3 ms·

One of the people laid off yesterday (along with his whole team) had been a candidate to lead development of the Xbox 720. This was definitely not a very publi

One of the people laid off yesterday (along with his whole team) had been a candidate to lead development of the Xbox 720. This was definitely not a very public PIP ejection. It looks more like a spreadsheet driven culling of the product lines.

nerdix 4y ago
Whats the rationale of cutting a guy like that? He was probably on the phone with Sony or Nintendo before his desk was cleaned out. He's probably value to Sony (maybe not so much Nintendo) just for the intel alone.
- fatbird 4y ago
  I'm guessing the project got cut, so the team went, so the guy went. You're right, he can have almost any job he wants with a phone call. Given his history, he'd survived quite happily in much more difficult, demanding environments, so I can't imagine he was targetted. It wasn't personal, it was a spreadsheet decision.
MontyCarloHall 4y ago
To play Devil’s advocate, perhaps that team never delivered anything, despite consisting of (presumably) talented engineers. I’ve seen several “brilliant but unaccomplished” teams that never actually ship anything but nonetheless manage to hang around due to the raw intelligence of their team members. It can be hard to let someone go who talks like an accomplished CS professor at every meeting, but does little besides that. >It looks more like a spreadsheet driven culling of the product lines. You’d think a company as successful as Microsoft would be above such ineffective, morale-crushing moves (also profit-crushing, assuming the people being fired were actually productive), but then again, if this article [0] (and associated HN comments) are to be believed, Microsoft isn’t exactly optimizing [fh]iring decisions based on performance. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33165844 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33165844
reissbaker 4y ago
The Xbox 720? I haven't heard that name in something like a decade. Are you referring to the console that eventually became the Xbox One?
- fatbird 4y ago
  Yes.
drewcoo 4y ago
> very public PIP ejection A layoff and PIP (performance improvement plan) are very different things. Nobody thinks that lots of people were being PIPped and suddenly MSFT decided to cut and run. https://www.indeed.com/hire/c/info/pip-meaning https://www.indeed.com/hire/c/info/pip-meaning
- MontyCarloHall 4y ago
  At most companies, for all intents and purposes, getting PIP’d is equivalent to getting laid off. It’s basically a formality HR makes you jump through before firing an underperforming employee to avoid lawsuits for wrongful dismissal.
  - mc32 4y ago
    Agreed. If someone goes on a PIP it’s rather unlikely they are kept after plan is complete. They will be under a microscope where every single thing is scrutinized.
reisse 4y ago
Xbox One was a fiasco. I wonder if it is a good characteristic for a person.
- fatbird 4y ago
  Fortunately, he was only a candidate, and decided against it.

nerdix 4y ago

Whats the rationale of cutting a guy like that? He was probably on the phone with Sony or Nintendo before his desk was cleaned out. He's probably value to Sony (maybe not so much Nintendo) just for the intel alone.

fatbird 4y ago
I'm guessing the project got cut, so the team went, so the guy went. You're right, he can have almost any job he wants with a phone call. Given his history, he'd survived quite happily in much more difficult, demanding environments, so I can't imagine he was targetted. It wasn't personal, it was a spreadsheet decision.

MontyCarloHall 4y ago

To play Devil’s advocate, perhaps that team never delivered anything, despite consisting of (presumably) talented engineers. I’ve seen several “brilliant but unaccomplished” teams that never actually ship anything but nonetheless manage to hang around due to the raw intelligence of their team members. It can be hard to let someone go who talks like an accomplished CS professor at every meeting, but does little besides that. >It looks more like a spreadsheet driven culling of the product lines. You’d think a company as successful as Microsoft would be above such ineffective, morale-crushing moves (also profit-crushing, assuming the people being fired were actually productive), but then again, if this article [0] (and associated HN comments) are to be believed, Microsoft isn’t exactly optimizing [fh]iring decisions based on performance. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33165844 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33165844

reissbaker 4y ago

The Xbox 720? I haven't heard that name in something like a decade. Are you referring to the console that eventually became the Xbox One?

fatbird 4y ago
Yes.

drewcoo 4y ago

> very public PIP ejection A layoff and PIP (performance improvement plan) are very different things. Nobody thinks that lots of people were being PIPped and suddenly MSFT decided to cut and run. https://www.indeed.com/hire/c/info/pip-meaning https://www.indeed.com/hire/c/info/pip-meaning

MontyCarloHall 4y ago
At most companies, for all intents and purposes, getting PIP’d is equivalent to getting laid off. It’s basically a formality HR makes you jump through before firing an underperforming employee to avoid lawsuits for wrongful dismissal.
- mc32 4y ago
  Agreed. If someone goes on a PIP it’s rather unlikely they are kept after plan is complete. They will be under a microscope where every single thing is scrutinized.

reisse 4y ago

Xbox One was a fiasco. I wonder if it is a good characteristic for a person.

fatbird 4y ago
Fortunately, he was only a candidate, and decided against it.