4 ms·

This came up in the Patreon discussion yesterday. Twilio is giving decent severance packages (12 weeks plus week per year of service) and is accelerating vesti

This came up in the Patreon discussion yesterday. Twilio is giving decent severance packages (12 weeks plus week per year of service) and is accelerating vesting. Both of those impact the bottom line and should have a material impact on C-suite compensation.

bosie 4y ago
That is a very proxy-ish 'taking responsibility' that might never materialise though
jjulius 4y ago
>Both of those impact the bottom line and should have a material impact on C-suite compensation. Italicized emphasis mine. Time and again we've seen that this isn't the case, to the point where I won't bother holding my breathe to see if the CEO is impacted financially down the line. I'd rather start seeing CEOs highlight the fallout they themselves will receive in these layoff announcements themselves.
- ergocoder 4y ago
  Then, this should be agreed before taking the CEO role. If a company decides to reduce my compensation mid way, I will be freaking flipped. In this case, they could reduce the CEO's salary, but then it would go into the situation whether twilio would be better with a new CEO given the current CEO's performance in the past 10y. The answer would be a huge no.
- nerpderp82 4y ago
  To the board and VC, "taking responsibility" means they should get a bonus for reducing headcount. Bulk up, gain marketshare, during glide phase reduce operating expenses and "spend" the gains earned during growth phase. Money is in charge. There is no moral element to how humans currently run business.
vineyardmike 4y ago
If a company is giving 12+ weeks of severance, you’d think they could just say “12 weeks from now is your last day. If you find new work before then you’re free to leave. We’ll pay you to keep working on your projects for the next 12 weeks” Why pay someone expensive a salary to not work if the company is facing issues with money already? Like i get the idea of severance, and would want it as an individual, but it seems like it just bleeds extra resources.
- taftster 4y ago
  If someone were to tell me, you've got 12 weeks left on your job. And then adds, and you can leave early when you find work. I'm probably not going to be the most motivated/productive employee. In fact, I might cause more harm than good. It's better to just rip that bandaid off and let people move on with their lives. 12 weeks severance is (hopefully) enough time that the former employee can find new work, and also that the company can start adjusting to the down sizing. A non-productive worker is probably worse than no worker at all.
  - bad416f1f5a2 4y ago
    > A non-productive worker is probably worse than no worker at all. There's no "probably" to it. Offering a fired employee the right to stay around until their time is up is a mindbogglingly stupid idea. It's a recipe for massive negativity from them & for your existing teams. Having participated in a RIF before, the two most common questions are 1) "why me?" and 2) "why my friend and not someone else?" Keeping someone who you've clearly said has no future around & asking them to contribute to the future of a company is ... what?
    - mvc 4y ago
      And yet here in the UK, it's quite normal for senior engineers to be faced with 3 months (I've even heard of 6!) working for a company after deciding to quit and hand in their notice. Completely bonkers if you ask me.
    - taftster 4y ago

bosie 4y ago

That is a very proxy-ish 'taking responsibility' that might never materialise though

jjulius 4y ago

>Both of those impact the bottom line and should have a material impact on C-suite compensation. Italicized emphasis mine. Time and again we've seen that this isn't the case, to the point where I won't bother holding my breathe to see if the CEO is impacted financially down the line. I'd rather start seeing CEOs highlight the fallout they themselves will receive in these layoff announcements themselves.

ergocoder 4y ago
Then, this should be agreed before taking the CEO role. If a company decides to reduce my compensation mid way, I will be freaking flipped. In this case, they could reduce the CEO's salary, but then it would go into the situation whether twilio would be better with a new CEO given the current CEO's performance in the past 10y. The answer would be a huge no.
nerpderp82 4y ago
To the board and VC, "taking responsibility" means they should get a bonus for reducing headcount. Bulk up, gain marketshare, during glide phase reduce operating expenses and "spend" the gains earned during growth phase. Money is in charge. There is no moral element to how humans currently run business.

vineyardmike 4y ago

If a company is giving 12+ weeks of severance, you’d think they could just say “12 weeks from now is your last day. If you find new work before then you’re free to leave. We’ll pay you to keep working on your projects for the next 12 weeks” Why pay someone expensive a salary to not work if the company is facing issues with money already? Like i get the idea of severance, and would want it as an individual, but it seems like it just bleeds extra resources.

taftster 4y ago
If someone were to tell me, you've got 12 weeks left on your job. And then adds, and you can leave early when you find work. I'm probably not going to be the most motivated/productive employee. In fact, I might cause more harm than good. It's better to just rip that bandaid off and let people move on with their lives. 12 weeks severance is (hopefully) enough time that the former employee can find new work, and also that the company can start adjusting to the down sizing. A non-productive worker is probably worse than no worker at all.
- bad416f1f5a2 4y ago
  > A non-productive worker is probably worse than no worker at all. There's no "probably" to it. Offering a fired employee the right to stay around until their time is up is a mindbogglingly stupid idea. It's a recipe for massive negativity from them & for your existing teams. Having participated in a RIF before, the two most common questions are 1) "why me?" and 2) "why my friend and not someone else?" Keeping someone who you've clearly said has no future around & asking them to contribute to the future of a company is ... what?
  - mvc 4y ago
    And yet here in the UK, it's quite normal for senior engineers to be faced with 3 months (I've even heard of 6!) working for a company after deciding to quit and hand in their notice. Completely bonkers if you ask me.
  - taftster 4y ago