5 ms·

I know that working in tech can warp your sense of reality, but it's really, really hard to imagine starting an email in which I announce that I'm laying off 10

I know that working in tech can warp your sense of reality, but it's really, really hard to imagine starting an email in which I announce that I'm laying off 10,000 people -- the entire population of my hometown and then some -- with "Meta is building the future of human connection." I just can't tell a story in which I would end up being a person who does that. It's too alien.

FartyMcFarter 4y ago
You don't write that email by yourself. There are lots of cooks in the pot when it comes to writing this kind of message to a large corporation.
- tomgp 4y ago
  And yet thay all apparently lack basic human empathy?
  - FartyMcFarter 4y ago
    Some of them probably do, and I'd also bet that when responsibility for writing the message is diffused throughout a group, people don't feel the need to make it as nice as they would otherwise.
  - tennisflyi 4y ago
    Why would they have any more compared to any other industry?
  - izacus 4y ago
    There's nothing better at diluting empathy and care for humans, not to mention creating evil, than diluting responsibility.
    - AdamN 4y ago
      Somebody else will make it sound empathetic /s
  - noisy_boy 4y ago
    Legal is one of the main cooks producing the pot.
    - setgree 4y ago
      I'm really having trouble connecting the dots between potential liability and leading with "building the future of human connection"
  - five82 4y ago
    There's a reason why we're called "resources".
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
  - eddieroger 4y ago
    You assume this email is for the people who will be affected by the layoffs. It is not - it's for the investors and leaders who stay around. Empathy isn't part of this decision or the way it's carried out, unfortunately.
    - fallat 4y ago
      You're on the money. Like literally, empathy here would convey some sadness, or just "negative feelings", which would affect how the money feels. We can't have the money feeling bad now can we? Plus who cares anyway, we all know software monkeys don't feel. They just want to sit around all day drinking coffees and mashing little plastic chiclets! And the money is perfectly happy with this arrangement. /s
      - eddieroger 4y ago
        Just in case you or another onlooker comes by and assumes I agree with the morality of what I said, I don't. I think it's awful letting 10K people go for money, like they don't have bills too. But I don't live in delusion or the dark about these things. Zuckerberg posts this letter to inspire those who stay, not mourn those who go. Empathy, in this case, negatively impacts the message, which is Facebook is important and is moving to be a more financially sound company. Again, I don't like it, but my likes don't matter here.
  - SkyPuncher 4y ago
    Damned if you do damned if you don't. We've seen the entire gambit of layoff messages in the past year. No matter how empathic they're written, people complain.
    - nottathrowaway3 4y ago
      Good people remember though and hold a grudge if you insult them on the way out the door. People you want to hire in the future are watching as well. There's incentive to be classy (ex: Microsoft's https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2023/01/18/subject-focusing-on-our-short-and-long-term-opportunity/ https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2023/01/18/subject-focusing...) unless the whole ship is going down. Edit: That being said, after actually reading it, the Meta letter is relatively classy. The HN comments made it seem worse than it was.
rchaud 4y ago
Perhaps their attorneys advised them not to use "making the world a better place".
Ozzie_osman 4y ago
Despite the claimed intended audience, that letter isn't written for employees. It is written for shareholders. And judging by the stock price, it had the intended effect.
- onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago
  GOOG is up 3%, MSFT, AMZN, APPL are up 2%. Snap is up 4%. FB is "only" up 4.5%. If you need to fire 13% of staff to get a 1.5-2.5% bump in price - that doesn't look great to me. Almost seems like the market is signaling that they don't see any growth potential for FB outside of canceling the Metaverse.
  - lordnacho 4y ago
    Don't you have to subtract the fact that the entire market is up today?
    - msm_ 4y ago
      They did, they estabilished that the tech average is 3% today, and subtracted this from meta's 4.5%
  - HDThoreaun 4y ago
    up 6.5% now
  - blsapologist42 4y ago
    Given all the leaks it seems reasonable that these layoffs have mostly been priced in already.
- spacemadness 4y ago
  My one hope in all this is that some tech workers who drank a lot of corporate kool-aid over the years, i.e. the “we’re a family” managerial nonsense, will finally see the reality of the industry we work in and the real aim of quarterly capitalism which is profit and growth at all costs every single quarter. Your well being, since you likely attach it to work, is not part of that formula. You are expendable and will be sacrificed on the altar of profit at a moments notice.
anotherman554 4y ago
Someone was probably coached to "start with something positive, say the bad thing, end with something positive."
therealdrag0 4y ago
I don’t understand the alienness can you elaborate. Maybe I’m alien.

