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> This is telling every Google employee who actually works on stuff (as opposed to managing people) "you, your comfort, and your professional development are le

> This is telling every Google employee who actually works on stuff (as opposed to managing people) "you, your comfort, and your professional development are less important to us than a tiny, tiny fraction of our quarterly profit. We at the top need to focus on making our dollar-denominated high scores go up even higher, so you all just have to tighten your belts and accept that you don't matter." Basically, yes. I would use much more polite phrasing but you basically got it right. I think anyone who is offended by the underlying message here is misunderstanding how valuable an employee is. An employee is only as valuable as their replacement cost. And, that’s often completely detached from a company’s earnings. It’s not a pleasant message, but it’s reality and people would be better off if they realized this. To be clear, this applies to managers and execs as well.

danaris 4y ago
You may see it applying to managers and execs as well, but it's (almost) never applied to them. It's always "growth didn't meet expectations, gotta lay off an entire division", never "profits are down, gotta cut the CEO's salary from $300 million down to $125 million—hope he didn't want to buy three yachts this quarter!" We've spent far too long worshiping at the altar of Number Go Up. That is not the purpose of companies. They exist, fundamentally, to improve life for real people, and too many people have lost sight of that.
- fairity 4y ago
  > That is not the purpose of companies. They exist, fundamentally, to improve life for real people, From where do you get that idea? From a legal standpoint, the purpose of corporations is ambiguous (take a look at the Articles of Incorporation for any of these corporations for details). Corporations are simply a legal structure to protect officers from liability, define decision making power, and distribute profits to shareholders. Ultimately, the board has the power to control company direction. So, to the extent that there's a "fundamental purpose of a company", it is whatever the board wants it to be. And, in almost all cases, that purpose is to maximize profits. I can understand if what you're saying is that you WISH all corporations' fundamental purpose was to improve life for real people, but that simply isn't reality, legally or practically.

danaris 4y ago

You may see it applying to managers and execs as well, but it's (almost) never applied to them. It's always "growth didn't meet expectations, gotta lay off an entire division", never "profits are down, gotta cut the CEO's salary from $300 million down to $125 million—hope he didn't want to buy three yachts this quarter!" We've spent far too long worshiping at the altar of Number Go Up. That is not the purpose of companies. They exist, fundamentally, to improve life for real people, and too many people have lost sight of that.

fairity 4y ago
> That is not the purpose of companies. They exist, fundamentally, to improve life for real people, From where do you get that idea? From a legal standpoint, the purpose of corporations is ambiguous (take a look at the Articles of Incorporation for any of these corporations for details). Corporations are simply a legal structure to protect officers from liability, define decision making power, and distribute profits to shareholders. Ultimately, the board has the power to control company direction. So, to the extent that there's a "fundamental purpose of a company", it is whatever the board wants it to be. And, in almost all cases, that purpose is to maximize profits. I can understand if what you're saying is that you WISH all corporations' fundamental purpose was to improve life for real people, but that simply isn't reality, legally or practically.