3 ms·

It bothers me so much with these big companies laying people off. When you have over $80 billion in yearly revenue, in Disney's case, it's just pathetic that yo

by bmitc 4y ago

It bothers me so much with these big companies laying people off. When you have over $80 billion in yearly revenue, in Disney's case, it's just pathetic that you treat your people as your main cost and liability.

chrisacky 4y ago
It's all relative. DIS has 200k+ employees. Thousands of employees could quite literally be less than 1% of their workforce. Is it reasonable for a company to make a change that effects 0.5-1% of their workforce? I think yes. How about 2%? At what point do the lines get blurred in your judgment?
- kelseyfrog 4y ago
  The problem with framing this as a threshold question is that it relies on Sorites Paradox to work. That invalidates it in my mind because it rules out 0, 100, and every number in between. There's no way to rationalize justification for a particular numerical threshold from non-numerical qualifiers.
- bmitc 4y ago
  As a person in modern society, I am personally pretty tired of being treated and thought of as a percentage. So I don't like to think of others as percentages.
xhkkffbf 4y ago
Announcing layoffs can be good for employees. Let's say you're going to shut down some project-- something that every company must do, but big companies must do all of the time. If you do quietly without announcing any big shift, then the people affected must try to explain why they left to future employers. Now, at least, a future employer will say, "Oh yes, it was brutal at Disney back then." It's better not to lose your job, but if the economics dictate that you must go, public "layoffs" have some advantages.
scarface74 4y ago
So the alternative is that you don’t lay people off - ever? Employees are the main cost in many companies.
ChatGTP 4y ago
This is capitalism? It’s ok though because the wealth will trickle down.
- nxm 4y ago
  In other forms there is less wealth altogether
  - ChatGTP 4y ago
    I’ll believe it if we survive the AI ”arms race”. Also clearly capitalism has made “some people” rich, not those mining cobalt for your Teslas though, they’re still ruined. Then there the anxiety around the fact that it wouldn’t be sustainable if we all lived like wealthy Americans. So it’s really a limited system.

by bmitc 4y ago

chrisacky 4y ago

It's all relative. DIS has 200k+ employees. Thousands of employees could quite literally be less than 1% of their workforce. Is it reasonable for a company to make a change that effects 0.5-1% of their workforce? I think yes. How about 2%? At what point do the lines get blurred in your judgment?

kelseyfrog 4y ago
The problem with framing this as a threshold question is that it relies on Sorites Paradox to work. That invalidates it in my mind because it rules out 0, 100, and every number in between. There's no way to rationalize justification for a particular numerical threshold from non-numerical qualifiers.
bmitc 4y ago
As a person in modern society, I am personally pretty tired of being treated and thought of as a percentage. So I don't like to think of others as percentages.

xhkkffbf 4y ago

Announcing layoffs can be good for employees. Let's say you're going to shut down some project-- something that every company must do, but big companies must do all of the time. If you do quietly without announcing any big shift, then the people affected must try to explain why they left to future employers. Now, at least, a future employer will say, "Oh yes, it was brutal at Disney back then." It's better not to lose your job, but if the economics dictate that you must go, public "layoffs" have some advantages.

scarface74 4y ago

So the alternative is that you don’t lay people off - ever? Employees are the main cost in many companies.

ChatGTP 4y ago

This is capitalism? It’s ok though because the wealth will trickle down.

nxm 4y ago
In other forms there is less wealth altogether
- ChatGTP 4y ago
  I’ll believe it if we survive the AI ”arms race”. Also clearly capitalism has made “some people” rich, not those mining cobalt for your Teslas though, they’re still ruined. Then there the anxiety around the fact that it wouldn’t be sustainable if we all lived like wealthy Americans. So it’s really a limited system.