FartyMcFarter 4y ago

You don't write that email by yourself. There are lots of cooks in the pot when it comes to writing this kind of message to a large corporation.

tomgp 4y ago
And yet thay all apparently lack basic human empathy?
- FartyMcFarter 4y ago
  Some of them probably do, and I'd also bet that when responsibility for writing the message is diffused throughout a group, people don't feel the need to make it as nice as they would otherwise.
- tennisflyi 4y ago
  Why would they have any more compared to any other industry?
- izacus 4y ago
  There's nothing better at diluting empathy and care for humans, not to mention creating evil, than diluting responsibility.
  - AdamN 4y ago
    Somebody else will make it sound empathetic /s
- noisy_boy 4y ago
  Legal is one of the main cooks producing the pot.
  - setgree 4y ago
    I'm really having trouble connecting the dots between potential liability and leading with "building the future of human connection"
- five82 4y ago
  There's a reason why we're called "resources".
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- eddieroger 4y ago
  You assume this email is for the people who will be affected by the layoffs. It is not - it's for the investors and leaders who stay around. Empathy isn't part of this decision or the way it's carried out, unfortunately.
  - fallat 4y ago
    You're on the money. Like literally, empathy here would convey some sadness, or just "negative feelings", which would affect how the money feels. We can't have the money feeling bad now can we? Plus who cares anyway, we all know software monkeys don't feel. They just want to sit around all day drinking coffees and mashing little plastic chiclets! And the money is perfectly happy with this arrangement. /s
    - eddieroger 4y ago
      Just in case you or another onlooker comes by and assumes I agree with the morality of what I said, I don't. I think it's awful letting 10K people go for money, like they don't have bills too. But I don't live in delusion or the dark about these things. Zuckerberg posts this letter to inspire those who stay, not mourn those who go. Empathy, in this case, negatively impacts the message, which is Facebook is important and is moving to be a more financially sound company. Again, I don't like it, but my likes don't matter here.
- SkyPuncher 4y ago
  Damned if you do damned if you don't. We've seen the entire gambit of layoff messages in the past year. No matter how empathic they're written, people complain.
  - nottathrowaway3 4y ago
    Good people remember though and hold a grudge if you insult them on the way out the door. People you want to hire in the future are watching as well. There's incentive to be classy (ex: Microsoft's https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2023/01/18/subject-focusing-on-our-short-and-long-term-opportunity/ https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2023/01/18/subject-focusing...) unless the whole ship is going down. Edit: That being said, after actually reading it, the Meta letter is relatively classy. The HN comments made it seem worse than it was.

rchaud 4y ago

Perhaps their attorneys advised them not to use "making the world a better place".

Ozzie_osman 4y ago

Despite the claimed intended audience, that letter isn't written for employees. It is written for shareholders. And judging by the stock price, it had the intended effect.

onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago
GOOG is up 3%, MSFT, AMZN, APPL are up 2%. Snap is up 4%. FB is "only" up 4.5%. If you need to fire 13% of staff to get a 1.5-2.5% bump in price - that doesn't look great to me. Almost seems like the market is signaling that they don't see any growth potential for FB outside of canceling the Metaverse.
- lordnacho 4y ago
  Don't you have to subtract the fact that the entire market is up today?
  - msm_ 4y ago
    They did, they estabilished that the tech average is 3% today, and subtracted this from meta's 4.5%
- HDThoreaun 4y ago
  up 6.5% now
- blsapologist42 4y ago
  Given all the leaks it seems reasonable that these layoffs have mostly been priced in already.
spacemadness 4y ago
My one hope in all this is that some tech workers who drank a lot of corporate kool-aid over the years, i.e. the “we’re a family” managerial nonsense, will finally see the reality of the industry we work in and the real aim of quarterly capitalism which is profit and growth at all costs every single quarter. Your well being, since you likely attach it to work, is not part of that formula. You are expendable and will be sacrificed on the altar of profit at a moments notice.

anotherman554 4y ago

Someone was probably coached to "start with something positive, say the bad thing, end with something positive."

therealdrag0 4y ago

I don’t understand the alienness can you elaborate. Maybe I’m alien.