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Evan also released a report this morning. Some departments such as Snap Minis & games, snap originals, and a few other things like that pixy will be cut heavily

Evan also released a report this morning. Some departments such as Snap Minis & games, snap originals, and a few other things like that pixy will be cut heavily/stopped entirely. Team members in the U.S. are stated to receive at least 4 months of "compensation replacement". Those relying on work authorizations will receive additional support and flexibility according to the email. Other notable pieces is that Jerry Hunter is being promoted from SVP of engineering to COO. As a side note: I've had several recruiters reach out to me since yesterday. Yesterday (08/30, day of verge report release) I had 9 unprompted recruiters reach out. Door dash, 2 from Amazon, and a few from some lesser known companies as well. This is with my LinkedIn profile set to "not looking for a job". sources: [1] https://www.axios.com/2022/08/31/snap-restructuring-layoffs https://www.axios.com/2022/08/31/snap-restructuring-layoffs [2] I'm a snap software engineer.

MuffinFlavored 4y ago
> Some departments such as Snap Minis & games, snap originals, and a few other things like that pixy will be cut heavily/stopped entirely. I wonder how much fat is being debated to be trimmed at GOOG/AAPL.
- SteveNuts 4y ago
  The Google graveyard will probably double in size
- Brystephor 4y ago
  I imagine their businesses are more resilient due to more income streams. Snap is pretty dependent on advertising income. I have no idea what Google's dependence on advertising income is, but I'd assume the ratio is less. Apple has multiple sources of income and I would be surprised to see them do layoffs. I'm more curious about other companies such as Meta. Especially since Zuckerberg has openly stated there's probably people who shouldn't be there.
  - dmitrygr 4y ago
    > I have no idea what Google's dependence on advertising income is basically 100%. Cloud makes a little, but mostly it is all paid for by ads
    - sitkack 4y ago
      Cloud has yet to turn a profit, but they are on the path to extract blood from stone.
      - Rastonbury 4y ago
        Cloud is high margin, its just that the battle with Azure and AWS is really bloody
  - spaceman_2020 4y ago
    > I have no idea what Google's dependence on advertising income Over 80% of Google's revenues are from advertising [0] Also, I can't find a source for it now, but I remember reading from a trusted industry journalist that roughly 25% of this advertising revenue is from startups and high-growth businesses. Seems too high to me, but I would expect at least 10% to be from startups. 0: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1093781/distribution-of-googles-revenues-by-segment/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1093781/distribution-of-...
    - Retric 4y ago
      Investing in stuff like self driving cars should be independent of current market conditions due to the size of their war chest. The profitable parts of the business are so profitable that would would take massive drops in advertising to really impact the bottom line.
      - spaceman_2020 4y ago
        That's been true for every big company that faded away into obscurity. Or at least lost its erstwhile dominance. They usually have a product or division that does so well that it completely dominates the organization. Every part of the business becomes designed, organically or intentionally, to support this division. Innovation falters and new trends catch the incumbent off guard. While its not even close to dire straits for Google yet, the Gen-Z shift away from search is clearly a red flag and a sign that there's an entirely new trend that has caught Google off guard. Luckily they have YouTube, otherwise I'd be way more bearish on Google's future. Text-based search isn't going to grow by leaps and bounds, at least not in developed markets.
- nekoashide 4y ago
  As soon as they can quantify remote work as a metric that they can make personal decisions on.
  - MuffinFlavored 4y ago
    I'm sorry, I don't understand, can you expand?
- peppertree 4y ago
  Snap and Meta are getting their lunch eaten by TikTok. Google Apple Amazon are fine.
  - bushbaba 4y ago
    Google still is an ads company. It’s not as well diversified as apple (hardware, services, ads) and amazon (cloud, retail, consumer electronics, logistics, healthcare,…etc)
    - paxys 4y ago
