6 ms·

This is now the third layoff round for Meta in a very short time span. Hopefully this improves the morale of those left and no more layoffs will be necessary.

by siva7 4y ago

curiousllama 4y ago
Third? The article says this is the second, no?
- roland35 4y ago
  Maybe he is thinking about "the flattening", but that hasn't happened yet (if it is happening at all). Or maybe this is the flattening. We don't know!
  - what_ever 4y ago
    "flattening" is in the byline of the article.
    - roland35 4y ago
      yes I understand that, but I was referring to the grandparent comment's "second layoff". As far as the article, I know it is referencing the "flattening" but my point is none of us (besides Mark Z) really know for sure.
  - likpok 4y ago
    As near as I can tell the article is talking about the flattening (which does not seem to have happened yet).
96llort 4y ago
Layoffs will continue until morale improves...
- tigerlily 4y ago
  If morale never improves, then I guess the number of staff will reach zero sometime.
  - orthecreedence 4y ago
    Well no, lol, you can't lay off management. That would be insane.
jjeaff 4y ago
The beatings will continue until morale improves.
- andsoitis 4y ago
  layoffs aren't about punishing employees.
  - iends 4y ago
    But they do.
  - jacobsenscott 4y ago
    But they are about squeezing more hours for less money out of those who remain. The fact that this is punishing is just a bonus.
katmannthree 4y ago
> Hopefully this improves the morale of those left and no more layoffs will be necessary. Well, the dynamic they've introduced most strongly incentivizes competent [read: employable] employees to leave so certainly that will improve overall team performance and they won't need to continue layoffs /s. To call it a death spiral would be excessive, but negative-divergence quality spiral just lacks that special something...
- montagg 4y ago
  It won't kill them, but it will slow down Meta for a while, during a critical period where it needs to outrun innovation that will be nipping at its heels through the 2020s. It could be one of those "causes of the IBM-ification of Meta" in an article you read in the 2030s, but it will probably be more like, "the pandemic caused Meta to overstretch, at a critical point in its history and the history of technology, and [along with other companies] suffered as a result in multiple ways."
- ghaff 4y ago
  On the other hand, in the current environment, I can also see a lot of people figuring that they're not going to improve their prospects elsewhere in the near future so, since they're apparently at least somewhat valued given they're still there, they might as well just keep their head down for a year or two.
  - katmannthree 4y ago
    Oh absolutely, some of the mediocre employees will stay because of that. The exceptional ones are still going to head out for greener pastures though.
    - ghaff 4y ago
      Eh. It's at least a more challenging environment for being hired in tech right now. Assuming they like their work and are getting well-paid, why should they move?
ralphael 4y ago
It actually produces the exact opposite, my observation from experience is: Some people will now work the system and want to be made redundant, by doing the minimum possible. Good people will leave for other opportunities. This takes months/years to fix/heal. The fixing process is reset every time you do a new round of lay offs.
idlewords 4y ago
The secret to a happy workforce is laying off employees in the lowest decile of morale. Repeat as necessary.
likpok 4y ago
Which was the second round of layoffs? The two layoffs (arguably): the first round in November, and then the flattening (which I agree will likely see managers quitting rather than becoming ICs).
vore 4y ago
Nothing improves morale more than the uncertainty of being randomly fired!
loeg 4y ago
Third? What was the second?
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
Zaskoda 4y ago
The first time I ever heard "the layoffs will continue until morale improves" was at my startup in 2000, not long before the dot com crash thing.
jgwil2 4y ago
Dans ce pays-ci il est bon de tuer de temps en temps un amiral pour encourager les autres.

This is now the third layoff round for Meta in a very short time span. Hopefully this improves the morale of those left and no more layoffs will be necessary.

by siva7 4y ago

This is now the third layoff round for Meta in a very short time span. Hopefully this improves the morale of those left and no more layoffs will be necessary.

curiousllama 4y ago

Third? The article says this is the second, no?

roland35 4y ago
Maybe he is thinking about "the flattening", but that hasn't happened yet (if it is happening at all). Or maybe this is the flattening. We don't know!
- what_ever 4y ago
  "flattening" is in the byline of the article.
  - roland35 4y ago
    yes I understand that, but I was referring to the grandparent comment's "second layoff". As far as the article, I know it is referencing the "flattening" but my point is none of us (besides Mark Z) really know for sure.
- likpok 4y ago
  As near as I can tell the article is talking about the flattening (which does not seem to have happened yet).

96llort 4y ago

Layoffs will continue until morale improves...

tigerlily 4y ago
If morale never improves, then I guess the number of staff will reach zero sometime.
- orthecreedence 4y ago
  Well no, lol, you can't lay off management. That would be insane.

jjeaff 4y ago

The beatings will continue until morale improves.

andsoitis 4y ago
layoffs aren't about punishing employees.
- iends 4y ago
  But they do.
- jacobsenscott 4y ago
  But they are about squeezing more hours for less money out of those who remain. The fact that this is punishing is just a bonus.

katmannthree 4y ago

> Hopefully this improves the morale of those left and no more layoffs will be necessary. Well, the dynamic they've introduced most strongly incentivizes competent [read: employable] employees to leave so certainly that will improve overall team performance and they won't need to continue layoffs /s. To call it a death spiral would be excessive, but negative-divergence quality spiral just lacks that special something...

montagg 4y ago
It won't kill them, but it will slow down Meta for a while, during a critical period where it needs to outrun innovation that will be nipping at its heels through the 2020s. It could be one of those "causes of the IBM-ification of Meta" in an article you read in the 2030s, but it will probably be more like, "the pandemic caused Meta to overstretch, at a critical point in its history and the history of technology, and [along with other companies] suffered as a result in multiple ways."
ghaff 4y ago
On the other hand, in the current environment, I can also see a lot of people figuring that they're not going to improve their prospects elsewhere in the near future so, since they're apparently at least somewhat valued given they're still there, they might as well just keep their head down for a year or two.
- katmannthree 4y ago
  Oh absolutely, some of the mediocre employees will stay because of that. The exceptional ones are still going to head out for greener pastures though.
  - ghaff 4y ago
    Eh. It's at least a more challenging environment for being hired in tech right now. Assuming they like their work and are getting well-paid, why should they move?

ralphael 4y ago

It actually produces the exact opposite, my observation from experience is: Some people will now work the system and want to be made redundant, by doing the minimum possible. Good people will leave for other opportunities. This takes months/years to fix/heal. The fixing process is reset every time you do a new round of lay offs.

idlewords 4y ago

The secret to a happy workforce is laying off employees in the lowest decile of morale. Repeat as necessary.

likpok 4y ago

Which was the second round of layoffs? The two layoffs (arguably): the first round in November, and then the flattening (which I agree will likely see managers quitting rather than becoming ICs).

vore 4y ago

Nothing improves morale more than the uncertainty of being randomly fired!

loeg 4y ago

Third? What was the second?

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

Zaskoda 4y ago

The first time I ever heard "the layoffs will continue until morale improves" was at my startup in 2000, not long before the dot com crash thing.

jgwil2 4y ago

Dans ce pays-ci il est bon de tuer de temps en temps un amiral pour encourager les autres.