. given the pandemic, this is less of an issue. Not saying it’s great, but this policy is the result of historical sabotage other problems of prolonged layoffs.
- anarticle 4y ago
  2008 speaking: It is totally normal. We fly high ($$$) and it's part of the game. It's not personal, the company is in trouble and they're making moves to save themselves. Many places will be happy to hire ex Coinbase people.
lkramer 4y ago
Isn't this practice pretty common in Finance? I've heard of people who when they resigned (or fired) immediately got their access revoked and were escorted out the door by security (or if they were lucky, swing by their desk to pick up their stuff).
- bombcar 4y ago
  It's very common in Finance or anywhere where employees have "potentially unreasonable access". Often you get perp-walked or called to the boss's office, and someone boxes up everything in your desk for you, and you'll be escorted offsite afterwards. Most will pay you your two weeks or whatever in cash, the risk of an employee using their access to do harm is considered too great. For many other types of jobs, including potentially software development, the risk is considered minor (all code is backed up, everything is in Git, transitions need to happen, etc).
  - Symbiote 4y ago
    > Most will pay you your two weeks or whatever in cash Really? I assume you're in the USA, and in finance that could be several thousand dollars of cash you're handed. Everywhere I've worked (UK/EU) would pay you in the same way as they were already paying you, i.e. electronically, or decades ago by cheque. Isn't this much easier?
    - bombcar 4y ago
      Ah, by "in cash" I meant in funds immediately, which, yes, usually would be the last direct deposit they send you. They don't literally hand you a stack of hundreds, though that may happen in some manual labor jobs.
matwood 4y ago
Pretty standard when layoffs occur. They happen and people are told to pack up and leave. System access is usually turned off while the announcement is being made to prevent disgruntled from harming the business. Coinbase is probably still mostly remote, so it's about the same thing as shuffling everyone into a conference room and turning off access.
- nojito 4y ago
  It’s also a sign of a terrible company. Rolling layoffs are almost always better for the organization.
coldcode 4y ago
As a public company, are they not required to plan layoffs in advance? i.e. does the WARN act not apply here?
- TheCoelacanth 4y ago
  They are giving everyone at least 14 weeks of severance, so that fulfills the requirements of the notice period. Effectively, they are still employed, just not being given any work to do.
- parasubvert 4y ago
  I think this is too small of a layoff for WARN to kick in. It has to be 33%+ at a given site/factory. And generally if it’s in question they’ll just give people 8+ weeks or more severance. Here Coinbase is giving 14 or more…

by nojito 4y ago

bambax 4y ago

Wow. The language is nice but the behavior is horrendous. Also illegal in many parts of the world: IDK if they have employees in Europe but if they do it will be a big mess. Suddenly cutting off an employee from a company, with no way to even say goodbye to their former colleagues, is despicable. It really shows who you are. Let's hope they will have a hard time hiring back anyone in the future. Edit: as pointed out in many comments in this thread, this is apparently "normal" in the US. Point taken. (But if it is, then it's a little strange that the CEO felt the need to justify it.)

nemo44x 4y ago
It’s totally normal here and done to protect the company. It’s one of the reasons Americans are paid considerably more than Euros. Companies can take on more risk and pay more because they aren’t burdened with strict employee relationship laws. What Coinbase is giving in severance is quite generous. They don’t have to do that but it’s really nice and I’d say it improves their reputation. These types of things (layoffs) happen and they’re taking care of their ex-employees.
- ausbah 4y ago
  most US companies wouldn't be giving severance anywhere like this, much less severance at all
  - nemo44x 4y ago
    Right, which is why I said it improves their standing for future employees who know that if something goes south, they'll take care of them.
parasubvert 4y ago
It’s incredibly common to walk employees out in a layoffs in North America, like 90% of the time. You might get a chance to pack your belongings, but sometimes they’ll pack them for you and mail them, or you can book an appointment to do this. given the pandemic, this is less of an issue. Not saying it’s great, but this policy is the result of historical sabotage other problems of prolonged layoffs.
anarticle 4y ago
2008 speaking: It is totally normal. We fly high ($$$) and it's part of the game. It's not personal, the company is in trouble and they're making moves to save themselves. Many places will be happy to hire ex Coinbase people.

lkramer 4y ago

Isn't this practice pretty common in Finance? I've heard of people who when they resigned (or fired) immediately got their access revoked and were escorted out the door by security (or if they were lucky, swing by their desk to pick up their stuff).

bombcar 4y ago
It's very common in Finance or anywhere where employees have "potentially unreasonable access". Often you get perp-walked or called to the boss's office, and someone boxes up everything in your desk for you, and you'll be escorted offsite afterwards. Most will pay you your two weeks or whatever in cash, the risk of an employee using their access to do harm is considered too great. For many other types of jobs, including potentially software development, the risk is considered minor (all code is backed up, everything is in Git, transitions need to happen, etc).
- Symbiote 4y ago
  > Most will pay you your two weeks or whatever in cash Really? I assume you're in the USA, and in finance that could be several thousand dollars of cash you're handed. Everywhere I've worked (UK/EU) would pay you in the same way as they were already paying you, i.e. electronically, or decades ago by cheque. Isn't this much easier?
  - bombcar 4y ago
    Ah, by "in cash" I meant in funds immediately, which, yes, usually would be the last direct deposit they send you. They don't literally hand you a stack of hundreds, though that may happen in some manual labor jobs.

matwood 4y ago

Pretty standard when layoffs occur. They happen and people are told to pack up and leave. System access is usually turned off while the announcement is being made to prevent disgruntled from harming the business. Coinbase is probably still mostly remote, so it's about the same thing as shuffling everyone into a conference room and turning off access.

nojito 4y ago
It’s also a sign of a terrible company. Rolling layoffs are almost always better for the organization.

coldcode 4y ago

As a public company, are they not required to plan layoffs in advance? i.e. does the WARN act not apply here?

TheCoelacanth 4y ago
They are giving everyone at least 14 weeks of severance, so that fulfills the requirements of the notice period. Effectively, they are still employed, just not being given any work to do.
parasubvert 4y ago
I think this is too small of a layoff for WARN to kick in. It has to be 33%+ at a given site/factory. And generally if it’s in question they’ll just give people 8+ weeks or more severance. Here Coinbase is giving 14 or more…