      iPhone hardware sales account for 50% of Apple's revenue, and that number goes up significantly when you allocate revenue from Apple Care, services, ads, App Store and more that are directly driven by iPhone. The entire company is reliant on that one device, so not quite as diversified as people think.
      - wiremine 4y ago
        True. I think it's also fair to say it's more of an ecosystem than a single product. The switching costs to another similar ecosystem are high.
      - matwood 4y ago
        It's better to say Apple is becoming less reliant on selling every iPhone user a new iPhone every year.
      - asdajksah2123 4y ago
        Apple can deploy several levers to increase non-iPhone revenue which they haven't yet. First party games. Ads. Increase first party paid app costs (final cut pro goes back to being a pro service). Developer services. All on the mac side. They also have cloud infrastructure they haven't focused on yet, but can potentially be a major source of revenue with the right hires and focus.
    - MuffinFlavored 4y ago
      Is Google trying to be anything other than an ads company? If so, what? I know they are famous for spinning up projects and killing them super quickly. If not, what are they doing? They have 140k+ employees worldwide. Is that what is needed to maintain their core ad business without focusing on growth of any kind (ad related or not)? If not... how many engineers/managers/whatever positions could they afford to "layoff" if we were to see US recessionary pressures/consumer spending pullback?
- babypuncher 4y ago
  Based on the increase in daily recruiting attempts I receive from those companies, I would guess that they are not looking to trim fat.
- avrionov 4y ago
  I can't predict the future, but there is one big difference between Snap and the FAANG companies. Snap hasn't been profitable for the last 5 years.
- jbigelow76 4y ago
  I wonder how much fat is being debated to be trimmed at GOOG/AAPL I bet Apple is going to let the mini-revolt over the return to office policy naturally thin its herd.
- smugma 4y ago
  Google were around in the Great Recession of 2009 so you can look there to see how they may react to a slowdown/recession. I recall at the time there were reports of something like 200 job cuts at each, <1% of their workforces at the time. I think both will have hiring slowdowns/freezes and of course Google will continue to shutter loved projects, but I'll be surprised if we see any significant (>1%) job cuts from either.
ginger2016 4y ago
Sorry to hear this; It is tough to lose jobs when there is a fear of recession. I hope everyone will land on their feet. The package seems to be generous, I am glad that Snap is considerate to people on visas.
- kyleblarson 4y ago
  According to the historically accepted definition the US is already in a recession.
- Brystephor 4y ago
  I appreciate the condolences. I have no idea if I'm affected or not, but I don't expect to be since I work in payments. I'm waiting to see who will be affected and how I can help them. edit: I've received notification that I'm not affected by the layoffs. Part of me thinks having 4 months full compensation would've been nice to have. Part of me is glad to not need to do the interview process again (at least not immediately).
mixedbit 4y ago
Do you know if the PlayCanvas game engine will be affected?
- Brystephor 4y ago
  No idea. That's not my area of expertise/work. Sorry about that.
choppaface 4y ago
Prior to these layoffs, Evan recently pushed a change to do a Founder Stock Split that would benefit him materially without losing his voting power: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/as-snap-melts-down-its-founders-make-sure-to-protect-the-people-who-matter-themselves-11658452231 https://www.marketwatch.com/story/as-snap-melts-down-its-fou... Snap stock to fell ~25% the next day. How do Snap engineers feel about all this? Are they so into the product and their work that they just don’t care? Or rather, are they also deeply supportive of Evan’s stewardship? (ignore the non-believers)
- Infinitesimus 4y ago
  <not a snap employee> I'd bet most of them just want to work, get paid enough, and left alone to do other things with their lives. Strong opinions about what a founder does to their comp package is something people who are either close to the top or in an early stage company would worry about.
- robocat 4y ago
  “Spiegel and Murphy [CEO&CTO] own a whopping 99.5% voting control of the company.” Why would anyone expect their Class A shares to be treated “fairly”?

