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> Look how X has diminished in quality as Elon started slashing team sizes. He had a point there though: He said that there seem to be "3 managers 'managing' o

> Look how X has diminished in quality as Elon started slashing team sizes. He had a point there though: He said that there seem to be "3 managers 'managing' one engineer", and I believe this is a common problem in the industry. VC-funded startups are terribly overstaffed and over-inflated.

rhuru 3y ago
Musk's actions have certainly damaged Twitter and its engineering. When you set the house on fire of course some termites will get killed but then you might also kill some babies and the family dog. A lot of tech companies have bloat in the form of AI ethics people, DEI people and so on. They need to go. But Musk probably hurt twitter a lot in short term by firing a lot of engineers and making it a place that made people unhappy.
- csomar 3y ago
  > AI ethics people These do actually have a proper job. They do ethics laundering for the tech companies and are very valuable.
  - duckhelmet 3y ago
    [dead]
- mk89 3y ago
  He is squeezing everything as much as he can. Introduced failing ideas that made him ridiculous world wide, ... to finally hire a CEO. And now he is using the platform to influence elections and events - free for all. Sure.
- dingdong33 3y ago
  Our company has a position like a DEI director, and honestly, it baffles me. All they seem to do is push what some might call 'leftist woke propaganda' in their never-ending meetings, and I question whether our company's resources should be invested in that.
  - bornfreddy 3y ago
    TIL: DEI == Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (if anyone else didn't know).
    - rhuru 3y ago
      Ignorance is bliss. If you do not know what DEI is it is a bit like not knowing how to be an overweight. You are better off not knowing it.
  - esperent 3y ago
    Could you give some concrete examples from this DEI director of the kind of things you're calling 'leftist woke propaganda'?
    - rhuru 3y ago
      I am not OP but one of the things I have seen these people do is to insist on removing words like "nitty gritty" from our developer documentation by calling it racist.
  - agentgumshoe 3y ago
    It's just 'brand.' Companies don't generally give two stuffs about their staff, as you find out when anything like unions or HR complaints come up.
thebears5454 3y ago
There is not a single VC that is three managers to one engineer
- dijit 3y ago
  Team Lead, Scrum Master and Director. Not to mention HR managers. I have seen situations where there are 10% engineers to 50% "assorted management" in tech companies. (the remaining 40% being a mix of sales and support staff such as office management).
- GaelFG 3y ago
  "I won't give names but trust me", VC funded tech companies with 3-10 bros 'who have or not a vague technical background but more see themselves as high level thinkers' between founders and their first hires for 'key strategic roles' followed by an engineer and one to three interns to fill production role are a common reality, at least on startup scenes I attended. In the startup process 'marketing' is also glorified (not that i disagree it's importance) so once you have one or two guy who can make demos, hiring marketing people is often the next priority.
mk89 3y ago
When you own a company and fire someone to cut costs nobody is gonna say anything, of course. It's the sad reality. When you cut the company to 1/3 and keep foreigners because of their visa status, nobody is gonna say anything of course, but that says a lot about you! I do not believe that half the company was just "overstaff". I have been in situations where 1 manager had 1 reporter/reported, but they were single cases - it can't be spread to the entire company and nobody does anything.
- bornfreddy 3y ago
  > When you cut the company to 1/3 and keep foreigners because of their visa status, ... that says a lot about you! That... you care about people regardless if they are foreigners and that you try to help those that would have the most problems if they were let go, especially as these problems are a consequence of your hiring of them? I'm not familiar with the story, but from the way you presented it it sounds like a proper thing to do. EDIT: not taking Musk's side, just pointing out the issue with the parent's argument.
  - kyriee 3y ago
    Or… heart me out, maybe it’s because Elon knows they have the most to loose and are thus more likely to do whatever he wants to not get kicked out of the country. Elon made some statements that made his disdain for the “laptop class” quite clear. He is no saint, or genius. He’s mostly just an extremely ruthless smart man.
    - bornfreddy 3y ago
      Sure, that is also a possible (even likely) explanation. As I said, I don't defend Musk - my opinion of him is quite low and is getting lower and lower. Just wanted to point out the trouble with the argument. Anyway.
    - mk89 3y ago
      He has finally showed the world his true self. I am happy about that - I don't want another capitalist sanctified for being a genius, which he is not. The more this becomes clearer the better for everyone.

