5 ms·

CEOs are fired for mismanagement. This is good management.

PartiallyTyped 4y ago
Isn't over-hiring an indication of mismanagement? Lots of salty people with poor reading comprehension… An “indication” is just that, a possible hint at an underlying issue, not an accusation. I did not claim it’s entirely a C-suite fault either. “Management” goes beyond the C-suite.
- agilob 4y ago
  1. Stocks go up 2. Company has more money to hire more developers and invest in itself 3. Code stays in the company and potentially produces profit all the time 4. Developers are fired, but the code stays and produces value
  - daviddever23box 4y ago
    ^ this.
- ksaxena 4y ago
  Wow, that's salty! Mismanagement compared to what? An omniscient entity that understood exactly what global advertisement demand and capital costs would look like in advance? The real world is messy and runs on estimates for everything. If Google is 6% off on their estimate for human resources, it should not be labelled 'mismanagement'.
  - PartiallyTyped 4y ago
    Management goes beyond C-suite. Upper management makes predictions of their needs, their productivity, what they achieve and don't all the time, it's literally a job req. My org has consistently less than 2 percent error in predictions while growing. Other orgs however grossly miscalculated the performance of their products and their capacity to deliver, by being wasteful and overambitious.
  - PartiallyTyped 4y ago
    While not relevant to google, it is very difficult for me to sympathise with C suite with articles like this one[1] showing up. [1] https://nypost.com/2023/01/19/microsoft-held-sting-concert-in-davos-before-layoffs-report/ https://nypost.com/2023/01/19/microsoft-held-sting-concert-i...
- KptMarchewa 4y ago
  No, all companies underhire or overhire, sometimes both in different departments. There are companies where firing 20% would not result in any efficiency loss, and ones where hiring another 20% would result in 100% efficiency gain.
- cornel_io 4y ago
  No. Hiring like crazy when interest rates are low and cutting back when they are not is proper management. The economy correctly drives company behavior, and that's not a CEO's fault.
  - PartiallyTyped 4y ago
    I don't believe I blamed the CEO specifically. I hinted at upper management for bad estimations which includes more than the C-suite. Making promises you can't keep, or being wasteful or grossly overestimating your capacity to deliver is a sign of mismanagement.
- FpUser 4y ago
  In the 90s I worked in software development company. We constantly struggled with not having enough people for all the work we were getting so there was overtime involved. On plus side it paid good bonuses to employees on minus side it resulted with people being overstressed. So at one point I asked the owner/CEO why the fuck are we doing this? He said something like "when the other companies fire people because of downturns we don't".
- aarghh 4y ago
  John Tuld : Let me tell you something, Mr. Sullivan. Do you care to know why I'm in this chair with you all? I mean, why I earn the big bucks. Peter Sullivan : Yes. John Tuld : I'm here for one reason and one reason alone. I'm here to guess what the music might do a week, a month, a year from now. That's it. Nothing more. And standing here tonight, I'm afraid that I don't hear - a - thing. Just... silence.
sarabande 4y ago
This is good management now, but poor management before now. To paraphrase "Manager Tools": Layoffs are the consequence of management's failing to accurately judge market conditions.
- vkou 4y ago
  >This is good management now, but poor management before now. If we weren't heading into a recession, it would have been good management before now. Hindsight is the only thing that's 20/20.
lr4444lr 4y ago
Then he should say something like, "this isn't personal - I am just doing my job."
- warkdarrior 4y ago
  It's never personal, it's always business. Do you think Sundar personally picked each of the 12'000 laid off employees?

Isn't over-hiring an indication of mismanagement? Lots of salty people with poor reading comprehension… An “indication” is just that, a possible hint at an underlying issue, not an accusation. I did not claim it’s entirely a C-suite fault either. “Management” goes beyond the C-suite.

agilob 4y ago
1. Stocks go up 2. Company has more money to hire more developers and invest in itself 3. Code stays in the company and potentially produces profit all the time 4. Developers are fired, but the code stays and produces value
- daviddever23box 4y ago
  ^ this.
ksaxena 4y ago
Wow, that's salty! Mismanagement compared to what? An omniscient entity that understood exactly what global advertisement demand and capital costs would look like in advance? The real world is messy and runs on estimates for everything. If Google is 6% off on their estimate for human resources, it should not be labelled 'mismanagement'.
- PartiallyTyped 4y ago
  Management goes beyond C-suite. Upper management makes predictions of their needs, their productivity, what they achieve and don't all the time, it's literally a job req. My org has consistently less than 2 percent error in predictions while growing. Other orgs however grossly miscalculated the performance of their products and their capacity to deliver, by being wasteful and overambitious.
- PartiallyTyped 4y ago
  While not relevant to google, it is very difficult for me to sympathise with C suite with articles like this one[1] showing up. [1] https://nypost.com/2023/01/19/microsoft-held-sting-concert-in-davos-before-layoffs-report/ https://nypost.com/2023/01/19/microsoft-held-sting-concert-i...
KptMarchewa 4y ago
No, all companies underhire or overhire, sometimes both in different departments. There are companies where firing 20% would not result in any efficiency loss, and ones where hiring another 20% would result in 100% efficiency gain.
cornel_io 4y ago
No. Hiring like crazy when interest rates are low and cutting back when they are not is proper management. The economy correctly drives company behavior, and that's not a CEO's fault.
- PartiallyTyped 4y ago
  I don't believe I blamed the CEO specifically. I hinted at upper management for bad estimations which includes more than the C-suite. Making promises you can't keep, or being wasteful or grossly overestimating your capacity to deliver is a sign of mismanagement.
FpUser 4y ago
In the 90s I worked in software development company. We constantly struggled with not having enough people for all the work we were getting so there was overtime involved. On plus side it paid good bonuses to employees on minus side it resulted with people being overstressed. So at one point I asked the owner/CEO why the fuck are we doing this? He said something like "when the other companies fire people because of downturns we don't".
aarghh 4y ago
John Tuld : Let me tell you something, Mr. Sullivan. Do you care to know why I'm in this chair with you all? I mean, why I earn the big bucks. Peter Sullivan : Yes. John Tuld : I'm here for one reason and one reason alone. I'm here to guess what the music might do a week, a month, a year from now. That's it. Nothing more. And standing here tonight, I'm afraid that I don't hear - a - thing. Just... silence.

sarabande 4y ago

This is good management now, but poor management before now. To paraphrase "Manager Tools": Layoffs are the consequence of management's failing to accurately judge market conditions.

vkou 4y ago
>This is good management now, but poor management before now. If we weren't heading into a recession, it would have been good management before now. Hindsight is the only thing that's 20/20.

lr4444lr 4y ago

Then he should say something like, "this isn't personal - I am just doing my job."

warkdarrior 4y ago
It's never personal, it's always business. Do you think Sundar personally picked each of the 12'000 laid off employees?