MuffinFlavored 4y ago

> Some departments such as Snap Minis & games, snap originals, and a few other things like that pixy will be cut heavily/stopped entirely. I wonder how much fat is being debated to be trimmed at GOOG/AAPL.

SteveNuts 4y ago
The Google graveyard will probably double in size
Brystephor 4y ago
I imagine their businesses are more resilient due to more income streams. Snap is pretty dependent on advertising income. I have no idea what Google's dependence on advertising income is, but I'd assume the ratio is less. Apple has multiple sources of income and I would be surprised to see them do layoffs. I'm more curious about other companies such as Meta. Especially since Zuckerberg has openly stated there's probably people who shouldn't be there.
- dmitrygr 4y ago
  > I have no idea what Google's dependence on advertising income is basically 100%. Cloud makes a little, but mostly it is all paid for by ads
  - sitkack 4y ago
    Cloud has yet to turn a profit, but they are on the path to extract blood from stone.
    - Rastonbury 4y ago
      Cloud is high margin, its just that the battle with Azure and AWS is really bloody
- spaceman_2020 4y ago
  > I have no idea what Google's dependence on advertising income Over 80% of Google's revenues are from advertising [0] Also, I can't find a source for it now, but I remember reading from a trusted industry journalist that roughly 25% of this advertising revenue is from startups and high-growth businesses. Seems too high to me, but I would expect at least 10% to be from startups. 0: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1093781/distribution-of-googles-revenues-by-segment/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1093781/distribution-of-...
  - Retric 4y ago
    Investing in stuff like self driving cars should be independent of current market conditions due to the size of their war chest. The profitable parts of the business are so profitable that would would take massive drops in advertising to really impact the bottom line.
    - spaceman_2020 4y ago
      That's been true for every big company that faded away into obscurity. Or at least lost its erstwhile dominance. They usually have a product or division that does so well that it completely dominates the organization. Every part of the business becomes designed, organically or intentionally, to support this division. Innovation falters and new trends catch the incumbent off guard. While its not even close to dire straits for Google yet, the Gen-Z shift away from search is clearly a red flag and a sign that there's an entirely new trend that has caught Google off guard. Luckily they have YouTube, otherwise I'd be way more bearish on Google's future. Text-based search isn't going to grow by leaps and bounds, at least not in developed markets.
nekoashide 4y ago
As soon as they can quantify remote work as a metric that they can make personal decisions on.
- MuffinFlavored 4y ago
  I'm sorry, I don't understand, can you expand?
peppertree 4y ago
Snap and Meta are getting their lunch eaten by TikTok. Google Apple Amazon are fine.
- bushbaba 4y ago
  Google still is an ads company. It’s not as well diversified as apple (hardware, services, ads) and amazon (cloud, retail, consumer electronics, logistics, healthcare,…etc)
  - paxys 4y ago
    iPhone hardware sales account for 50% of Apple's revenue, and that number goes up significantly when you allocate revenue from Apple Care, services, ads, App Store and more that are directly driven by iPhone. The entire company is reliant on that one device, so not quite as diversified as people think.
    - wiremine 4y ago
      True. I think it's also fair to say it's more of an ecosystem than a single product. The switching costs to another similar ecosystem are high.
    - matwood 4y ago
      It's better to say Apple is becoming less reliant on selling every iPhone user a new iPhone every year.
    - asdajksah2123 4y ago
      Apple can deploy several levers to increase non-iPhone revenue which they haven't yet. First party games. Ads. Increase first party paid app costs (final cut pro goes back to being a pro service). Developer services. All on the mac side. They also have cloud infrastructure they haven't focused on yet, but can potentially be a major source of revenue with the right hires and focus.
  - MuffinFlavored 4y ago
    Is Google trying to be anything other than an ads company? If so, what? I know they are famous for spinning up projects and killing them super quickly. If not, what are they doing? They have 140k+ employees worldwide. Is that what is needed to maintain their core ad business without focusing on growth of any kind (ad related or not)? If not... how many engineers/managers/whatever positions could they afford to "layoff" if we were to see US recessionary pressures/consumer spending pullback?
babypuncher 4y ago
Based on the increase in daily recruiting attempts I receive from those companies, I would guess that they are not looking to trim fat.
avrionov 4y ago
I can't predict the future, but there is one big difference between Snap and the FAANG companies. Snap hasn't been profitable for the last 5 years.
jbigelow76 4y ago
I wonder how much fat is being debated to be trimmed at GOOG/AAPL I bet Apple is going to let the mini-revolt over the return to office policy naturally thin its herd.
smugma 4y ago
Google were around in the Great Recession of 2009 so you can look there to see how they may react to a slowdown/recession. I recall at the time there were reports of something like 200 job cuts at each, <1% of their workforces at the time. I think both will have hiring slowdowns/freezes and of course Google will continue to shutter loved projects, but I'll be surprised if we see any significant (>1%) job cuts from either.

ginger2016 4y ago

Sorry to hear this; It is tough to lose jobs when there is a fear of recession. I hope everyone will land on their feet. The package seems to be generous, I am glad that Snap is considerate to people on visas.

kyleblarson 4y ago
According to the historically accepted definition the US is already in a recession.
Brystephor 4y ago
I appreciate the condolences. I have no idea if I'm affected or not, but I don't expect to be since I work in payments. I'm waiting to see who will be affected and how I can help them. edit: I've received notification that I'm not affected by the layoffs. Part of me thinks having 4 months full compensation would've been nice to have. Part of me is glad to not need to do the interview process again (at least not immediately).

mixedbit 4y ago

Do you know if the PlayCanvas game engine will be affected?

Brystephor 4y ago
No idea. That's not my area of expertise/work. Sorry about that.

choppaface 4y ago

Prior to these layoffs, Evan recently pushed a change to do a Founder Stock Split that would benefit him materially without losing his voting power: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/as-snap-melts-down-its-founders-make-sure-to-protect-the-people-who-matter-themselves-11658452231 https://www.marketwatch.com/story/as-snap-melts-down-its-fou... Snap stock to fell ~25% the next day. How do Snap engineers feel about all this? Are they so into the product and their work that they just don’t care? Or rather, are they also deeply supportive of Evan’s stewardship? (ignore the non-believers)

Infinitesimus 4y ago
<not a snap employee> I'd bet most of them just want to work, get paid enough, and left alone to do other things with their lives. Strong opinions about what a founder does to their comp package is something people who are either close to the top or in an early stage company would worry about.
robocat 4y ago
“Spiegel and Murphy [CEO&CTO] own a whopping 99.5% voting control of the company.” Why would anyone expect their Class A shares to be treated “fairly”?