rhuru 3y ago

Musk's actions have certainly damaged Twitter and its engineering. When you set the house on fire of course some termites will get killed but then you might also kill some babies and the family dog. A lot of tech companies have bloat in the form of AI ethics people, DEI people and so on. They need to go. But Musk probably hurt twitter a lot in short term by firing a lot of engineers and making it a place that made people unhappy.

csomar 3y ago
> AI ethics people These do actually have a proper job. They do ethics laundering for the tech companies and are very valuable.
- duckhelmet 3y ago
  [dead]
mk89 3y ago
He is squeezing everything as much as he can. Introduced failing ideas that made him ridiculous world wide, ... to finally hire a CEO. And now he is using the platform to influence elections and events - free for all. Sure.
dingdong33 3y ago
Our company has a position like a DEI director, and honestly, it baffles me. All they seem to do is push what some might call 'leftist woke propaganda' in their never-ending meetings, and I question whether our company's resources should be invested in that.
- bornfreddy 3y ago
  TIL: DEI == Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (if anyone else didn't know).
  - rhuru 3y ago
    Ignorance is bliss. If you do not know what DEI is it is a bit like not knowing how to be an overweight. You are better off not knowing it.
- esperent 3y ago
  Could you give some concrete examples from this DEI director of the kind of things you're calling 'leftist woke propaganda'?
  - rhuru 3y ago
    I am not OP but one of the things I have seen these people do is to insist on removing words like "nitty gritty" from our developer documentation by calling it racist.
- agentgumshoe 3y ago
  It's just 'brand.' Companies don't generally give two stuffs about their staff, as you find out when anything like unions or HR complaints come up.

thebears5454 3y ago

There is not a single VC that is three managers to one engineer

dijit 3y ago
Team Lead, Scrum Master and Director. Not to mention HR managers. I have seen situations where there are 10% engineers to 50% "assorted management" in tech companies. (the remaining 40% being a mix of sales and support staff such as office management).
GaelFG 3y ago
"I won't give names but trust me", VC funded tech companies with 3-10 bros 'who have or not a vague technical background but more see themselves as high level thinkers' between founders and their first hires for 'key strategic roles' followed by an engineer and one to three interns to fill production role are a common reality, at least on startup scenes I attended. In the startup process 'marketing' is also glorified (not that i disagree it's importance) so once you have one or two guy who can make demos, hiring marketing people is often the next priority.

mk89 3y ago

When you own a company and fire someone to cut costs nobody is gonna say anything, of course. It's the sad reality. When you cut the company to 1/3 and keep foreigners because of their visa status, nobody is gonna say anything of course, but that says a lot about you! I do not believe that half the company was just "overstaff". I have been in situations where 1 manager had 1 reporter/reported, but they were single cases - it can't be spread to the entire company and nobody does anything.

bornfreddy 3y ago
> When you cut the company to 1/3 and keep foreigners because of their visa status, ... that says a lot about you! That... you care about people regardless if they are foreigners and that you try to help those that would have the most problems if they were let go, especially as these problems are a consequence of your hiring of them? I'm not familiar with the story, but from the way you presented it it sounds like a proper thing to do. EDIT: not taking Musk's side, just pointing out the issue with the parent's argument.
- kyriee 3y ago
  Or… heart me out, maybe it’s because Elon knows they have the most to loose and are thus more likely to do whatever he wants to not get kicked out of the country. Elon made some statements that made his disdain for the “laptop class” quite clear. He is no saint, or genius. He’s mostly just an extremely ruthless smart man.
  - bornfreddy 3y ago
    Sure, that is also a possible (even likely) explanation. As I said, I don't defend Musk - my opinion of him is quite low and is getting lower and lower. Just wanted to point out the trouble with the argument. Anyway.
  - mk89 3y ago
    He has finally showed the world his true self. I am happy about that - I don't want another capitalist sanctified for being a genius, which he is not. The more this becomes clearer the better for everyone.