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Why would the high performing employees unionize with the poor performers to protect them? They’re grateful to see the deadweight cut off.

toomuchtodo 4y ago
You only need a majority to unionize. Do more than 51% of Twitter employees think they’re the highest performing? Let the exceptionalists fend for themselves if they feel so inclined. You only have to convince the majority, not those who think they’re the best (whether warranted or not). If you’re “high performing”, you’ll land anywhere you want, right? Call their bluff. What do you have to lose? Your tenuous at will employment?
socialismisok 4y ago
I very much disagree that a) Twitter is only cutting dead weight and b) Tweeps are happy about seeing their peers fired en masse.
- nemo44x 4y ago
  I’m sure there will be some people let go that don’t deserve it. But I imagine the majority of the sorting here is pretty accurate. My guess is 6 months from now the company will be stronger than ever with an inspired staff that trusts their peers are pulling weight too.
  - socialismisok 4y ago
    You think half of Twitter's engineers aren't just bad, they are dead weight. And there was no performance evaluation system in place to get rid of them? Come on. That's an outrageous claim without any evidence.
  - fbdab103 4y ago
    >...be stronger than ever with an inspired staff Ah yes, the "inspiration" from solving the world's biggest problems of letting people send deep thoughts two sentences at a time.
  - bagels 4y ago
    If half of my coworkers got laid off, I would be exactly the opposite of inspired. I'd feel ashamed that I stayed after that.
  - frollo 4y ago
    If half of my coworkers got laid off, I'd be running away from the company faster than light. Staying after they pull a stunt like that only means waiting until they pull another one (or the company just collapses from the shock of losing that much capacity).
- pascalxus 4y ago
  Imagine the look on this guys face when he's the one who gets the layoff slip while the one's he thought would get it, get to keep their job. Don't be so sure, you're a high performer. High performance isn't just about your own performance. All it takes is for the project you're working on to end up on the dead end list and all the sudden, you'll be on the dead end list too. There's too many factors that influence a person's performance besides just the work they put in.
dawnerd 4y ago
Based on your comments it sounds like you have beef with what you consider less skilled employees. I bet you're a joy to work with. Maybe you should take some time off, you sound burned out. Like being 100% honest here.
- _zzaw 4y ago
  Yeah, it's very weird how this person keeps posting obsessively about how glad Twitter employees are to see their colleagues fired. I'm not sure what the problem is here, but that kind of behavior does make me suspect they're that obnoxious coworker we've all had who's deeply unpopular and doesn't even realize it.
anthlax 4y ago
This has got to be elon’s HN account. Insane amounts of pro Elon, anti union comments.
bagels 4y ago
Musk isn't going to somehow accurately identify the worst performers. You lose good people too when laying off half the workforce. Not just that, but the treatment of those who remain is likely to be really poor. Did Musk wipe out their RSUs? I don't know, but he has incentive and that special lack of empathy needed to cut their pay. The union protects all of the employees.

toomuchtodo 4y ago

You only need a majority to unionize. Do more than 51% of Twitter employees think they’re the highest performing? Let the exceptionalists fend for themselves if they feel so inclined. You only have to convince the majority, not those who think they’re the best (whether warranted or not). If you’re “high performing”, you’ll land anywhere you want, right? Call their bluff. What do you have to lose? Your tenuous at will employment?

socialismisok 4y ago

I very much disagree that a) Twitter is only cutting dead weight and b) Tweeps are happy about seeing their peers fired en masse.

nemo44x 4y ago
I’m sure there will be some people let go that don’t deserve it. But I imagine the majority of the sorting here is pretty accurate. My guess is 6 months from now the company will be stronger than ever with an inspired staff that trusts their peers are pulling weight too.
- socialismisok 4y ago
  You think half of Twitter's engineers aren't just bad, they are dead weight. And there was no performance evaluation system in place to get rid of them? Come on. That's an outrageous claim without any evidence.
- fbdab103 4y ago
  >...be stronger than ever with an inspired staff Ah yes, the "inspiration" from solving the world's biggest problems of letting people send deep thoughts two sentences at a time.
- bagels 4y ago
  If half of my coworkers got laid off, I would be exactly the opposite of inspired. I'd feel ashamed that I stayed after that.
- frollo 4y ago
  If half of my coworkers got laid off, I'd be running away from the company faster than light. Staying after they pull a stunt like that only means waiting until they pull another one (or the company just collapses from the shock of losing that much capacity).
pascalxus 4y ago
Imagine the look on this guys face when he's the one who gets the layoff slip while the one's he thought would get it, get to keep their job. Don't be so sure, you're a high performer. High performance isn't just about your own performance. All it takes is for the project you're working on to end up on the dead end list and all the sudden, you'll be on the dead end list too. There's too many factors that influence a person's performance besides just the work they put in.

dawnerd 4y ago

Based on your comments it sounds like you have beef with what you consider less skilled employees. I bet you're a joy to work with. Maybe you should take some time off, you sound burned out. Like being 100% honest here.

_zzaw 4y ago
Yeah, it's very weird how this person keeps posting obsessively about how glad Twitter employees are to see their colleagues fired. I'm not sure what the problem is here, but that kind of behavior does make me suspect they're that obnoxious coworker we've all had who's deeply unpopular and doesn't even realize it.

anthlax 4y ago

This has got to be elon’s HN account. Insane amounts of pro Elon, anti union comments.

bagels 4y ago

Musk isn't going to somehow accurately identify the worst performers. You lose good people too when laying off half the workforce. Not just that, but the treatment of those who remain is likely to be really poor. Did Musk wipe out their RSUs? I don't know, but he has incentive and that special lack of empathy needed to cut their pay. The union protects all of the employees.