4 ms·

I too don't have much sympathy for them. Everyone knows that employment is at will for both employees and employer in most of the US. They all get a nice seve

I too don't have much sympathy for them. Everyone knows that employment is at will for both employees and employer in most of the US. They all get a nice severance that gives them plenty of time to find new jobs which shouldn't be that hard for them. Twitter is bloated and has been bleeding cash for too long. > In its sixteen-year history, Twitter has only rarely been profitable. Over the past decade, its core features have barely changed, and its growth has been much slower than that of many competitors. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/twitter-is-already-a-hellscape https://www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/twitter-is... The Twitter employee gravy train is over. Time to pull your weight and be productive whether you stay at Twitter or move on.

hairofadog 4y ago
For some reason I can’t help picturing you yelling this at your step-son and then popping a beer at the end. (Except the url, I guess… you’re not yelling that part in my weird little fantasy)
- theonething 4y ago
  Yeah, that is a weird little fantasy. Just for the record, I'm happily married, love my child very much and don't even drink. I was laid off when my wife was pregnant and did just fine. No hard feelings for that company at all. They had to do what they had to do and I'm at a job I like better and pays more. I hope the same for anyone laid off, at Twitter or elsewhere.
  - Erem 4y ago
    The fantasy wasn't that weird. They drew a compelling scene that complemented the shocking lack of empathy in your comment.
    - theonething 4y ago
      Oh, sorry you're shocked and sorry I don't have sympathy for tech workers that have the education, skills and connections to find cushy jobs that pay at the top percentile of wage earners in the U.S. I'll save my sympathy for the homeless, hungry and bottom percentile earners that work hard at an honest living and scrape by everyday trying to feed their families. Sorry that my sympathy is too limited for you. "Empathy" has been overused in this industry to the point of meaninglessness and virtue signaling.
      - minig33 4y ago
        theonething 4y ago
        Something tells me your comment is totally baseless. I could make the same claim about you, one internet stranger to another, and it would be worth just as much, that is, zilch. Fwiw, I've volunteered at homeless shelters, sleeping overnight and make it a point to give at least a buck and say an encouraging word to any homeless people that I pass by, not that a buck will make a drastic difference, but to let them know I'm not totally ignoring them.
        anon291 4y ago
        This comment is completely uncalled for and unrelated to the conversation at hand.
      - systemvoltage 4y ago
        I think on HN, I see same exact logic applied to Twitter employees with $300k compensation as to an Amazon warehouse worker getting paid $16/hour; i.e., labor rights above anything else. The crowd here is blind to this circumstantial disparity. Another blind spot is if you replace $300k engineers getting laid off with $100k managers getting laid of at say IBM, the tide reverses, no more empathy for managers! How dare we!
      - Erem 4y ago
        Save your sympathy? Sympathy isn't a coin purse from which you judiciously spend and save. It's just a perspective on how you choose to view the world. You get to choose -- are you going to view the world from the perspective of people first, or from some other more grotesque perspective like their value as employees or contribution to the GDP. It's the easiest thing in the world to both think "my heart goes out to these people who have been suddenly disconnected form their income" and also to have a focus on those more in need.
systemvoltage 4y ago
It is crazy. The stock has been going sideways since the IPO [1], for a tech company during one of the most fertile and robust economic decades, Twitter's performance has been absolutely abysmal. Twitter hasn't innovated, the whole thing has been running on autopilot since the IPO. [1] https://tinyurl.com/ynnmx6zu https://tinyurl.com/ynnmx6zu Compare with a company like Cloudflare that launches new products at a breathtaking pace, Twitter just seems so docile and unimpressive. Yes, I've spent thousands of dollars on their ad platform and it is a complete shitshow on the backstage too. Twitter's ad platform is a joke compared to Meta. I feel bad for any employee that gets laid off, but to not see the problems in Twitter is being way too emotional and not very objective. Twitter needs a reboot. Those that stayed have a great future ahead.

hairofadog 4y ago

For some reason I can’t help picturing you yelling this at your step-son and then popping a beer at the end. (Except the url, I guess… you’re not yelling that part in my weird little fantasy)

theonething 4y ago
Yeah, that is a weird little fantasy. Just for the record, I'm happily married, love my child very much and don't even drink. I was laid off when my wife was pregnant and did just fine. No hard feelings for that company at all. They had to do what they had to do and I'm at a job I like better and pays more. I hope the same for anyone laid off, at Twitter or elsewhere.
- Erem 4y ago
  The fantasy wasn't that weird. They drew a compelling scene that complemented the shocking lack of empathy in your comment.
  - theonething 4y ago
    Oh, sorry you're shocked and sorry I don't have sympathy for tech workers that have the education, skills and connections to find cushy jobs that pay at the top percentile of wage earners in the U.S. I'll save my sympathy for the homeless, hungry and bottom percentile earners that work hard at an honest living and scrape by everyday trying to feed their families. Sorry that my sympathy is too limited for you. "Empathy" has been overused in this industry to the point of meaninglessness and virtue signaling.
    - minig33 4y ago
      - theonething 4y ago
        Something tells me your comment is totally baseless. I could make the same claim about you, one internet stranger to another, and it would be worth just as much, that is, zilch. Fwiw, I've volunteered at homeless shelters, sleeping overnight and make it a point to give at least a buck and say an encouraging word to any homeless people that I pass by, not that a buck will make a drastic difference, but to let them know I'm not totally ignoring them.
      - anon291 4y ago
        This comment is completely uncalled for and unrelated to the conversation at hand.
    - systemvoltage 4y ago
      I think on HN, I see same exact logic applied to Twitter employees with $300k compensation as to an Amazon warehouse worker getting paid $16/hour; i.e., labor rights above anything else. The crowd here is blind to this circumstantial disparity. Another blind spot is if you replace $300k engineers getting laid off with $100k managers getting laid of at say IBM, the tide reverses, no more empathy for managers! How dare we!
    - Erem 4y ago
      Save your sympathy? Sympathy isn't a coin purse from which you judiciously spend and save. It's just a perspective on how you choose to view the world. You get to choose -- are you going to view the world from the perspective of people first, or from some other more grotesque perspective like their value as employees or contribution to the GDP. It's the easiest thing in the world to both think "my heart goes out to these people who have been suddenly disconnected form their income" and also to have a focus on those more in need.

systemvoltage 4y ago

It is crazy. The stock has been going sideways since the IPO [1], for a tech company during one of the most fertile and robust economic decades, Twitter's performance has been absolutely abysmal. Twitter hasn't innovated, the whole thing has been running on autopilot since the IPO. [1] https://tinyurl.com/ynnmx6zu https://tinyurl.com/ynnmx6zu Compare with a company like Cloudflare that launches new products at a breathtaking pace, Twitter just seems so docile and unimpressive. Yes, I've spent thousands of dollars on their ad platform and it is a complete shitshow on the backstage too. Twitter's ad platform is a joke compared to Meta. I feel bad for any employee that gets laid off, but to not see the problems in Twitter is being way too emotional and not very objective. Twitter needs a reboot. Those that stayed have a great future ahead.